Recent Sightings

Today we were at Gerstle Cove in Salt Point State Park. Unfortunately, the wind was very strong, blowing 14 mph and gusting 27 mph out of the north northwest. These strong winds covered the ocean with whitecaps, waves between 12-15, huge swells, and high surf.

We observed:

💠 4 southbound gray whales – two pairs, difficult to track due to the ocean conditions

💠 2 Northern harriers

💠 34 brown pelicans flying north and 16 flying south

💠 1 American kestrel often seen hovering

💠 no harbor seals were seen due to high surf

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TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE 🟰 88 southbound

We had a mix of sun and clouds today with very little wind to begin the day but the wind did pick up creating lots of whitecaps later in the day. It was fairly good visibility allowing us to spot blows easily.

AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:

⚛️ 20 southbound gray whales – two groups of three, two groups of two, and ten singles: one of the singles breached once!

⚛️ 12 harbor seals – incoming tide

⚛️ 3 American kestrels

⚛️ 1 great blue heron hunting for food in the field

⚛️ 1 red-tailed hawk

⚛️ 22 brown pelicans

❇️❇️ TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE = 84 southbound ❇️❇️

Visibility was excellent today and we could see all the way to the horizon. It was mostly cloudy with some sun and the ocean was calm.

AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:

🔶 5 Humpbacks – we first noticed a large group of feeding birds consisting mostly of gulls, with some pelicans and terns; as we watched them, the humpbacks showed up to join in the feeding

🔶 13 southbound gray whales – one group of four, one group of two and seven singles; many fluked and backs and heads were visible; most were swimming between one and two miles offshore and made steady progress south

🔶 48 harbor seals

🔶 1 red-tailed hawk

🔶 1 Ferruginous hawk

🔶 2 American kestrels

🔶 2 black oystercatchers

💠 Shari Goforth was observing today earlier in the day and reported seeing a deuce and a single southbound gray whale at Gualala Point.

💠 NO WHALES WERE SEEN AT SAUNDERS REEF

TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE = 64 SOUTHBOUND

We welcomed a sunny, mostly clear day today after two days of rain and wind. Our visibility was quite good. The ocean was rough with large swells and whitecaps.

AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:

🔆 8 southbound gray whales – all singles; ranging from 3/4 miles to 2 1/2 miles out; at times, up to 4 whales could be seen in our observation area

🔆 73 harbor seals

🔆 1 red-tailed hawk

🔆 2 great blue herons – one hunting for food in the pasture and one on the rocks

🔆 1 American kestrel

🔆 54 brown pelicans – most flying south

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🔆 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE = 48 southbound

We wish everyone a very happy, healthy, and peaceful new year. In 2026, may we make continued progress to understand, protect, appreciate, and respect all living things on earth.

Today was cloudy, gray, and quite windy. The wind speed was 17 mph out of the south southeast with gusts to 29 mph. The ocean was dotted with whitecaps. The afternoon brought intermittent, light rain showers.

🚫 NO WHALES SEEN TODAY AT SAUNDERS REEF OR AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA 🚫

AT PAL:

💢 60 harbor seals

💢 8 brown pelicans flying around the peninsula

💢 2 black oystercatchers

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👀 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE = 40 southbound 👀