
Recent Sightings
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MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2026
Today, as we honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., may we ALL work together to keep his dream alive.
Our day began with considerable cloudiness with a gray sky and gray but calm ocean. Despite this, visibility was good and blows could be detected. Sunshine came through in mid day which greatly improved the distinction between the ocean, the sky, and whale blows, but cloudiness returned to end afternoon.
AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA :
🔆 24 southbound gray whales – one group of three, five groups of two, and eleven singles
🔆 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE = 281 southbound 🔆
❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎
🔆 72 harbor seals
🔆 2 American kestrels
🔆 6 brown pelicans flying north
🔆 1 Ferruginous hawk
🔆 1 great blue heron
🔆 1 great egret – the heron and the egret flew off together
🔆 1 red-tailed hawk
🔆 1 black oystercatcher
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SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 2026
The day began with excellent visibility but fog did roll in later in the day greatly reducing our visibility.
AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:
🟩 13 southbound gray whales – we watched a group of two become three, then four, and eventually six whales were traveling south together- quite an awesome sight!!
one group of two and five singlesTOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE ➡️ 257 southbound
🟦 16 harbor seals with an outgoing tide
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2026
Another ideal day for observing whales. Calm ocean, no wind, excellent visibilty. There was offshore fog which fortunately stayed offshore throughout our observation period.
AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:
💠 36 southbound gray whales – one group of three, twelve pairs, and nine singles
💠 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE 🟰 244 southbound 💠
🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆
💠 65 harbor seals
💠 3 brown pelicans flying south
💠 1 great blue heron
💠 2 American kestrels
💠 1 Northern harrier
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2026
Ideal observation conditions today! No wind, sunny, calm ocean, excellent visibility. Blows remained suspended and heads, backs, and flukes were visible.
AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:
🔷 36 southbound gray whales – one group of four, three groups of three, six groups of two, and eleven singles; one whale breached four times
🔷 108 harbor seals
🔷 2 great egrets foraging on the rocks
🔷 1 great blue heron
🔷 2 black oystercatchers
🔷 1 red-tailed hawk
🔷 1 American kestrel
🟩🟦🟩🟦🟩🟦🟩🟦🟩🟦🟩🟦🟩🟦🟩🟦🟩🟦
🔶 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE = 208 southbound 🔶
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2026
Our day at the Point Arena Lighthouse began with a completely cloudy sky and a great deal of haziness. Eventually, the sun did shine through and our ability to see blows improved greatly. Some haziness remained but visibility was good.
AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:
🔺 7 southbound gray whales – one deuce and five singles; some were as close as 1/2 mile offshore and others were between 3 and 4 miles offshore
🔺 74 harbor seals
🔺 1 Ferruginous hawk
🔺 1 great blue heron
🔺 2 American kestrels
🔺 5 brown pelicans flying south
🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆
🔷 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE ▶️ 172 southbound 🔷
