Recent Sightings
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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2024
After three days of persistent, dense fog, we finally had a sunny, warm, beautiful day with excellent visibility.
At the Point Arena Lighthouse we observed:
* 9 humpbacks
* 10 harbor seals
* 1 red-tailed hawk
* 1 American kestrel
* 3 black oyster catchers
At Saunders Reef we saw:
* 1 humpback
Shari Goforth-Eby observed 3-4 humpbacks at Gualala Point
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2024
On Saturday, September 21, Sara Bogard will present “Seals Beside Us: Harbor Seals and Other Inhabitants of the Point Arena Lighthouse and Stornetta Public Lands” at the Point Arena Lighthouse at 4:00 pm.
Another day of dense fog prevented us from observing whales at any location.
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2024
Dense fog at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula:
* no whales seen
* 4 harbor seals
* 1 red-tailed hawk
* 1 American kestrel
The fog at Saunders Reef retreated enough for a short while for us to see 1 humpback whale .
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2024
Observations at Saunders Reef in the morning:
* 4 foraging humpbacks
Observations from the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula:
* 4 foraging humpbacks
* 29 harbor seals
* 1 red-tailed hawk
* 1 American kestrel
* 4 Black Oyster Catchers
Observations from Saunders Reef in the afternoon:
* 6 foraging humpbacks
* 1 red-tailed hawk
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2024
Ship strike likely killed beached young fin whale A juvenile female fin whale, measuring 40 feet in length, had washed up on 10 Mile Beach north of Fort Bragg. Veterinarian Pádraig Duignan, director of pathology at the Marine Mammal Center, said that the preliminary cause of her death is ship-strike blunt force trauma. The whale was in excellent body condition and had no evidence of preexisting illness Observations from Saunders Reef:
* 4-6 humpbacks; 1 traveling south; the others foraging in the area