May 4th, 2014 Sunday

23 North Bound 10 Calves 0 South Bound 7.5 hrs

Sunny warm and humid in Upper 70’s with 1-3 mph wind most of the day. Water Temperature 65. Non stop Gray Whales with 10 Cow/calf pairs, one pod of 3 pairs and a quad with 2 pairs together.

Many whales in the cow/ calf pairs were rolling, head lifts, spy hopping and calves interacting with each other. Direction changes, back floating, feeding with sand spewing out of mouths was observed in the Mothers (Cows) and Calves (babies). Logging or resting alternated with interesting interactions between the mothers (cows) corralling the calves.

Several Gray Whales had white patches making it possible to re-identify them individually in the future. One Gray Whale Cow was underweight with visible scapula areas which are typically covered in a thick layer of blubber. One Gray Whale had heavy load of barnacles covering left side of rostrum (head) and upper dorsal back areas. The right side was clear of barnacles, exposing the dimpled indented areas where hair follicles were are at birth.

One Gray Whale’s fluke was displayed during a “sharking” behavior. This is where the tip of the fluke is visible above water , looking like the dorsal fin triangular shape of a shark. This fluke had healed older white striped scars from Orca (Killer Whale) bites. These unique scars can help with identifying this whale in future sightings. Beach goers enjoyed the whales from shore and in the rocks at the Point. Respectful surfers and or scuba divers waited and watched while the mother/calf pairs migrate through.

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