After a long morning of heavy thick  fog and 5-10% visibility, the marine layer lifted just enough to see 17 whales pass along the coast in the afternoon.  At one point there was a total of 7 whales in 3 different groups  displaying nearly every whale behavior including, bubble blasts, spyhopping,  fluke swishing, rolling, pectoral … Continue reading 17 Gray Whales on the Seventeenth of March

Spotting Gray Whales in heavy fog is difficult but not impossible as I learned today.  In  six hours I observed  four migrating gray whales in three separate sightings. Listening for the audible blows in  5 % visabilty helped me identify one whale  along with a very excited group of unsuspecting beach goers visiting from Echo … Continue reading Spotting Gray Whales in Heavy Fog

Early morning clouds changed to mid day rain before finally moving south leaving rough choppy water and strong gusty winds.  Thankfully at least one gray whale was observed traveling north 500 yards out from shore on the northern migration  path. 

Today,  following the calendar command to "march forth", the gray whales traveled through our observation area with speed .  The four hour sampling day ended with four whales in four stops along the coast at sunset displaying various gray whale behaviors including spyhopping, rolling, fluking  and spouting heart shaped blows.