Rain all last night. Clear and sunny today with air Temperature 46-60 degrees. Water Temperature 55 degrees. Earlier in the morning REW saw a trio of gray whales ~5 miles out and a solo whale in surf plus 3 humpbacks feeding ~1.5 miles off shore.

The Humpback whales remained in the area most of the day venturing further off shore westwardly to continue feeding.

Coastal bottlenose dolphins surfed alongside surfers today, delighting beach goers with leaps and porpoising out of the water several times.

Weather changed as the wind picked up 18-20 mph with gusts 25+mph as dark storm clouds rolled overhead and out to the horizon. A trio of gray whales came in close together migrating parallel to the surf line. One whale was underweight with visible scapula depressions. Two solo whales were seen hours apart and miles offshore to the south of the humpbacks by way of large tall blows and dark bodies but were not re-sighted further north and of undermined species.

A snowy egret hunted in tidal zone.

The day ended with an Elephant Seal pup up onshore at Tower One. The pup was the highlight for a group of young adults from the mid west who had never seen an elephant seal let alone an Elephant Seal pup. A large crowd gathered and it took effort to keep the group a safe distance away from the resting marine mammal. The pups wash ashore after days of rough surf and struggling to feed themselves. Often they are underweight and need to be rescued and then given medical support from the Marine Mammal Rescue from the team at the California Wildlife Center gain weight and be released back into the wild. Tonight the Center was overwhelmed with critical patients and the lifeguards on duty were slammed with sunset beach goers too. Thankfully helpful beach goers helped secure the area and a local friend was able to help with signs and assist keeping people the required distance away to allow the pup to rest but eventually as the sun was setting the pup suddenly woke up, went back into the sea using its front flippers and belly to pull or propel itself forward leaving the telltale track marks made by this movement pattern. The CWC will be on the lookout tomorrow morning in case it washes back in further up or down along the coast. Here is a report on the first Elephant Seal Pup to strand on March 17th, 2023.

Sunset was spectacular with fiery reds, oranges and yellows as a fishing vessel made its way across a dark blue sea. Point Dume Natural Preserve was bathed in beautiful golden rays lighting up the rock climbing wall and pink and lavender clouds moved out into the Santa Monica Bay.