Wildflowers are abundant along the hills and canyons roads in the Santa Monica Mountains. The cooler temperatures and ongoing marine layer and drizzly weather have contributed to vibrant display of colors at a prolonged rate of time. The lupine started blooming in February and have tripled in volume and size. Wild oats and wheat fill in along fields with fiddlenecks, sage and other native plants.

Mylar balloons drift in and out of the surf after its use at a celebratory event. These balloons travel on the wind easily and get pulled out into the open ocean on windy days. Today one washed in with the tide and a beach goer thoughtfully pulled it out of the water for proper disposal. Looking carefully at the balloon shows the gold metallic layer has worn away in the elements and these micro particles sink to the bottom where the gray whales and other marine life feed. Please avoid bringing mylar balloons to the beach to save wildlife habitat and dispose of them responsibly in the garbage.

One underweight gray whale observed with neck depressions indicating a loss of blubber and altered body composition. The solo whale was inside the surf line in less than six to ten feet of water. The whale displayed feeding behaviors, headlifts and mini spyhops with sand spewing out of the mouth. Sharking behavior was seen where part of the fluke and part of the flipper or pectoral fin pokes out of the water as the whale swims along the bottom of the sand to feed causing the exposed anatomy to look similar to large shark behaviors and movement. The body shapes from a distance or unknowing observer have been mistaken for sharks.

Green flash at sunset. Pylons visible again in the little (small) point area where the new rip rap wall filled in the massive erosion earlier this winter. High winds and rough surf with ongoing changes in weather patterns is making it hard for the sand to fill back in this year.