Sunday April 9th, 2023 Easter Sunday

Heavy fog, marine layer with decreased visibility; less than 250 yds at times. Two sightings despite near white out conditions on most of this Easter Sunday. One solo whale was tracked by footprints. One cow/calf pair spotted; the second pair of the season! The mother (cow) is underweight with protruding scapula and mild depression along her spine. She has a distinct white identification patch shaped like a chick in a basket on the right side.

The Calf tried to slow down, changing directions and sides but the mother continued to migrate at a steady pace. Typically calves are seen alternating sides of travel, indicating likely nursing behavior. Calfs consume up to 55 gallons of breast milk a day which is made of 53 % butter fat and 6% protein leading to 60-70 pounds of weight gain per day! At Point Dume the pairs often stop along the bluff and rest for a few minutes to nurse but this pair migrated straight through. Still the side changes and direction changes of the calf allowed good views of the left side which is not seen as often so closely and an even rarer glimpse of the back to front view of the dorsal lumbar caudal ridge area.

The cow/calf pair left the transect with the calf on the right closest to shore.

A fishing boat with divers and a dog seen slowly passing close to shore heading north before the fog rolled in again with white out conditions.

Sunny and bright blue skies a mile or so inland with wildflower blooms in the hills. Paramount Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains has a beautiful display of fiddle necks and poppies that fill the hills and the typically dry grass parking lots.