Tag Archives: Gray Whales

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Clear weather then moved in and two weeks ago Sunday looked to perfect for a pelagic trip out of Noyo harbor on the Kraken to look for seabirds and gray whales. Shari Goforth was ready her camera. She wrote, “With the break in the rain, sun and calm seas prevailed. Noyo Pelagics, on short notice, came up with enough people to take a half-day trip offshore to the Noyo Canyon. The water was perfect for the trip; the seas were calm, the air was cool with almost no wind, and the skies overcast.

“We were in the middle of the gray whale migration and were hoping to photo document gray whales for identification database. Within the first half hour, we spotted a breaching whale several miles toward the horizon. From then on, we began to see gray whale blows (forceful exhales creating a mist) and stayed the permitted legal distance of 100 yards away from them. We were surprised by humpbacks! It’s not the usual time of year to see humpbacks.

“The captain put the boat in idle (stopped the propeller) to avoid any potential propeller injuries in case we were approached by a curious whale, and we had several curious humpbacks surface near the boat. They don’t have to be very close to know that they have been feeding; their exhales smell strongly like fermented Brussel sprouts! Throughout the day, we photographed many humpback whales breaching, slapping their 15 foot-long front flippers on the water, and thrashing their tails, however, we were only able to get a few views of the underside of the humpbacks’ flukes, the view needed for ID. We had more success with the gray whales and have eight photos of individuals to submit for ID.” Shari and others submit their photos to http://Happywhale.com.

Noyo Pelagics is a collaboration between Mendocino Coast Audubon, The Noyo Center for Marine Science, and Anchor Charter Boats (the Kraken), based at Noyo Harbor, Fort Bragg. The trips are open to the public, check the website: http://www.noyopelagics.com for all day and half-day trips, or call for shorter whale watching trips.

Thanks to Shari for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

Toasty warm here today with no wind - unbelievable weather for March.

 

 

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It's an exciting time of year when we see the first mother/calf pairs of Gray Whales. On Monday, several pairs were seen quite close in at Black Point Beach off The Sea Ranch. A friend called Craig Tooley and he got this great photo of a calf.

You can tell this a calf born earlier this year because of his or her stubby nose/mouth area and there are no barnacles yet! Of course the size compared to his/her mom is another clue.

Karen Wilkinson is the friend who called Craig and she got some incredible photos too. I hope to post some of hers soon.

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

oh, today is such a lovely day. Warm - low 70's - and no wind.

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Shari Goforth-Eby recently photographed two Gray Whales swimming very close together. She thought she might have a mother/calf pair.

Scott Mercer took a look at Shari's photo and determined these are two adults swimming unusually close together. Here is what a mother/calf pair looks like. The calf, with its stubby head, is partially breaching next to its mother. This photo was taken by Paul Brewer a few years ago.

Scott and Tree Mercer have seen four mother/calf pairs so far this past week. More are headed our way. This weekend could be the perfect time to see if you can spot a pair. A sighting of a mother and her calf is sure to warm your heart - guaranteed!

Thanks to Shari and Paul for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

It's sunny, calm and beautiful on the Mendonoma Coast today!

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The beginning of the northward migration back to the Arctic has begun. The first Grays to head north are the newly pregnant females. They are swimming hard and fast for their feeding grounds. Shari Goforth saw several Gray Whales the other day off the bluffs of the Point Arena Lighthouse. Despite the distance, Shari got several great photos. Here is the tail of one of the Grays she saw.

And here is a collage of the two Gray Whales she saw.

Thanks to Shari for allowing me to share her photos with you here. To read her blog posts, here is the link: https://mendonomagraywhale.com/migraytions-blog-home?blog=y

We had sprinkles late yesterday, nice to get a little wet on an afternoon walk with friends. Today is sunny and warm, in the low sixties. There is no wind and the ocean is glistening like a million diamonds in the afternoon sun.

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The Gray Whale migration of mother/calf pairs is pretty much over. But a few weeks ago, Paul and Jacquie Brewer saw two sets of Gray Whale pairs swim past their Gualala home.

It's comforting to know the whales are swimming northward to their feeding grounds. We should be seeing other species of whales soon. We'll be looking for Humpbacks, Fin Whales and the largest of them all, Blue Whales in the days ahead. I did receive a sighting of several Orcas yesterday, Saturday. No photos, though.

Thanks to Paul for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Paul's nature photography, here is his website: http://www.capturingnatureswonders.com/

Early this morning the sound of raindrops woke me up - surprise! Not much, but a nice surprise. Then the clouds swept away, revealing a beautiful, warm spring day.

Spring doesn't know...