Tag Archives: Waterfall

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Michelle Gill took this lovely photo of a waterfall near Bowling Ball Beach after last week's rains.

I think it looks like a painting!

Here's the story on the Sea Otter sighting seen and videoed by Stephany Wilkes.

Sunday evening, March 29th,  Stephany and Ian Wilkes were taking a walk on the bluffs at The Sea Ranch. And they saw something in the water and they thought, “Could it be a sea otter?” Stephany wrote, “I know, I know, ‘It's almost certainly a river otter’ is what we say up here. And that's what Ian and I thought too, until we pretty quickly didn't. I took several videos tonight along the bluff between Helm and Solstice, between 5:23 and 5:37PM. We were running to keep up with it - it was really trucking! You could see its white whiskers in the sunset light, and it dove for several minutes, and was swimming with food on its belly (banging away and eating.) It covered a lot of distance and did not come anywhere very close to shore. What do you think?! Could it be a historic glimpse? I am hoping you'll know who else to ask!”

I sent the videos to various folks, including Jan Roletto of NOAA. Jan wrote, “Yes, it looks to me like a sea otter in the first and fourth videos. I see a shorter tail, round hind flippers, and while on its back, it's trying to break something open by pounding it with a rock.” Jan put me in touch with Colleen Young, a sea otter specialist with California Department of Fish and Wildlife. She wrote, “Thank you so much for forwarding these great videos! This is definitely a sea otter! We will add this to our database of sea otter sightings outside their established geographic range. Thanks again for looping me in!”

sea otter off Sea Ranch 2026-03-29 by Stephany Wilkes

Sea Otter by Stephany Wilkes

Sea Otter off TSR by Stephany Wilkes

Sea otters were abundant off our coast until they were hunted nearly into extinction by the 1880’s. While I know abalone enthusiasts and fisher people might disagree that this is a great sighting, sea otters are important to the ecology of the ocean. They voraciously eat purple urchins, thus protecting the kelp forests. It’s estimated that the ecosystems where sea otters live are 40% more productive, supporting a wide variety of marine life, from seabirds to whales.

Thanks to Michelle for allowing me to share her photo with you here and thanks to Stephany for allowing me to share her videos with you here!

If you can't view the videos, send me an email and I'll email a few to you.

It's cloudy and cold today with no wind.

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I love the Point Arena-Stornetta Lands. With all the rain, there is this beautiful waterfall to find as Mel Smith photographed. Hint: It's closer to the north end.

Mel noticed some cracking, some erosion on the southern end of the Lands. He brought his camera and young granddaughter to observe what was going on. A new blowhole has been born! Here in the link to Mel's video:

New blowhole at the Point Arena-Stornetta Lands by Mel Smith

Amazing! Thanks to Mel for allowing me to share his photo and video with you here.

Lots of overhead clouds have poured in this afternoon but no predicted rain. Temps in the high 50's.

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We had a vigorous storm overnight. Our rain gauge showed 1.39 inches. Allen Vinson went to Stengel Beach at The Sea Ranch today to see if the waterfall was going. It was!

This means our seasonal creeks have come to life after the dry months of summer and fall. There are many waterfalls to discover now, a fun adventure.

Thanks to Allen for allowing me to share his photo with you here.

The sun has appeared this afternoon, but it's chilly out and showers are still possible. It's a fun time to be on the Mendonoma Coast.

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Amy Ruegg was at Stengel Beach on The Sea Ranch recently. She wrote, “It has been beautiful seeing the waterways fill up, and the rain soak the earth.

The cloudy sunsets have been almost unbelievable of late, as if a piece of heaven fell to earth. I enjoyed seeing a splashing waterfall there. The tide was low as the sunset revealed a purple and an orange Sea Star clinging tightly to slippery rocks.”

Thanks to Amy for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

After a strong storm on Sunday, today is a different story. Sunny, with a few clouds to add interest, and cool temps. Come to the Mendonoma Coast to start your year off right!

 

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Allen Vinson was photographing some of the sights at The Sea Ranch recently. He saw a beautiful wave with rooster tails - the top water being blown off.

The sun was just coming up behind the trees, creating beautiful sunbeams.

And Allen found one of the Mendonoma coast's many waterfall.

Thanks to Allen for allowing me to share his photos with you  here. If you'd like to see more of Allen's nature photography, here is a link: http://allenvinson.smugmug.com/

Waterfalls should be full for this weekend after today's rain. We received a solid inch of the wet stuff.