News
from Observation Post #6 Journey
North thanks Alisa
Schulman-Janiger, Director,
Summary
April 28, 2009 - May 12, 2009 May 12: Our first gray whale cow/calf pair showed up at 11:30 a.m., moving slowly along the kelpline. The second cow/calf pair popped up a short time later, moving by at a much faster rate; this mother had lots of white on her head and flukes that appeared as a nice turquoise marker underwater as she and her calf headed offshore. May 11: Although we did not see any gray whales today, we did see common dolphin, as well as a pod of two dozen nearshore bottlenose dolphin surfing on a boat wake right in front of us. May
10: Today's only whale sighting was a minke whale that
passed us about one mile offshore. We also saw many thousands
of common dolphin and some bottlenose dolphin. However, the sighting
for the day was not a cetacean: it was A SEA OTTER FEEDING ON
LOBSTER IN THE KELPBED! Sea otters are very RARELY May 9: Our first gray whale quickly swam by, within 1/2 mile of shore. At 9:30 a.m. when this whale was nearly out of sight, the second gray whale briefly appeared 1/2 mile offshore. May 8: Our first sighting was a gray whale cow/calf pair; both had white pigment, making them easy to track underwater. The other sighting was a single low-profile whale. Its faint blows challenged us, but its white head aided underwater tracking. May 7: Our two cow/calf pairs arrived together, with one cow keeping a low profile. They spilt up just after passing us; one pair headed further offshore, while the other stayed closer to shore. May 6: Dense fog obscured our view from 8am through 1pm; we did not see any gray whales, but we did see a huge pod of many thousands of common dolphin and two pods of bottlenose dolphin. May 5: We watched our gray whale cow/calf pair from about 5:30pm to nearly 6:00pm as they traveled close to shore. FOUR KILLER WHALES highlighted our day for over four hours, starting at 8am. We saw a huge breach and several lunges about two miles offshore that turned out to be a large male killer whale (huge dorsal fin), a smaller male, and two female-types. They zig-zagged repeatedly over an area from one mile to two miles offshore, spending over two hours in one area with low circling and diving birds (apparently feeding). May 4: We watched our single gray whale blow a few times very close to shore before we lost it in the haze. May 3: Only early birds got to see today's gray whales. The cow/calf pair passed very close to shore before 6am. The other gray whale, a juvenile, cruised by near 9 a.m. May 2: Although we did not see any gray whales today, we did see other types of cetaceans: a humpback whale that performed many spyhops and a lobtail, a fin whale, and bottlenose dolphin. May 1: Both gray whale cow/calf pairs came by close to shore. The first pair displayed lots of prints and backs, and finally a blow when they were nearly out of sight. Our second pair showed blows and backs as they travelled along the edge of the kelp. A sea lion that accompanied them kept popping up, making it quite easy to track them for a long distance. April 30: Our first gray whale cow/calf pair steadily headed in a straight line. The calf in the next sighting stayed inside along the edge of the kelp. Our last cow/calf pair kept a low profile as they headed inshore straight toward us. We never saw a blow, but the turquoise underwater appearance of this very white mother made it easy for us to track her. April 29: The gray whale cow/calf pair kept a low profile. As we were tracking them, we found the third whale. April 28: Today we recorded this season's highest gray whale calf count: five cow/calf pairs! The first calf fluked (a rare sight for calves), and then swam on its side and milled in the kelp very close to us. Another cow/calf pair caught up with a single adult. This calf traveled along the edge of the kelp, with the two adults on the outside. As they started to head offshore, bottlenose dolphin showed up; the whales headed back to the kelpline with the dolphin. These dolphin also escorted the next cow/calf pair. Our last cow/calf pair moved along the kelpline and headed into the next cove. A single juvenile whale passed us. Summary
April 14, 2009 - April 27, 2009: April 27: Our two gray whale cow/calf pairs traveled loosely together, one just above the kelpline and the other 1/2 mile offshore. These low-profile whales showed backs and flukeprints. April 26: First up today: two gray whale cow/calf pairs traveling together, so close along the kelpline that we could hear their blows. One calf headed toward shore, but its mother pushed it back out. Four bottlenose dolphin accompanied these whales, including one with coloring more like a common dolphin. Our next two gray whales were singles; one kept a very low profile, while the other kept to an unusual cycle of just one blow per surfacing. April 25: We did not spot any confirmed gray whales in today's choppy seas. The whales that we did see could not be identified. April 24: We spotted one nearshore gray whale cow/calf pair; blows and backs were visible before they switched to low profile swimming, leaving only prints to mark their passage. April 23: No gray whales today, but we did get to see two fin whales, several pods of nearshore bottlenose dolphin, and a pod of common dolphin. April 22: Our first cow/calf pair headed out into the bay. The second pair kept a low profile and stayed nearshore. The single whale surfaced once very nearshore, blew and arched its back, then disappeared. April 21: Our first gray whale kept a very low profile (accompanied by two sea lions), unlike our three cow/calf pairs that treated us to a close-to-shore viewing. On one sighting we saw the pair going into the kelp and then travel north within the kelpline for a time before moving just outside the kelp. On another sighting the cow and calf passed directly below us, very close to two kayakers. On our last cow/calf sighting the calf changed sides a few time (probably nursing); they started to head offshore, but changed direction and headed into the next cove. April 20: We finally spotted our only gray whale at 3:30pm; it was close to shore, just beyond the kelpline. We watched its blows, back, and flukes for 30 minutes. April 19: Our large adult gray whale came just after 4pm, announcing itself with blows, back, and flukes. April 18: Both of our gray whale sightings occurred between 7:30 am and 8:00 am. We saw a very low-profile gray whale cow/calf pair half a mile offshore, followed a short time later by a large whale with no visible blows. April 17: Our first gray whale was a snorkler; we tracked it by whaleprints and blowholes. The second gray whale displayed blows and its back, but was tough to track as it passed through the sunline. April 16: Three of our four gray whale sightings followed the kelp line. During our first sighting we saw a calf riding on its mother's pectoral fin. Then we saw another cow/calf pair; this calf was quite small. The next sighting was very low-profile, although we could see these whales underwater. The last sighting was a juvenile. April 15: Very high winds greatly hindered today's observations. We finally spotted our only gray whale sighting at 4:30 pm: two cow calf pairs traveling together (an unusual sight). They were about three quarters of a mile offshore. We were rewarded when ONE OF THE CALVES BREACHED - AT LEAST SEVEN TIMES! Once the calf came up with its mouth open. Another time it shot up and hung in the air, almost like a dolphin doing a tail-walk. We watched them for nearly half an hour before they disappeared into the wide sunline.
Summary March 31, 2009 - April 13, 2009:
April 13: The gray whales book-ended our day: three came before 7:30 am, and four came after 5:00 pm. The first cow/calf pair was low profile, with the calf on the left side of its mother (further from shore). The next cow/calf pair milled very close to shore; this calf lifted its head out of the water. The last two whales were large adults that came so close to shore that we heard them blow; they milled and fluked. April 12: Both of our gray whale cow/calf pairs came close to shore. The second calf popped its head up several times. (The local whalewatch boat reported that this calf was breaching in the next cove - out of our view). We saw two humpback whales: one was huge and the other small, so they were probably a cow/calf pair. They lunged (at one point both were lunging), lobtailed, and fluked; the small whale flipper-slapped. April 11: Our two gray whale cow/calf pairs came by within an hour of each other. The first pair stayed just beyond the kelp: the calf was usually on the right side of mom, but did switch sides at one point (possibly nursing). The second pair were a little further offshore and tougher to track. We did not find the last pair of whales until they were right in front of us. There were two humpbacks (probably a cow/calf pair) that we watched for most of the day as they breached, lunged, and spyhopped. April 10: Today's gray whale calf was quite independent. The cow had to turn around to fetch her calf - twice. The calf also rolled over its mother. Our last sighting may have been another cow/calf pair, but they were so low profile that we could not confirm this. April 9: Our first three whales traveled separately; the last sighting was a cow/calf pair. This pair had just come into view very come to us (near "whale rock") when a boat came into this area; we did not find the pair again. April 8: Both gray whale sightings came between 8am and 10am, within 1/3 mile of shore. We heard the blows of the first pair. April 7: Today was a day for BREACHES! A gray whale breached right in front of us. A nearshore cow/calf pair went into the next cove. Then the calf breached, spyhop, and lunged. April 6: Today's only gray whales: a cow-calf pair that came by just after five pm, very close to shore. April 5: We tallied four pairs of gray whales today. Two large whales stayed about two miles offshore, while the others were very close to shore. The cow in the first cow/calf pair rolled; we saw that the calf's head had an unusually large amount of whale lice on it. April 4: Our pair of stealthy adult gray whales didn't show up until nearly 4pm, and were quite tough to track. April 3: Our first gray whale came by late in the morning, half a mile offshore. The cow/calf pair passed us just beyond the kelp line, with the calf on the right side of its mother - nearest to the kelp. Although they expelled the lightest of blows, their distinctive flukeprints helped us track them. April 2: FANTASTIC WHALEWATCHING today, starring a northbound CALF! Our first cow/calf pair was accompanied by a juvenile; it is EXTREMELY rare to have a trio with both a calf and a juvenile. The CALF SPYHOPPED! They milled right in from of us. We heard blows, saw a plume of sand as one whale surfaced, and then saw a BUBBLEBLAST and pectoral fins waving. To top it off, we were treated to the sight of the CALF RESTING ON THE COW'S BACK! Five of our seven sightings were low profile; we tracked one sighting by the trail of prints that surfaced every three to five minutes. The second cow/calf pair first blew clearly, and then went low profile with the calf on the cow's right side (closer to shore in a more protected position). April 1: A pod of five large gray whales highlighted our day. For nearly an hour, we watched them as they came within a half mile of shore. At one point all five whales fluked — one by one. The second sighting was a pair of very low profile whales that we spotted just before sunset. March
31: Gray whales passed in pulses today: there was a five
hour gap between our first two sightings and the next sighting.
One came close enough to hear Summary
March 17-30: ACS/LA Gray Whale Census volunteers at
Point Vicente have counted 87 northbound and 2 southbound gray
whales; ten of these days have varied from 4-7, with daily
counts as high as 15 whales (March 23). Our northbound migration
peaked
earlier this season: 29 northbound gray whales on March 4 and
March 7. At 507 northbound gray whales, we are slightly below
our 10-year average but well above last season's 395 gray whales
(last season we had a very late migration). March 30: One large gray whale was easy to track and fluked occasionally. Two of the four sightings were very low profile. We spotted fin whales at many times throughout the day. March
29: All six gray whales came in one pulse - between
1:30pm and 3:00 pm. The first sighting — a pod of three — blew
strong white plumes and showed lots of back as they dove, raising
their flukes high into the air. The next two sightings were
not very showy; one was low profile. One sighting milled. We
could not March 28: Today we saw our FIRST NORTHBOUND COW/CALF PAIR FOR THIS SEASON! Our first sighting of the day was of this CALF - WITH TWO ADULTS! Virtually every cow/calf pair that we see travels without associates, so this was a special treat. The calf was slightly behind and near the right pectoral fin of the whale on the right, hugging the kelpline the whole way. This close proximity to kelp is a migration bias especially for cow/calf pairs: this allows quick access to both a resting/nursing area and a refuge from potential killer whale attacks, which will become especially important as the cow/calf pair enters the predator-treacherous waters of Monterey Bay. March
26: Today's highlight: 30 minutes watching THREE GRAY WHALES
EXHIBITING MATING BEHAVIOR just 1/4 mile offshore, as bottlenose
dolphin checked them out! We saw rolling, with pectoral fins
and flukes held high in the air, then slowly and gracefully
slipping back into the water. Their heads kept sticking up,
looking as if one whale was lifting another out of the water!
Bottlenose dolphin moved March 25: The ocean was very flat and silvery, unlike the past several days that have been plagued with high winds. Most of our gray whales maintained low profiles. One whale passed us with the lowest possible profile in a behavior called "snorkling". We saw a little bit of back at first; then it surfaced in the middle of the kelp showing just its blowholes, although we could see it clearly underwater. We never saw a visible blow, but it did leave a very small fluke print. We heard the blows on another sighting. The southbound whale passed us about a mile offshore as we tracked it for about a half hour. March 24: The past few days of high winds brought outstanding
visibility conditions, although some whitecaps hampered tracking
of low-profile whales. Our gray whales came in the afternoon,
mostly in pairs. Two nearshore pairs joined up, accompanied by
sea lions that jumped all around these whales as they March 23: Lots of whale and dolphin activity today! At one point we were watching two gray whale pods: the outside pair was 1 mile offshore, and the inside trio was 1/4 mile offshore. We heard the blows of the three nearshore adults milling right down below us; we could see them underwater as they rolled and fluked. The outside pod moved in and joined the inside pod; these five whales briefly mingled and then each took off in different directions. Two adult whales in another sighting also milled. We spotted a fin whale three miles offshore that moved further offshore. March 22: Morning rain and afternoon wind challenged our observers today, Our first gray whales was a trio that consistently surfaced together. A gray whale in one of the sightings lunged and rolled. Our whale highlight of the day featured a HUMPBACK WHALE that BREACHED six times! Mid-day, the winds built up to Beaufort 7 — near gale force. With whitewater everywhere, it was impossible to sight whales. March 21: We had a pair of long-winded gray whales that frequently stayed down for 10 minutes. Another gray whale slowly cruised along the kelpline. We spotted a humpback whale about four miles offshore. A whalewatch boat that followed it reported that this juvenile whale was BREACHING and FLIPPER-SLAPPING. We wish that it had been closer to shore! March
19: Extensive fog again restricted our visibility.
Our first whale surfaced for a short time, then disappeared
into the fog.
Our second whale, an adult, was much easier to track, and fluked
nicely. Then we found a whale that tightly hugged the kelpline.
Our last two whales came together after 5pm about 1/2 mile
offshore; they blew about seven times on each surfacing, and
both fluked as they went down for the long dive. We followed
a fin
whale that surfaced so close to shore that we assumed that
it was a gray whale — until we saw its dorsal fin.
We also spotted several large
pods of common March 18: FOG today REALLY limited our visibility. We couldn't even see the water (let alone any whales) from 9am-3pm. Shortly after the fog cleared we found a low-profile whale, which we tracked by flukeprints. The whalewatch vessel Voyager reported another whale in the area: we searched for it and found this whale when it BREACHED! Our next whale, a southbound adult, swam in circles and slowly worked its way south. Near sunset we found two more northbound whales. We tracked a pair of fin whales two miles offshore. We watched hundreds of common dolphin feeding everywhere—until the fog rolled in. At the end of this frustrating observation day our efforts were rewarded by a group of very surface-active bottlenose dolphin: they would fly out of the water and then fall with huge splashes. Summary
up to March 16: Our
official turn-around date (when daily northbound whales
exceed southbound whales) was February 10, definitely on
the early
side for us. This season we have had an unusual overlap
of migrations: we were watching both southbound and northbound
whales for seveal days. Normally, we have a gap period in mid-February with
few
gray whales observed during the lull between migrations. Spyhopping and breaching
gray whales, lunging fin whales, breaching humpbacks, a minke whale, countless
thousands of common dolphin, Pacific white-sided dolphin, bottlenose dolphin,
and Risso's dolphin have all been sighted within the past two weeks off PVIC.
We even spotted a probable Brydes whale: this would be the first ever record
for this tropical species in our waters!
March 16: Today's count included 16 northbound gray whales. Our gray whale highlight was a pod of five rolling whales that came within a mile offshore. Two sightings milled: one rolled, and the other logged on the surface. March 15: Today's interesting behaviors included spyhopping gray whales from two different sightings: one spyhopped next to a dive boat (we rarely see spyhops). Whales in two sightings came close enough for us to hear the blows, while those in two other sightings milled. We watched on odd, unidentified whale lunge and quickly pass through our viewing area; it might have been a Brydes whale. March 14: Many of our gray whales passed nearshore in low-profile mode; all came after 1pm. The whalewatch vessel Voyager spotted Our southbound whale nearly three miles offshore. March 12: Our favorite sighting was a pod of four gray whales that came in very close to shore: one whale LUNGED, followed by two BREACHES! One sighting milled. Four of our nine sightings snorkled by with low profiles. March 11: Although most gray whales passed nearshore, we had trouble tracking three sightings because of the overcast sky and one because it was low-profile. We found two pods of four whales. Although one of these large pods was 4 miles offshore, we confirmed through our spotting scope that they were rolling with common dolphin leaping around them. Things continued to get interesting as we tracked both northbound and southbound whales simultaneously; one of the southbound whales was a large adult. March 10: It was quite nice to see two larger pods of four whales each, especially when one of these pods came in close to shore: we could hear them blow as they rolled and milled. Two different whales did a head lift; one of these lifted its head out of the kelp. Our southbound whale showed up after 6pm. March 9: One gray whale BREACHED very close to shore this morning, starting off our day with a huge splash. We tracked two major whale pulses: ten whales from 12pm-1pm, then nine whales from 3pm-3:30pm. The first pulse started with a loose pod of four, followed by three pairs that joined up and milled right below us. They split up: one group of three moved on, while we watched the remaining three whales for over an hour as they milled nearby and then headed slowly offshore. The second pulse included pods of three, two, and four whales. Nine of the ten sightings included fluking whales (a high percentage for us). March 8: Seven different species of cetaceans and two rolling pods of gray whales highlighted this very interesting day! The first rolling pod had four whales (one small and three large). We heard the blows as they milled and rolled very close to shore; one even SPYHOPPED (a VERY rare sight here)! March 7: Today was the annual "Whale of a Day" celebration at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center - our observation station. Bell ringing announced each sighting as hundreds of guests joined our observers to witness one of our highest counts recorded during this event. Two southbound gray whales bucked the steady flow of 20 northbound sightings. Almost all were very close to shore, and one sighting milled. March 6: Instead of coming in pulses today, sightings were spread throughout the day. Two sightings milled. One whale hung around the edge of the kelp for over 30 minutes. Two sightings were low profile. March 5: Our 11 sightings of gray whales streamed by in two pulses today: 10am-12pm and 4:30pm-6pm. One pair of whales rolled as they interacted with bottlenose dolphin and sea lions. A pod of three whales also rolled around together. March 4: Today was a great gray whale day, with few lulls and most sightings close to shore; four sightings came close enough for us to to see them underwater. Pod sizes varied throughout our 18 sightings: one of 5, three of 3, and the rest were 1-2. Some traveled loosely together: whales separated and joined, switching between three sightings. Some whales milled; at one point, two were circled in opposite directions. Most were large adults, and a few were juveniles. Bottlenose dolphin were swimming around one of the sightings. March 3: An unusually large pod of six gray whales really helped today's count. Larger pods generally pass further offshore; we found this pod 4 miles offshore, and tracked it for over an hour and a half as they came within 2 miles offshore. We watched two very slow-moving whales for over an hour as they approached within 1/4 mile offshore. Two other sightings hugged the coastline. March 2: Today we had this season's highest gray whale count so far, aided by three pods of three whales and two pods of two whales (our typical sightings are single whales). Most were adults. We heard blows on two sightings and saw flukes on six of the nine sightings. The highlight of the day: one pod of three whales interacted with 4-6 bottlenose dolphin for over an hour. The whales rolled — showing pectoral fins, flukes, and bellies — while the dolphin jumped over the whales' heads! At one point they were so close that we could see them underwater. One whale surfaced with a half-lunge. March 1: When our large southbound gray whale fluked, we saw a very distinctive white mark on the fluke's underside (useful for individual ID). Our first northbound whale stayed close to the kelp and went into every cove. We saw some fin whales, and one of them did something that was quite amazing. It porpoised out of the water like a dolphin, almost folding in half as it reentered the water — an extremely rare sight! Thousands of common dolphin were in scattered groups everywhere, and we also spotted bottlenose and Pacific white-sided dolphin. Feb.26: Our first gray whale announced itself by BREACHING twice, very close to shore, and then went low-profile. One pair of whales passed about 3/4 mile offshore. Our last two whales were difficult to track: one was 2 miles offshore in haze, while the other one had a very faint blow and headed into the sun line. Feb. 25: One very slow-moving gray whale BREACHED close to shore. This whale traveled less than 1/4 mile in 75 minutes: it would stay down 10-15 minutes and then pop up in nearly the same spot. While watching this whale we found two other whales. One sighting was over 5 miles offshore. Feb. 24: Whales in six of the eight sightings fluked. We saw an interesting gray whale "dance" today: a northbound and a southbound whale met at the transect, milled for a while, and then each continued on their way. Feb. 23: We saw flukes on four of the seven gray whale sightings today. One whale was quite low-profile. A northbound whale — one of a pair — woke us up near the end of the day as it BREACHED very close to us. Feb. 21: We saw flukes on four of the five gray whale sightings. One whale raised its very large flukes right below us. A few weekend pleasure boats came too close to a pair of whales and the whales parted. Another sighting turned low profile and became hard to track due to silvery seas and hazy conditions. We also spotted common, bottlenose, and Pacific white-sided dolphin; at one point there were common dolphin everywhere. Feb. 20: We saw flukes on two of five sightings; one gray whale's flukes had turned up edges. One whale kept a low profile. Feb. 19: Our first gray whale was a fluking southbound whale. Then we saw four northbound whales. Our next whale was a southbound whale that we watched for an hour; it came in to the kelp line, milled several times, then finally headed south again. The next two whales milled long enough for a 3rd whale to join them, so close that we heard their blows. Feb. 18: Most of today's gray whales passed by close to shore. We saw one whale interact with bottlenose dolphin again today: the whale swam on its back for some distance with its pectoral fins up in the air. Feb. 17: We saw flukes on six of the seven gray whale sightings. Today's highlight was a pod of three northbound adult gray whales. One split off and headed further offshore. The other two came very close to shore, encountered some bottlenose dolphin, and rolled with them as the dolphin jumped over the whales' heads! Feb. 16: Lots of wind and rain hindered today's observations. We did not spot our northbound gray whale until it was in front of us, about a mile offshore; it headed further offshore. Feb. 14: The whalewatch boats followed our first gray whale as it headed offshore; we saw it just once. The northbound whale fluked. We watched a pair of slow-moving southbound whales for nearly an hour; these submerged for long 10-minute dives. Feb 13: Seven sightings today! Three of our gray whales were juveniles. We watched our northbound adult for a long time, helped by backlighting that made its blows stand out. Feb. 12: The southbound whale was a small whale that we saw before 7am. We did not see the northbound whale until about 5pm. Feb. 11: It looks like the northbound gray whale migration is well underway — a bit earlier than usual. Two whales milled. we saw rolling on another sighting. One whale did a head lunge, Another whale thrust its head high just before it took its deep dive. Feb. 10: We had a rush of four different sightings between 8:30 and 9am. We saw adult whales both southbound and northbound. Feb. 9: We were lucky to spot the two whales that we did see. Once we thought we saw a blow, but the waves were huge and the wind was picking up a lot of spray. Feb. 3: We heard blows on two of our early morning sightings; one was easy to track because it was large and loud. With 11 whales today, twice we were tracking whales going north and south at the same time. Feb. 1: Since they began watching on Dec. 1, ACS/LA volunteers have counted 18 newborn whale babies heading south with their moms. Many more whales are still heading south at this time. (See graph at right.) How many total northbound whales have been counted so far? January 16, 2009: A whale watcher with ACS/LA saw a northbound whale! "In 18 of the last 23 seasons we have seen a northbound whale by now. We watched it for a long time, until it got beyond the kelp off of Rocky Point. All of our southbound whales came between 2 and 2:30pm." On the Feb. 3 start of Journey North last year (2008) ACS/LA had counted more whales southbound than the entire season for the 1990-91 and 1994-95 counts. They also had more cow/calf pairs than the total cow/calves in 12 of the last 24 seasons. That was below average, but still passed a number of seasons. The first northbound cow/calf of last year's season was spotted March 8. How will the 2009 migration compare?
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Members of the public are invited to join in and help spot whales at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center; call (310) 377-5370 for directions.
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