News from Observation Post #10 Half Moon Bay, California, United States Sherry and the Queen of Hearts crew Report: April 28: After having spectacular trips in February and the beginning of March, the counts really dropped off significantly and we had a really tough time spotting any whales this past month. Unfortunately our trips this past weekend were cancelled due to too much wind and swell in the ocean forecast. Our fishing season opens up this Friday, ending our whale watching trips for this season. April 19: We saw a northbound mother and calf about a mile offshore and five or so miles below our harbor! But the previous four trips were whale-less. Not sure if the whales have decided to travel further offshore than their usual trek, or if we're just in the wrong spot at the wrong time, or if they're just being sneaky. April 13: It's been pretty quiet in our area. We went out yesterday morning and afternoon and didn't find any whales on either trip. We had two trips a week ago; we were skunked on one and only got a distant fleeting glance of a whale on the other trip. We still have two more weekends scheduled for whale watching...hope some of those mommies and babies will swim our direction! We did have an absolutely phenominal trip the beginning of March; one of the customers sent me a link to his video of a breaching gray whale. You might like it: see UTube. Feb. 21: Aboard The Queen of Hearts, we finally ran our first whale watching trip of the season after completing most of our annual wintertime maintenance. We were able to sneak in a trip this past Saturday, February 21 between the rainstorms that have settled in on California this past month. Capt. Bob headed out and down from our harbor in Half Moon Bay, towards what is known as the Deep Reef area, and found a group of three adult gray whales traveling northbound about 10 miles offshore. They seemed a bit skittish and shy, so he kept his distance but was able to track them for quite a while, giving everyone onboard several glimpses of these magnificent mammals. Weather and interest permitting, we will be offering whale watching trips on weekends through April, so hopefully I'll have more reports for you soon.     Half Moon Bay, California (37.50N, -122.40W)