February 3-14 Daily Reports from ACS/LA
2/14/10
We saw flukes on all gray whale sightings. A pod of three gray whales
milled within a half mile offshore. One southbound whale was a
large adult. We also saw a possible minke whale, a few thousand
common dolphin, and some bottlenose dolphin.
2/13/10
This looks like our migration turn-around week. Typically in mid-February
we see gray whales going in both directions, with the primary direction
of travel switching from southbound to northbound. All of our gray
whales passed by this morning. We also tracked two separate fin
whales, as well as common dolphin and bottlenose dolphin.
2/12/10
We saw both southbound and northbound gray whales. At one point we
had a very large southbound gray whale pass quite close to a smaller
northbound gray whale; they swam past each other without interacting.
Bottlenose dolphin meandered just outside of the nearshore kelpbed
fairly close to these whales. We tracked at least one fin whale, as
well as common dolphin and bottlenose dolphin.
2/11/10
Our two northbound gray whales came by about 7:30 am, surfacing often
to blow; one was quite large and regularly fluked, while the other
one was a juvenile. We tracked at least one fin whales going back and
forth in foraging behavior; there were two distant unidentified whales
that were probably also fin whales. We spotted common dolphin, as well
as nearshore bottlenose dolphin.
2/10/10
One of our northbound gray whales milled with some dolphin. We also
spotted at least one fin whale, bottlenose dolphin, and Pacific
white-sided dolphin.
2/9/10
We watched a juvenile gray whale for nearly an hour. It did a very
high SPYHOP — a rare sight during migration — as it arrived
in front of us. As it fluked, we realized that some bottlenose dolphin
were
interacting with it. The whale rolled over and swam on its back as
the dolphin jumped around it. Staying at one spot, the whale would
come up, blow, and then roll on its back again; it repeated this behavior
three times and then moved on, out of our view. We watched another
large gray whale for over an hour. We also tracked fin whales and common
dolphin.
2/8/10
We watched one gray whale for over an hour, and another one just once
as it popped up very close to us and headed south out of our view.
We found a pod of five whales at 5pm. They fluked and milled, taking
forty minutes to get down to within a half mile offshore of our observation
site. We tracked a fin whale over the Redondo Canyon. We saw Risso's
dolphin that were very active at times. We also spotted bottlenose
dolphin flying out of the water, as well as some common dolphin and
Pacific white-sided dolphin.
2/7/10
Three of our gray whales came by between 3pm and 4pm. Our last whale
was a small whale that we found in the nearshore kelp just before
it left our field of view. We spotted bottlenose dolphin that swam
in a circle just above the kelpline.
2/6/10
Gray whales fluked in four of our five sightings. We watched the first
two southbound whales for almost an hour; one whale frequently dove
for ten long minutes, and milled in front of us. One northbound whale
was a juvenile with a faintly visible blow; we found the other one
after 5pm, and we saw it only twice before losing our light. We tracked
a fin whale that came within a mile offshore.
2/5/10
Poor sighting conditions included rain for most of the day and greatly
reduced visibility. Our southbound gray whale came at by at 8 am; we
watched it for twenty minutes. We saw some tall blows about three miles
offshore that probably came from a fin whale. We also spotted common
dolphin and bottlenose dolphin.
2/4/10
Both northbound gray whales stayed low profile. A loose pod of four
large gray whales started out about a mile and a half offshore; three
split off and came within a half mile offshore. We tracked a fin whale
about four miles offshore. We also spotted bottlenose dolphin and common
dolphin.
2/3/10
We watched our first gray whale for almost an hour as it kept moving
further offshore. The second whale was a juvenile; we saw it just twice,
right at the edge of the nearshore kelpbed. We tracked a fin whale
for most of the afternoon; it came within a mile offshore, and then
it worked its way west and off toward the horizon. Some
bottlenose dolphin did flips and headslaps, staying in front of us
for over an hour.
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