Reports from Observation Post #6
Los Angeles, California, USA
News from the 2010 Season

Journey North thanks Alisa Schulman-Janiger, Director,
ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project

	Census-takers on the patio of the Point Vicente Interpretive Center. Pictured are: Natalie Massey, Linda Jebo, and Alisa Schulman-Janiger (left to right).
Photo Alisa Schulman-Janiger

Daily Counts At the ACS/LA

May 2010

May 15: Season ends with a record low count of northbound whales: 521. Read Alisa Schulman-Janiger's season summary here.

May 12: ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project trained volunteers at Point Vicente have counted 312 southbound and 520 northbound gray whales since December 1. Our northbound count to date remains our lowest in 27 years, about 150 gray whales less that this time last season. Again, this does NOT mean that the gray whale POPULATION has dropped to an alarmingly low number. A larger proportion of gray whales may be traveling offshore, beyond our spotting capabilities. Also, we continue to have an unusually large number of extended wind events: multiple days of high winds that whip
up the waves and blow the whale blows away, definitely impairing our
abilities to spot and track whales — expecially cow/calf pairs. Wind and
fog really frustrated us; we can't count what we can't see! We have counted 41 northbound cow/calf pairs, compared to 48 pairs at this
time last year. We have spotted 17 northbound gray whales over the past two weeks; 12 of these are due to 6 NORTHBOUND COW/CALF PAIRS, considerably lower than we typically see during this time period. (We generally spot just 2 gray whales daily at this time of year.)

We hope to pick up a few more gray whales before this season's census project ends this Saturday, May 15. I'll update our final counts and this page with my season summary, posted during the summer. Several of us will continue to whalewatch periodically throughout the summer: seasonal treats often include nearshore blue whales and fin whales, as well as several species of dolphin. Please come join us on the patio at Point Vicente Interpretive Center!

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PAST TWO WEEKS:
We watched gray whale calves nursing and milling and spyhopping, fin whale and humpback whale cow/calf pairs, breaching humpback and minke whales, spyhopping killer whales, and lots of dolphin. Our favorite gray whale sighting for this period was a cow/calf pair that came in close to shore and repeatedly raised their heads out of the water during our annual potluck picnic. The food had to wait while we watched this active pair!

May 11: Our cow calf pair was first spotted at 6:30 this morning. They were about a mile and a half off shore and they had managed to get past us before we discovered them.
May 10: No gray whales today - but we did see ORCAS. Just after 2pm, we found a pod of 9-12 orcas about a mile offshore; one spyhopped! We watched them for about 30 minutes until they went out of sight, and then some of us drove down the coast to continue to track them. A whalewatch boat off Long Beach got on them, and Channel 7 News shot aerial images.
May 9: A variety of whales: one gray whale, one humpback whale, and one minke whale. The gray whale came close enough that we could see its abundant white mottling underwater. The highlight of the day was BREACHING: both the humpback whale and the minke whale breached several times - over four miles offshore.
May 8: Although no gray whales passed our way, we did see a fin whale cow/calf pair. The calf did a mini-lunge each time it went on a deep dive!
May 7: Our gray whale cow/calf pair came so close to shore that we could see them underwater. The calf kept switching from one side of its mom to the other — probably nursing; a sea lion swam with them for a while.
May 6: Cow/calf pairs highlighted our day! Our four gray whales traveled together: these two cow/calf pairs stayed right along the edge of the kelp and milled. They milled again further up the coast for over 20 minutes, spyhopped, and fluked; we watched them for almost an hour. Then a fin whale cow/calf pair pair passed us a mile offshore. Finally we spotted a humpback cow/calf pair that moved westward; both fluked twice.
May 5: Although we did not see any gray whales, we did see a lunging fin whale.
May 4: No whales today: thick fog blocked our field of view from 6am-11am, and again from 3:30pm until dark. During the break in the fog we spotted a pod of common dolphin and some nearshore bottlenose dolphin.
May 3: Although we did not see any gray whales, we did see common dolphin and bottlenose dolphin, as well as lots of sea lions and harbor seals on nearby rocks.
May 2: As we enjoyed our annual census volunteer picnic, over 40 avid whalewatchers were treated to a very special close approach by a gray whale cow/calf pair. They came into the kelp just below us — milling with bottlenose dolphin and sea lions for over 20 minutes. The cow lifted her head in a partial spyhop, and so did her calf — sometimes in unison! The cow came underneath her calf and lifted it up; the calf rolled, displaying its pectoral fin and flukes. A blue whale came within half a mile offshore, and a fin whale approached to just over a mile offshore.
May 1 :Although we did not see any gray whales, at different times we saw at least two fin whales within a mile of shore.

April 2010

April 30: Our first two gray whales came by about five minutes apart; one was large and the other was small. Our third sighting was a gray whale cow/calf pair that came close to shore, just beyond the kelp line. The calf swam on one side of its mother and then switched to the other side — possibly nursing — and then spyhopped. The cow rolled, showing her pectoral fin; the calf dove and turned its flukes.
April 29: Very high winds kicked up lots of whitecaps and high waves, and blew any whale blows away before we could spot them.
April 28: The two gray whales came by separately, close to shore.

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April 27: ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project trained volunteers at Point Vicente have counted 312 southbound and 503 northbound gray whales since December 1. Our northbound count to date is our lowest in 27 years, and 124 fewer gray whales than last season to date. However, this does NOT mean that the gray whale POPULATION is at its lowest point in 27 years; most gray whales actually travel offshore our area, so this likely means that a larger proportion of gray whales may be utilizing this offshore migratory route this season.

Our northbound calf count, however, is still running higher than last season: we have counted 35 northbound cow/calf pairs, compared to 32 pairs at this time last year. We have spotted 37 northbound gray whales over the past two weeks; 20 of these are due to 10 northbound cow/calf pairs. We generally count 2-10 gray whales daily at this time of year. Our census project runs through May 15; hopefully we will have a late rush of gray whale cow/calf pairs.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PAST TWO WEEKS:
One calf swam with two adults; this is unusual, as cow/calf pairs almost always travel by themselves. A few calves and their mothers lingered in the nearshore kelp bed. We saw several calves surface repeatedly close to their moms, switching sides each time; this is an almost sure sign of nursing. One calf rolled and blew a bubble blast. Another calf breached five times!

Our favorite sighting for this period was that of a VERY energetic gray whale calf that SPYHOPPED at least 50 times — sometimes with its mouth open and sometimes with kelp on its head! Seeing even one gray whale spyhop during migration is quite rare. This youngster set a new spyhopping record!

April 27: Today's single gray whale was so low-profile that we never saw a blow, although we did see its large back.
April 26: No gray whales today — or any other types of whales either, although we did spot common dolphin, bottlenose dolphin, and Pacific white-sided dolphin.
April 25: Our gray whale cow/calf pair was so low profile that we tracked them mostly by their fluke prints. We did see the calf's head, and once we saw a blow.
April 24: We needed our spotting scope to verify that the gray whale sighting we spotted half of a mile away was a cow/calf pair.
April 23: The gray whale calf traveled with two adults; they rolled, and one whale raised its flukes high into the air. Our other gray whale kept a low profile.
April 22: The gray whale came in close to shore, fluking each time it sounded.
April 21: High winds and large swells challenged our whale tracking skills. Three of our four gray whale sightings came before 7:30am; one fluked.
April 20: The three gray whales came by early in the morning, near noon, and shortly before we closed. One stayed just beyond the kelpbed. We tracked fin whales and blue whales most of the day.
April 19: Our gray whale cow/calf pair came in to just beyond the kelp bed. The calf rolled a few times, showing us the sides of its flukes. It also did a bubble blast. The calf switched from one side of its mother to the other - probably nursing.
April 18: Our first gray whale fluked and came in close to shore. The gray whale cow/calf pair kept a low profile and were hard to track - mostly just by flukeprints.
April 17: Both cow/calf pairs moved steadily past us. The second pair were swimming in the kelp; the calf kept changing from one side of its mother to the other - probably nursing. A sea lion swam close to them twice.
April 16: Our first gray whale of the day had no visible blows, which is unusual. The second gray whale did a bubble blast, rolled, and fluked.
April 15: We started out the day at 6am with our only gray whale, who kept a low profile.
April 14: Four gray whale cow/calf pairs today - a record for this season! Our first calf stayed in the kelp with its mom for over a half an hour. It spyhopped at least fifty times, sometimes with its mouth open and sometimes with kelp on its head! The next two cow/calf pairs swam close to each other, but came up at different locations and times. Our last calf treated us with five breaches when it was less than a half a mile away! Today's most unusual sighting was a 8-12 foot shark that swam within a half mile of shore, often staying near the surface and displaying both of its dorsal fin.

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April 13: ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project trained volunteers at Point Vicente have counted 312 southbound and 466 northbound and gray whales since December 1. Our northbound count to date is our lowest in 27 years. At least part of this can be attributed to recent wind and rain hampering our ability to spot and track whales; also, our counts can fluctuate tremendously. Our northbound calf count, however, is running higher than last season: we have counted 24 northbound cow/calf pairs! This compares to 17 pairs at this time last year).
Highlights of the past two weeks:
We have spotted 61 northbound gray whales and 1 southbound gray whale over the past two weeks. We generally count 5-15 gray whales daily at this time of year. We have counted 15 NORTHBOUND GRAY WHALE COW/CALF PAIRS OVER THE PAST TWO WEEKS, including three pairs each on April 3 and April 4 (this is VERY early in the season for us to see this many cow/calf pairs) and 2 more today (April 13). Over the next two weeks we should have our highest gray whale cow/calf counts of the season; most of the gray whales that we see from
now on should be cow/calf pairs.

April 13: Today was a very busy day — a fun day to observe whales! One of our GRAY WHALES did a BUBBLEBLAST, a small SPYHOP, and then ROLLED OVER so that we saw its belly and pectoral fin. Another gray whale circled twice just outside the kelpline. Some BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN escorted one GRAY WHALE COW/CALF pair.
April 12: There were large swells from wind and storm surge. Our northbound gray whale swam in from about a mile offshore to just above the kelpline, headed offshore, turned and came back in toward shore, and swam inside the kelp and among the surf and rocks. To our relief, it eventually turned around and headed back offshore.
April 11: Our gray whale cow/calf pair milled, and then the cow fluked. Once they passed us they went low profile and we only saw flukeprints.
April 10: The gray whale calf rolled its fluke and then disappeared with its mother into the next cove up the coast.
April 9: We found our only gray whale close to shore about 10am.
April 8: We started our whalewatching early, with our first sighting at 6:30 am: a gray whale cow/calf pair, and both of these fluked. Our second sighting was so close to shore that we heard the blows from the two whales. We found our last sighting by nearshore "whale rock"; then a sportfishing boat drove very close to the whale, and we never found it again.
April 7: We saw a cow/calf pair that stayed very close to the kelp and went into the next cove up from us. We spent most of our time looking at fin whales; at one point we had three different sightings ranging from 1-3 miles away.
April 6: Our first gray whale cow/calf pair was very slow moving, so we watched them for some time. The mom did a bubble-blast, and then dove under her calf and lifted it up partially out of the water. A sea lion swam with them for a short while.
April 5: Our viewing today was hampered by wind, rain and fog. Our only gray whale came in close to shore. From 3pm onward we kept seeing large splashes three miles offshore. Once we got a spotting scope on the splashes in time to see a minke whale BREACH completely out of the water and land on its back, flashing its white belly!
April 4: We spotted three more gray whale cow/calf pairs today. One included a very small calf with a white rostrum, which appeared to be circling and resting with its mother. Another cow/calf pair was very low profile. One pair came in very close to shore and fluked.
April 3: Most sightings were difficult to find and track. Three northbound gray whale cow/calf pairs today — our highest this season! The gray whale calf in our last sighting was quite small.
April 2: Our gray whale cow/calf pair was well past us before we discovered that it was a cow/calf pair; sometimes the calves are difficult to spot. One of our gray whales was a small whale; we lost track of it for almost twenty minutes before it showed again.
April 1: We watched one sighting of gray whales for almost an hour before deciding that there were really three whales in the group.
March 31: Viewing was difficult due to the high winds frequent whitecaps. We watched a pair of gray whales for an hour.

March 2010

March 29: We had another southbound gray whale today. Most of the gray whales came really close to shore; a half mile offshore was the farthest.
March 28: The gray whales were all less than a mile offshore today.
March 27: One of the cow/calf pairs milled right down in front of us.
March 26: Our gray whales included a trio and later a single, low-profile whale that came in close to shore and eventually fluked.
March 25: We saw several large gray whales and a few small whales. One sighting was very low profile, We watched most sightings for about half an hour each.
March 24: Hazy morning skies and afternoon wind made tracking whales difficult. Some of our gray whales came in quite close to shore, including our first gray, which was a very large adult. The cow/calf pair came in very close to us; the calf even rolled around. One gray whale did a huge bubble blast directly in front of us. Another gray fluked each time it submerged.
March 23: We saw our first gray whale just after 7am. It was escorted by dolphins and came in close to shore. We saw a cow/calf in the morning that also came close to shore.
March 22: Improved visibility and more activity today. All seven gray whales came by before 11am. The cow/calf pair hugged the coastline, with both showing their pectoral flippers at times; a sea lion traveled with them. Our sixth gray whale was a small juvenile. The last one kept a low profile, marked only by prints.
March 21: Fog hampered our visibility again; we heard blows of some whales but we were never able to see them. Our last two whales milled in front of us before heading offshore, accompanied by a sea lion.
March 20: We stared at fog for the entire morning, finally spotting our first gray whale at 11:55, shortly after the fog started to lift. Two pairs of whales came by before the fog rolled back in again.
March 19: We spotted a pod of four gray whales; one of these did a partial breach. Then a single whale joined them. When two additional gray whales showed up,
all seven whales were within a half mile of shore.
March 18: All of our gray whales fluked; many were adults. A pair of gray whales accompanied by dolphin came within a quarter of a mile and milled for over one-half hour, showing their flukes on nearly every dive. As these two whales were starting to move on, two more large gray whales showed up and milled right in front of us.
March 17: We spotted our second northbound gray whale cow/calf pair. Many grays traveled in low profile mode, making it tough to track them.

March 16: FIRST cow/calf pair of the season! The mom was very large and the calf was very small. A boat ran over top of them and the whales headed off shore. Mom carried the calf on her right pectoral fin, and they then went stealth.

March 15 Two-week Summary: ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project trained volunteers at Point Vicente have counted 309 southbound and 278 northbound and gray whales since December. Our northbound counts as of March 15 have ranged from 103-598 (using the past 10 years' data). This season's northbound count is more than 100 whales behind last season's count to date. However, last season's migration peaked earlier than usual. We spotted 2O northbound grays on March 15 — higher than recent days; this high count matched that on March 4. Since our northbound counts generally peak in mid-March, perhaps this signifies the beginning of the northbound migration surge. We also struggled with quite a bit of wind and rain over the past two weeks, which greatly affected our ability to spot and track sightings; weather conditions must always be taken into account when comparing raw counts over multiple years.

March 15: Larger pods helped push today's count up to 20 gray whales: one pod of five, one pod of three, and four pods of two whales, including several large adults. When we closed up at 6pm, two large grays were still milling right below our observation point.
March 14: Dolphin escorted one of our gray whales. We watched another gray whale for over an hour. We found our last gray sighting after 5:30pm, nearly 5 miles offshore.
March 13: A slow day for gray whales: our last one showed up one minute before we were about to close. We had great looks at 2-3 lunge-feeding fin whales that came within 1/3 mile offshore.
March 12: One small gray whale ROLLED ON ITS SIDE, showing its pectoral fin.
March 11: Hugging the shoreline directly in front of us, ONE OF OUR GRAY WHALES DID AN EXTENDED SPYHOP, like gray whales often do in the Baja California nursery lagoons nursery but rarely during migration. For over an hour and a half, we watched a very slow-moving gray whale that often fluked.
March 10: High winds made it difficult to locate and track whales, as did a very large sun glare. Many of our gray whales were close to shore: one pair was so close that you could see them underwater.
March 9: Gray whales in our first two sightings displayed bushy blows that were easy to track, and another trio was within a half mile of shore. Our last gray whale was
difficult to see because of the high winds, but because it was close to shore we could track its small bushy blows.
March 8: We watched one gray whale for almost two hours. Two pods of three whales came close to shore and fluked. Fin whales transected our field of view most of the day, keeping us busy telling their tall blows apart from the shorter, bushier gray whale blows.
March 7:The wind whipped up about 10am and stayed up for the rest of the day, making it difficult to track sightings. A sea lion escorted one of our low profile gray whales. The only "showy" gray whale was the southbound gray that fluked in front of us.
March 6:Three gray whales came together and started rolling and milling right in front of us (POSSIBLE COURTSHIP BEHAVIOR). We watched them for almost an hour, until a rain downpour interrupted our viewing.
March 5: We watched THREE GRAY WHALES ROLLING FOR ALMOST AN HOUR; at one point common dolphin appeared to be swimming amongst the whales.
March 4: All gray whales came within a mile offshore - many times just beyond the kelp line. We WATCHED A POD OF SIX GRAY WHALES FOR TWO HOURS; they came within a half mile offshore, milled for 25 minutes, headed north, then

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March 3: Volunteers trained by ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project at Point Vicente have counted 303 southbound and 136 northbound and gray whales since December 1, very similar to last season's count at this time (286 southbound and 140 northbound). Two southbound gray whales on March 1 brought the southbound count to 303, breaking the record for the lowest southbound count.
The northbound gray whale migration is well underway, although we will likely spot 10-30 more southbound whales before the end of the season. The official migration turnaround date occurred around February 20: nearly every day since then has had primarily northbound gray whales.

Highlights of the past two weeks:
We have spotted 98 northbound and 21 southbound gray whales over the past two weeks. We have seen northbound gray whales daily and fin whales nearly daily, as well as various species of dolphin and a breaching humpback whale!

March 1: One gray whale did a head-lunge! Another pair of gray whales milled. The other grays were low profile.

February 2010

February 28: We recorded this season's highest count of northbound gray whales: 17, as well as a southbounder.
February 26: A pair of very active gray whales did several lunges and a tail slap; they milled about a half mile offshore. We saw two very low profile whales: one was quite visible as it swam just under the surface, while the other one left visible prints that aided our tracking efforts. We saw a nearshore juvenile gray whale that was swimming with some bottlenose dolphin.
February 23: Today is the first day that all gray whales were northbound, most in pairs or trios. Two pods were about three miles offshore. One of these encountered dolphin and began rolling; unfortunately, they were over four miles offshore and we had to watch them through a spotting scope.
February 20: Some of our northbound gray whales were large; at least one was a juvenile. Whales in two separate sightings split up; we watched both of these sightings for over an hour.
February 19: Midday brought many whales within two hours. While watching a southbound gray whale, two northbound grays passed by, then a third northbound whale, followed shortly by yet another northbound whale.
February 18: One northbound juvenile gray whale kept lifting its head in a partial spyhop! This whale encountered a southbound whale; they circled, rolled, and then disappeared. Another whale popped up in the nearshore kelp bed.

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Feb. 17: ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project trained volunteer spotters at Point Vicente have counted 38 northbound and 265 southbound gray whales since December 1 (compared to 49
northbound and 275 southbound at this time last season). We
spotted our first northbound gray whale on December 19 — pretty
early for a northbounder. We have spotted 32 of our 38 northbound
gray whales since February 2.

At 275, our southbound numbers are on track for a record low. We have seen 17 southbound cow/calf pairs, compared to 18 last season. We have had many more rainy and reduced-visibility days this season compared to last season. However, even on good visibility days our southbound counts were down. I think that many of our southbound gray whales passed us further offshore this season, outside of our observation window. The migratory corridor shifts from season to season; the gray whales tend to utilize a more nearshore northbound corridor off our area.

We are right in the middle of our migration turnaround, with
gray whales going in both directions. From December 1 - February 10, most of our gray whales were headed south (except for February 3). Since February 11, most of our gray whales have been northbound
(except for Feb. 15). We have to be especially vigilant in tracking
our whales, so that we do not get these mixed up as they pass by one
another.

Highlights of the past two weeks include a spyhopping juvenile gray whale rolling with bottlenose dolphins on Feb. 9. 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 dolphins 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. We watched for nearly an hour before it moved on, out of our view. Click here to read each day's highlights for Feb. 3-14!

Feb. 2: Since they began watching on Dec. 1, ACS/LA volunteers have counted 17 newborn whale babies heading south with their moms. They spotted the first southbound baby late on January 8: "We watched the cow/calf pair for about an hour and a half; they did not go out of sight until the sun had set. They came near, just beyond the kelp just down in front of us. We saw both mom and calf rolling.The calf was riding on mom’s back. Many times mom had to turn around and go fetch the calf. At one point she was going back for the calf and fluked (dived, showing her tail flukes). The calf was very small. The mom and baby circled around the whale watch boat that was watching them."

On January 8 they saw three more cow/calf pairs heading south. "One of the cow calf pairs milled in front of us for 15 minutes. The calf rolled, semi-spyhoped, rode mom’s flukes or pectoral fin. The calf was very young because we could see the fetal folds with the scope."

Many more whales are still heading south at this time. (See graph at right.) It is early, and just a few adults or juveniles have started heading north.

Graph as of May 10, 2010

See any whales?
This cliffside post is the census site of the American Cetacean Society LA. Volunteers count migrating whales from the patio of the Point Vicente Interpretive Center, 125 feet above kelp beds and rocky shoreline. The seafloor drops off abruptly nearshore.

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.

Photo: Mike Hawe