"This gives an idea of how close some grays come to shore past our site. This one is not far outside our kelpbed; some come through the kelpbed, or stop in the kelp and rest or socialize for hours!"
— Alisa Schulman-Janiger

Spring migration 2016 is in full swing! At the Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project near Los Angeles, CA, Director Alisa Schulman-Janiger reports high northbound numbers.

"Last season (2015) our crossover (turnaround) date — when the number of northbound whales exceeded southbound — was on February 24, when we had seen 81 northbound whales."

This year's turnaround date happened on February 17 when 125 northbound whales had already passed.

At Goleta, CA, Michael H. Smith reports big numbers from Gray Whales Count as they begin the 12th year of their survey of the northbound migration of Gray Whales through the nearshore of the Santa Barbara Channel. They tallied 63 northbound Gray whales in week one (Feb. 16-21) compared to last year's 35.