Eager whale watchers aboard the Condor Express see a pair of northbound Gray whales.
Michael H. Smith

The northbound migration is in full swing, including the first report of a northbound baby! Hopeful whale watchers flock to the Pacific Coast of the U.S. to see these gentle giants swimming close to shore. Two California scientific sites report the latest:

Spotters at the Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project saw an early northbound mother/baby pair March 9th. From their lookout near Los Angeles, Project Director Alisa Schulman-Janiger sums up:

"We are now firmly into the first phase of our northbound migration, although we are also still seeing some southbound grays overlapping with the northbound grays. This is our fifth season in a row of extended overlapping migrations. We spotted 82 northbound whales during the 'southbound migration' phase, and have spotted 83 southbound whales during the 'northbound migration' phase. Our biggest northbound count to date was 41 grays on both March 6 and and March 10. Our counts are now at 1230 southbound grays (including 68 newborns) and 398 northbound grays, including our first northbound calf on March 9th. This compares to our counts last season of 1418 southbound grays (including 33 newborns) and 1352 northbound grays (including 7 calves) — when our northbound migration started much earlier than usual.

"We continue to have some challenging viewing conditions, including
some rain and wind: we had lots of fog March 11 and 12, with no visible water and no whales on the 12th; last year on March 12 we counted 51 northbound grays! We are looking forward to better viewing conditions later this week."

Northbound counts generally peak in mid-March at the Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project. Watch the data for this site; how will you recognize the peak?

Northbound whales are adding up at Gray Whales Count too. On March 12th, they had collected 20 days of data and tallied 191 gray whales on the northbound migration through the nearshore of the Santa Barbara Channel. Check their data: On which dates do you think GWC had the best weather for whale counting?