On this breezy, partly sunny day, we had decent visibility to about 3 miles offshore.

💠 AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:

♦️ NO WHALES SEEN

♦️ 75 harbor seals

♦️ 17 brown pelicans

♦️ 3 black oystercatchers

💠 AT SAUNDERS REEF:

♦️ NO WHALES SEEN

REEF

TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE  🟰

  344 northbound – includes 7 mother/calf pairs

  382 southbound

 18 foragers

Today we had a hazy, overcast sky. Poor visibility due to having no distinction between the ocean and the sky and whale blows.

❇️ AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA :

🔆 NO WHALES SEEN

🔆 53 harbor seals – incoming tide

🔆 1 osprey perched in a tree overlooking the ocean

🔆 23 brown pelicans

❇️ AT SAUNDERS REEF:

🔆 NO WHALES SEEN

🔆 8 brown pelicans

🔆 1 red-tailed hawk

❇️ TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE  

  344 northbound – includes 7 mother/calf pairs

  382 southbound

 18 foragers

 

Sounding the Alarm for North Pacific Grey Whales | MERS Marine Education & Research Society

EVENT:

On May 15, the 21st dead gray whale washed ashore in Washington state. We highly recommend attending the webinar below to learn more about why this is happening. You can take a look at Cascadia Research Collective’s working list of stranded gray whales here: https://cascadiaresearch.org/working-list-of-gray-whale-strandings-in-2026/

Please visit the website below to register for this event:

mersociety.org – MARINE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH SOCIETY

 

At the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula, conditions were sunny, clear, windy (20 mph with gusts of 31 mph from the northwest) and the ocean was covered with large whitecaps.

⭐️ 2 humpback whales moving slowly to the south

⭐️ 106 harbor seals – 15 pups

⭐️ 2 great blue herons

⭐️ 1 osprey

⭐️ 2 black oystercatchers

⭐️ 23 brown pelicans – several circling the area

💠 NO WHALES SEEN AT SAUNDERS REEF

💠 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE  

  344 northbound – includes 7 mother/calf pairs

  382 southbound

 18 foragers