Tag Archives: Bill Keener

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Bottlenose Dolphins were seen two weeks ago, always an exciting sighting. Karen Wilkinson wrote, “Dolphins were swimming off of Black Point Beach this morning.  A few things that seemed interesting:  One had a bite mark on its side. I think one was swimming with a fish in its mouth. And they seemed to be swimming in the rip tide area.”

Karen sent her photos to Bill Keener, a Research Biologist, and Bottlenose Dolphin expert, at the Marine Mammal Center. Bill studied the photos and wrote, “I got two surprises – a regularly-seen female named Cepat had just been seen down in Monterey Bay at the very end of March, so they really do move around! And note that Cepat had some new low notches at that time in late March. Now she has moved all the way up to Sonoma, and we get to see her other side, which displays a new large linear semi-circular scar, which might be a huge bite mark. But I don't think so because I don't really see teeth marks there.

“Also, I think the other adult seen with her might be Papercut, another female in our catalog, but we have not seen that dolphin since it was at Pacifica in 2016. I wondered what happened to her.

Both these dolphins used to be well known in Monterey Bay, before they moved up north to the SF Bay Area, so I am sending all this to the Monterey Bay researcher to check this out. If he says anything interesting, I will let you know.” The third dolphin, the photo at the top here, is currently unknown to Bill.

Thanks to Karen for allowing me to share her photos with you here, and thanks to Bill for all the wonderful info on the known dolphins.

Heatwave inland is over. Foggy on the immediate coast today. Rick's and my house, at 640 feet elevation, is the fog line this afternoon - it's sunny in the courtyard, and foggy on the deck facing the ocean!

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Karen Wilkinson was the first to spot them early last Wednesday morning. She called Craig Tooley, who showed up with his camera and his talent soon thereafter. Here are a couple of photos taken by Craig.

The seabirds in the first photo are Surf Scoters. I love the photo showing so many dolphins surfing a wave together - the original surfers!

Researcher and scientist Bill Keener was able to identify six of the eleven dolphins, and one was our old friend, Sakura. Sakura was photographed off the Mendonoma Coast in 2018 and in 2020 she was seen with her calf. Here is the study of this group of Bottlenose Dolphins by Bill, just click on the link below.

Bottlenose Dolphins 2022 Jan 12 CT Bill Keener

I plan to share some of Karen's photos and videos of these dolphins soon.

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

Another lovely, clear day on the Mendonoma Coast today. 68 degrees at our place in Anchor Bay this afternoon.

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Karen Wilkinson spotted Bottlenose Dolphins several weeks ago. She enjoyed watching them surf the waves.

Bill Keener of Golden Gate Cetacean Research took a look at Karen's photos. Bill wrote, “This was a tough bunch because most of the dolphins were unknown to me. I am sending them on to other researchers in Monterey Bay to see if they know them. However, the first dolphin was easily recognizable as Sakura, a female. You have seen Sakura before on August 19, 2018 at Sea Ranch. She was with Bliss in that group, but Bliss did not appear in the group from February 1.”

Below is a photo Karen took of Sakura in 2018 with her newborn calf just to her right.

Bottlenose Dolphins are identified by the notches in their dorsal fins. They have extended their territory northward and we are seeing more them off our coast. As Karen knows, they are so much fun to watch. And it’s interesting that Sakura was seen in a different pod. There is a lot to learn about them in the days ahead.

Thanks to Karen for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

Back to incredible balmy weather today. News flash! A few Gray Whale mother/calf pairs have swum by our shores in the past few days, very early this year. Hundreds of adult Grays swam by this past week headed back to their feeding grounds in the Arctic.

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It's exciting to see Bottlenose Dolphins off the Mendonoma coast! They have been expanding their territory northward over the past few years. Karen Wilkinson found a pod of these dolphins quite close in at Smuggler's Cove off The Sea Ranch in mid-August. She took many,  many photos, which were shared with Bill Keener of Golden Gate Cetacean Research.

Bill wrote, “I was positively able to ID three individuals. First, I was able to confirm that the female we call Sakura has a new calf. She had calves before in Monterey Bay, then about five years ago she had a calf off San Francisco, and now this is her new calf.

“You can tell that the calf is about a month old because of the vertical pale stripes on its body – those are called ‘fetal folds’ which are stretch marks due to the curled-up position the calf had while in the uterus.” Bill said the marks last a couple of months before they fade away.

Bill was pleased to see Karen had photographed Bliss, an older female. Bill wrote, “Bliss is one of the oldest dolphins in [our records.] She was first seen in San Diego in 1982! She is likely in her mid-40s or 50 years old now. Glad she is still going strong!”

The other Bottlenose Dolphin Bill was able to ID was a male named Shiloh. Neither Sakura or Shiloh had been spotted further north than Bodega Bay until now. They were seen years ago in Monterey Bay, but the past six or seven years they have been seen in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Karen also photographed an unknown adult Bottlenose Dolphin and she has a calf with her, which you can see in the photo above. Bill wrote, “As for the unidentified dolphin, now begins a longer process of trying to figure out if it has been seen before in another part of California. It’s fairly uncommon for us to see a totally brand-new adult animal before. But it can happen.”

Here are a few more photos Karen took that day.

And here is a map Karen drew of her sighting at Smuggler's Cove.

Thanks to Karen for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

We are having an oh-so-lovely day this Sunday. It would be a good day to spot...bottlenose dolphins!

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Craig Tooley was out at Black Point Beach at The Sea Ranch when he noticed dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins!

Bottlenose dolphins by Craig Tooley

A bottlenose dolphin by Craig Tooley

I sent Craig’s photos to Bill Keener of Golden Gate Cetacean Research. He wrote, “Wow, these are great shots, and I can immediately recognize the individual dolphins here! In the background is Allure, in the middle is Bliss, a female who had a calf two years ago, and in the foreground is Fletcher.
“They have all been sighted fairly recently in the SF Bay Area. This is valuable information. We are working on a scientific paper with all the dolphin researchers in California describing how the coastal bottlenose stock is expanding its range north. Craig’s photos are one more set of data that prove it.”

It is the dorsal fin that allows scientists like Bill to identify individual animals. It’s exciting to be able to contribute to Bill’s research through our citizen science, and with the talent of a great photographer like Craig.

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: www.ruffimage.com

To learn more about the Golden Gate Cetacean Research organization, here is their website: http://www.ggcetacean.org/