Tag Archives: endangered

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Ron took a boat out of Noyo Harbor. He and the others on board got to see Humpbacks and a few Blue Whales.

Here you see the behemouth spouting.

And below you can see its mottled back. Ron tells me you can identify individual Blue Whales by the patterns on its back. 

Here is the Blue Whale's very small dorsal fin.

And here's a photo of a Blue Whale's tail. 

You won't see Blue Whales come out of the water much. They don't - probably can't - breach like Humpbacks or Gray Whales as they are so huge. They are extremely endangered as they try to recover from intense whaling of years past.

A reference book I enjoy is "Whales and other Marine Mammals of California and Baja" by Tamara Eder. She writes that at birth a Blue Whale weighs about 2.5 tons and is 23 feet long. An adult can weigh up to 200 tons (181,000 kg) and be up to 110 feet (34 m) long.

I was told some years ago that if you see an island in the ocean where there wasn't one before, you've just seen a Blue Whale.

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

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A male Grevy's Zebra recently was born at the B. Bryan Preserve in Point Arena. Meet Lester!

His mother's name is Jewel and she carried him for more than a year. Below her little one is nursing.

Judy Mello tells me that these Zebras are more endangered than Black Rhinos - there are less then 3000 of Grevy's Zebras left in the wilds. So each addition to the herd in Point Arena is welcome news indeed.

Do you know what a herd of Zebras is called? A dazzle.

Thanks to Judy for allowing me to share her photos with you here. To learn much more about the Preserve, here is the link to their website: http://www.bbryanpreserve.com/

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Meet Daphne, a newborn Hartmann's Mountain Zebra. She was born July 2 at the B. Bryan Preserve. Daphne looks like she is celebrating life!

And here's the little one with her mother, Debbie.

These zebras are endangered. According to Judy Mello, less than 6000 of them remain. Their primary habitat is the mountains of Namibia. Daphne can expect to live twenty years at her safe home in Point Arena.

Thanks to Judy for allowing me to share her photo with  you here. To learn about the B. Bryan Preserve - and they have guest cottages - here's their link: http://www.bbryanpreserve.com/

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Jodi C. Smith is the Executive Director of Naked Whale Research. She has relocated to the Irish Beach area to study the endangered Southern Resident pods of Killer Whales - known as J, K and L pods. These Orcas are on the move. They have spent the summer months south of Vancouver Island and in Puget Sound. Now they are passing by the Mendonoma Coast. On Jan. 10th K pod was spotted a mile off of Little River. Jodi went out in a boat to get these photos. As you can probably tell, the seas were rough.

This last photo shows the very tall dorsal fin. According to Jodi these Orcas are specialized fish eaters, with Chinook salmon being their favorite.

Today the weather is clear  with few whitecaps on the ocean - perfect weather for spotting Gray Whales and hopefully K pod! Thanks to Jodi for allowing me to share her photos with you. To learn more about her work, here's her website: http://www.nakedwhaleresearch.org/ You can also follow her blog on this website.

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Meet Rocket, the newest member of the herd of endangered Roan Antelopes that make their home in Point Arena at the wildlife preserve B. Bryan Preserve.

And here is Rhonda, Rocket's mom, nursing her newborn. You'll see one of her horns is askew. Judy Mello told me Rhonda had a fight with some other mean Roan girls and this is the result. Judy called it a "bad horn day."

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

To see a photo of a full moon rising over the preserve, here's the link: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2012/03/10/full-moon-rising-at-the-b-bryan-preserve/

And to learn more about this special place, here's the link to the B. Bryan Preserve web site: http://www.bbryanpreserve.com/  It would be a great place to stay when you visit the Coast.