Tag Archives: Fort Bragg

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With the ocean looking like glass last Saturday, there were a lot of great sightings. The greatest of them all was the sighting of Blue Whales. A mother and her calf were seen off of The Sea Ranch.

Jodi Smith, of Naked Whale Research, went out of Fort Bragg and found another Blue Whale.

Blue Whales are the largest animal on earth. And they are on the endangered species list, as their recovery from the days of whaling has been slow. To see a mother with a calf is such a good sign.
To Jodi's joy she also saw several Northern Right Whale Dophins.
 They rose next to the boat and rode the bow for a while. You can read about Jodi's excellent day on the water on her blog at: http://orcinusorca.wix.com/nawhare-temp/apps/blog
And to learn more about Jodi's Naked Whale Research, which studies Killer Whales, here is that website:
Thanks to Jodi for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

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When the storms come, they rip the Bull Kelp from its holdfasts in the ocean and toss much of it on the beach. It provides food and shelter for various critters that live on the beach. Patty Stornetta Woodruff recently photographed Kelp on the beach by the Botanical Gardens in Fort Bragg.

Thanks to Patty for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

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Ron LeValley was on a boat off of Fort Bragg on the Mendocino Coast when a pod of Pacific White-sided Dolphins appeared. Ron, of course, had his camera and took these fabulous photos.

 In the photo below one of these small Dolphins was leaping ahead of the boat. "Hey, follow me!"

And these two Dolphins took a good look at Ron and the boat.

Pacific White-sided Dolphins are found in the North Pacific. They are a little bigger a man and seem to be fascinated by humans in boats. These Dolphins were severely impacted by driftnet fishing, which has since been banned early in the 1990's.

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

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Peter Baye, camera in hand, went exploring at Ten Mile Dunes, which is north of Fort Bragg. On the dunes Peter found some rare wildflowers, the first one being Howell's Spineflower, Chorizanthe howellii. It's an annual herb that is native and endemic to California. In fact, Cal-Flora only shows this flower in Mendocino County. It is listed as threatened by the State of California and listed as endangered by the federal government.

Another rare wildflower found was Menzies' Wallflower, Erysimum menziesii. It's a perennial herb and another endangered California native.

I have two more to show you but they will have to wait for another day! Thanks to Peter for allowing me to show you these beauties.