Tag Archives: Pacific Ocean

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Storms to our north are bringing big waves to the Mendonoma Coast. Surfers are enjoying them, that's for sure! I love to hear the waves crashing on the off-shore rocks, beaches and bluffs. Even though I am a half mile back from the Pacific Ocean, the sound carries easily.

John Sperry captured this photo in the Timber Cove area of Sonoma County. He entitled it thusly: "Sea Gods are angry. Gull maintains its grace." Can you spot the lone Gull in John's photo? Many thanks to John for allowing me to share his photo here.

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This is a rare sighting. How often does a Gray Fox bed down in a planter box on a deck. It has been cold so perhaps that is part of the answer.

Nancy Fairhurst called her neighbors, Thom Matson and Hank Stuart, over to take a look. The Fox was asleep in a planter box on Nancy's back deck, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean on The Sea Ranch. Thom got a beautiful photo just as the Fox awoke and has kindly allowed me to share it with you here - a wonderful wildlife encounter!

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As Craig Tooley put it, the edges of the day are some of the most beautiful. This was how it looked on The Sea Ranch yesterday morning. Perhaps you might consider this an early holiday present.

To see more of Craig's work, here's the link to his web site: http://ruffimage.com/

The great Gray Whale migration continues with several pods seen yesterday. We have had little rain and the Pacific Ocean has been rather calm. That seems to be changing as the ocean is speaking of changes to come.

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Ron Le Valley recently photographed several Northern Right Whale Dolphins, Lissodelphis borealis, off the Mendocino Coast. These are small, slender Dolphins found in the North Pacific Ocean. They have no fins or ridges on their smooth, curving backs. They are quite shy and usually avoid boats. They travel in groups of two to two hundred but much larger pods have been seen. In the open ocean, they can travel fast, making low leaps together. These Dolphins are just a little bigger than a grown man. One of their favorite foods is Squid.

To see much more of Ron's work, here's a link to his web site: http://www.levalleyphoto.com/home/ And I thank Ron for allowing me to share his beautiful photo with you here.

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My neighbor to the east, Emily Nelson, called and said, "Jeanne, I think there are Dolphins out there!" I immediately could see the dark streak in the ocean.

This is the anomaly you look for - a dark line indicates a school of fish or even perhaps Humboldt Squid. I trained my scope on the dark line and, sure enough, there were dark dolphins leaping out of the water.

The Dolphin were at least two miles out in the Pacific Ocean. I wish the photo was better but it will at least give you a feel for what we were seeing. Any day you see Dolphins is a good day!

And, as a bonus, here's a photo from last night's beautiful sunset.