Tag Archives: tail

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It's the time of year for us to witness the vanguard of the Gray Whale migration. Scott and Tree Mercer spotted one of the first groups last Sunday, nine Gray Whales, swimming purposefully south. These are the pregnant females hurrying to their birthing lagoons off Baja.

Emily Jordan was out on a boat excursion and near the Point Arena buoy when she spotted these Gray Whales.

We have had a group of subadult Gray Whales feeding off the Point Arena coast, seen nearly every day. They are probably what Emily photographed. Beautiful photos of these cetaceans that we love so much.

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

We have a storm coming in later today, the first rain in many days. We are looking forward to it!

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Paul Brewer photographed a Gray Whale recently, catching part of the back, and the tail.

Paul captured the entire sequence as the whale dove.

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

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It's always exciting to spot a Gray Whale. They are migrating northward now. Ken Bailey photographed the distinctive tail.

And a barnacle-encrusted head.

The mother/calf pairs aren't too far behind. In the weeks to come, we should be seeing them off our coast. The calves have to get strong enough while in the lagoons off of Baja before they begin their 5,000 mile journey with their mother.

Thanks to Ken for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Ken's nature photography, especially his beautiful underwater photography, here is his website: http://www.seadreams.org/

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Ron LeValley went on a pelagic trip out of Fort Bragg. He, and the others with him, did not see many birds, but they did see two Blue whales quite close to their boat. In the first photo, the whale had just spouted. And in the second photo the big whale is descending.

blue-whale-off-fort-bragg-by-ron-levalley blue-whale-came-close-to-our-boat-by-ron-levalleyTo see a Blue whale, the largest creature of them all, is incredibly exciting. Here are three photos Ron took a few years ago, also on a pelagic trip. The first shows you a blow, the second shows the Blue whale's tiny dorsal fin, and the last shows you a Blue whale's tail.

blue-whale-spout-by-ron-levalley a-blue-whales-small-dorsal-fin-by-ron-levalley blue-whales-tale-by-ron-levalleyUnless you are at the Farallon Islands/Cordell Banks, you are not likely to see more than two Blue whales at a time. They very rarely breach, like Gray whales and Humpback whales do; they are just too big.

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

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Carol Bogovich was watching the Gray Whale southward migration on New Year's Day. Two whales came closer in and she was able to get these photos.

The heart-shaped blow of a Gray Whale by Carol Bogovich
The heart-shaped blow of a Gray Whale
Two Gray Whales by Carol Bogovich
Two Gray Whales spout.
The tail of a Gray Whale by Carol Bogovich
A Gray Whale's tail lifting out of the ocean.
Gray Whale tail by Carol Bogovich
And one last look before the tail disappears into the Pacific Ocean.

 

Gray Whales are being seen every day, weather-permitting. Today we had a nice, gentle storm move in, giving us a good 1/2 inch of rain. Of course that makes spotting Gray Whales impossible, at least from my vantage point.

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