Tag Archives: young Gray Whale

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Tim wrote, "This young Gray Whale was seen Saturday morning 2/8 near the mouth of the Gualala River, bobbing up and down in the surf.  He later worked his way south along the bar, coming as close as 30-40 feet from the beach, giving onlookers a memorable show."

Others saw this whale too. He/she didn't appear to be foraging for food; he/she appeared to be frolicking! Oh, I wish I had been there to see this wonderful visit.

Thanks to Tim for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

It's cloudy today, and we have some rain coming in later tonight. The storms on Feb. 12 and 13 brought us 2.07 inches of rain. The season to date is 52.31 inches!  A nice wet winter is usually around 50 inches at our place in Anchor Bay, so we are doing great this year.

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Eric Zetterholm saw this  young Gray Whale very close in. He went to the Gualala Bluff Trail to photograph it. A couple was on the beach with a dog and they had quite a wonderful show! First Eric photographs the whale spyhopping. Look how close this whale is to the sandbar of the Gualala River!

Here's the whale surfaces while a [lucky] person with their dog watches.

And here's a photo of the Gray Whale's tail.

What a wonderful experience for the people on the beach...and for Eric! Thanks to Eric for allowing me to share his photos with you here. Another great photo, of a man watching while this whale spyhops, will be in tomorrow's Independent Coast Observer.

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We have a group of sub-adult Gray Whales who have stayed along our coast rather than migrating to the Bering Sea. This has been happening for several years now. It's exciting to see and it's heartening to know there is enough feed for them here. Karen Wilkinson recently photographed a young Gray Whale.

You can tell it's a young gray by the stubby head. And, if we had something to compare it with, you'd see the length of the young whale is less than an adult.

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

We had our first rain in nearly six months yesterday and the night before. It felt so wonderful to hear and see it. This morning the damp forest smelled so good. We have another storm predicted for Monday night. Could mushrooms be far behind?!?