On Saturday, January 14, 2017, Oceanic Society welcomed fellow ocean conservationists from the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and Greater Farallones Association on our gray whale watching tour from Half Moon Bay. The gray whales’ migration (one of the longest migrations of any mammal) off the coast of California is a great reminder of the positive impacts of conservation efforts locally and abroad.
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The weather conditions were ideal as we boarded the Salty Lady. Motoring west out of Pillar Point Harbor we noticed a pair of sea lions hauled out on a buoy. The sea lions leaned over the side and watched us watch them. During this encounter, our captain spotted a whale spout on the northern horizon and waited as it headed our way.
Within a few minutes, 2 gray whales came into view traveling together on their southern migration. Clearly intent on traveling, the whales briskly swam past, surfacing about every 5 to 7 minutes. We were able to watch these grays for around 20 minutes and had excellent views of their heavily-barnacled, mottled sides.
After these gray whales passed, wildlife sightings included harbor porpoises, harbor seals, and California and Steller sea lions. Also, there was a great diversity of seabirds, including a rare visitor across the street from the harbor, a Ross Gull far from its Arctic home.
In total we saw:
- 2 gray whales
- 3 California sea lions
- 1 Stellar sea lion
- 1 harbor seal
- 2 harbor porpoises
And a number of bird species:
- Common Loon
- Western Grebe
- Northern Fulmar
- Brown Pelican
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Brandt’s Cormorant
- Surf Scoter
- White-winged Scoter
- Western Gull
- Common Murre
- Ross Gull
