2003 Whale Sightings: Grays

WEEKEND OF APRIL 25-27, 2003

Trip Report: It was a great weekend for whale sightings from Half Moon Bay & San Francisco! Our Half Moon Bay Saturday afternoon departure witnessed a mother and calf swimming up from Baja headed North. In addition, 2 more grays were viewed and as well as a sea otter!! Three more gray whales were viewed on Sunday. Over the weekend, 21 species of birds were identified.

From San Francisco our Saturday trip produced 5 whales, including 1 Minke whale. Whale watchers had a beautiful view of the Southeast Farallon Islands and also enjoyed viewing harbor porpoise, harbor seals, California sea lions, Northern elephant seals and 15 species of birds.

WEEKEND OF APRIL 18-20, 2003

Friday's Half Moon Bay trip was canceled due to high winds. Bright and early Saturday morning we witnessed 2 gray cow/calf pairs and a single gray whale. We observed the first cow/calf pair for a good hour. Everyone aboard was excited to see the mother and baby with such close proximity! The second cow/calf pair was seen as we headed North. The afternoon trip produced 2 gray whales as well! Eight harbor porpoise and California seal lions were also viewed swimming in the Pacific.

San Francisco's Friday trip viewed 1 gray whale and Saturday's trip saw 2 grays, including 1 gray whale in the Bay! Interestingly, it's becoming less uncommon to see gray whales in the bay*. Our group watched this particular gray whale for an hour and saw good views of its back and flukes! Our naturalist said there was no evidence of feeding while it dove and swam back and forth. In addition, this trip saw harbor porpoise, California sea lions, harbor seals & 18 species of birds.

Bodega Bay whale watchers saw 2 grays and a variety of wildlife, including jellyfish, California sea lions, harbor seals & 16 species of birds. The naturalist remarked that it was a beautiful day with great views of the coastline! Thanks very much to all who have joined us on our final Bodega Bay trip for the season!

Gray Whale In the Bay Update

*With more and more sightings of gray whales in the Bay in recent years, Oceanic Society is documenting these occurrences and gathering as much information as possible to understand why we are seeing more grays and how to protect them in these waters. For more information regarding this project, please check out our Gray Whale in the Bay Project under our "Research" efforts.

WEEKEND OF APRIL 11-13, 2003

Rain and wind kept our Saturday's trips in the harbor.

Half Moon Bay had 2 trips go out this weekend. A cow/calf pair and 2 adult gray whales were seen swimming in the Pacific on Friday afternoon. Harbor porpoise, jellyfish by the thousands, California sea lions and over 12 species of birds were also witnessed over the weekend.

From San Francisco on Friday, whale watchers saw 3 - 4 grays near the Farallon Islands! It was excellent viewing weather with several good looks at the whales. Sixteen species of birds were identified as well as 45 California sea lions, 25 Harbor seals and thousands of jellyfish! Sunday's trip encountered 3 gray whales near the Southeast Farallon Islands. Whale watchers observed blows and flukes from these giant visitors. Also viewed, 2 harbor porpoise in the Bay, 20+ California sea lions and 12 species of birds.

WEEKEND OF APRIL 5-6, 2003

Half Moon Bay trips enjoyed sightings of 4 gray whales and 150 long beaked Common dolphin! Also spotted in the water this weekend, California sea lions, a harbor seal and 15 species of birds.

Saturday's trip from San Francisco enjoyed a beautiful scenic cruise along the Marin coastline. Sightings included harbor porpoise, California sea lions, Northern elephant seals, harbor seals and 13 species of birds.

Bodega Bay's Saturday morning trip viewed sea lions, harbor seals, 4 harbor porpoise and a 100 jellyfish floating in the sea! From past season reports, we expect to see mature grays as well as more mother and calf pairs swimming along the coast through the month of May! In addition, we've added on 2 more Bodega Bay dates, Saturday April 19th and Sunday April 27th, afternoon trips only.

WEEKEND OF MAR 28-30, 2003

With weather in the mid 70's and calm water, whale watchers enjoyed an unbeatable weekend of 100% gray whale sightings and observing spectacular behaviors of the gray whale!

From Half Moon Bay, our Friday afternoon trip witnessed two gray whales
mating in the Pacific! We watched this activity for over an hour and
within 200 yards from the boat. The male's genitalia was viewed and on
average can be up 9 feet long. Eventually, these whales were joined by
2 other grays and an additional whale was also seen on the trip. Six
different species of bird were also identified on this trip! Saturday's
morning found 3 different groups of whales to watch. The first pair was
observed rolling around at the surface for twenty minutes and may have
been also mating, but it could not be confirmed.

Our afternoon trip
enjoyed viewing 10 grays which included 2 cow/calf pairs. Along the
trip, a pod of 100 long beaked common dolphins mixed with 17 California
sea lions were seen playing 7 miles West of Pillar Point Harbor.
Seventeen brown pelicans and 9 other species of bird were flying above
the boat.

San Francisco produced 18 whales over the weekend. Saturday's trip
encountered a group of 5 whales en route to the Farallon Islands. More
grays were viewed along the trip with excellent views of their backs,
blows and flukes. Harbor porpoise, California sea lions, harbor seals
and thousands of common murres were viewed on the SE Island. Sunday's
trip had quite a show as well! One gray whale was seen breaching twice
in the water. Breaching is when a whale leaps into the air, rotates and
lands on its back or side. An unbelievable sight to witness first hand!
Two humpback whales were also observed for a period of 45 minutes.
Nineteen species of bird were identified, including the Wandering
Tattler!

Bodega Bay whale watchers saw 12 grays on Sunday! The
afternoon trip observed a cow/calf pair. The mother was observed
rolling around at the surface with flippers and tail flukes visible.
Our naturalist speculated this particular behavior may have been the
mother nursing her young as the two headed North. Whale watchers also
had close up views of a seal lion playing next to the boat in the
morning and of a curious harbor porpoise calf with its' mother in the
afternoon. At least 100 harbor porpoise, sea lions, harbor seals, a
juvenile elephant seal and a variety of bird species were seen during
the day.

WEEKEND OF MAR 21-23, 2003

Half Moon Bay had great gray whale sightings this weekend. Friday's trip saw 2 whales. Saturday's groups saw 45 grays!! The morning trip observed a breaching whale calf with its mother. The afternoon trips were very close to the action and saw the grays nearly next to the boat. Sunday's trips were just as spectacular. A total of 35 grays were seen in the water. The naturalist reported that "we moved from group of whales to group of whales." California sea lions, harbor seals, harbor porpoise and fourteen species of birds also identified in the area.

Two groups of grays were encountered on Friday's San Francisco trip. They had excellent views of the six grays. Twelve gray whales were observed on Saturday, and whale watchers enjoyed good fluke views when the grays dived below the surface. Over the weekend, more than 200 California sea lions and 75 Northern elephant seals were spotted as well as 15 different species of bird.

Bodega Bay's Saturday trips produced 12 whales in the morning and 15 additional whales in the afternoon. Sunday's afternoon trip benefited from sightings of seals, sea lions, harbor porpoise and several species of birds, including 4 white pelicans, a red necked grebe and a white winged surf scoter!

EEKEND OF MAR 14-16, 2003

It was a wet weekend for whale watching. However rain or shine, the whales didn't mind. Our San Francisco Sunday cruise observed 4 gray whales! The sightings were right off the southeast end of the Farallon Islands. California sea lions, a harbor porpoise and 5 species of bird were also identified on the trip.

WEEKEND OF MAR 7-9, 2003

What a fantastic weekend for whale watching!! All of our trips enjoyed a 100% sighting rate and saw more than 90 gray whales over the weekend. Wow! It's a great time to catch the grays on the start of their Northern migration.

Friday's Half Moon Bay morning trip saw 10 gray whales with a juvenile. The juvenile breached 3 times right in front of the boat! All passengers thoroughly enjoyed this amazing feat! Saturday morning and afternoon trips saw a combined 20 grays with Sunday's departures witnessing over 40 grays in the Pacific.

San Francisco's Saturday trip saw 8-10 gray whales near the Farallon Islands. Hundreds of sea lions, harbor seals, harbor porpoise and a variety of birds were spotted during the trip. Sunday's passengers viewed 15 grays! Sightings were less than 200 yards from the boat with excellent views of their flukes! California sea lions, 3 Stellar sea lions, 5 Northern elephant seals and several harbor seals were seen near the Islands, along with 10 harbor porpoise and 3 Dall's porpoise. Fourteen species of birds were identified including a Peregrin Falcon!

Bodega Bay's Saturday trip observed 3 gray whales. Stellar sea lions and birds galore were sighted off the coast.

WEEKEND OF MAR 1-2, 2003

Great weekend for whale sightings! Grays are in the area and heading North. Of the estimated 18,000 gray whale population, we saw 41 whales over the weekend.

Seventeen gray whales were witnessed off the waters of the Farallon Islands from our San Francisco departure. Harbor porpoise, harbor seals, sea lions and 15+ species of birds were also identified from this location.

From Half Moon Bay, Saturday's trips saw 12 whales including a cow/calf pair! Ten Pacific white sided dolphins swam right by the boat as well. The afternoon trip on Sunday saw a whopping fifteen gray whales. The views were incredible! The grays were diving at seven minute intervals and surfacing with good looks for passengers to observe the side of their bodies and their enormous flukes!! Also witnessed were 300 long-beaked common dolphins playing right next to the boat, harbor porpoise, California sea lions, harbor seals and a variety of birds.

Saturday's Bodega Bay afternoon trip saw a spectacular half-time show of sea lions and seals vocalizing, flipping and jumping off rocks. Brant's geese, common loon and double crested cormorants were flying above the boat.

WEEKEND OF FEB 21-23, 2003

Half Moon Bay whale watchers encountered 6 gray whales on Sunday! A group of 5 gray whales and 1 humpback whale headed north together. Sightings were less than 200 yards from the boat! Saturday and Sunday's trips saw 25 harbor porpoises, 6 Dall's porpoises and 21 species of bird.

Our Sunday San Francisco trip reported 14 gray whales! Their first encounter with the whales was less than 200 yards from the boat. The second group of grays had seven whales surfacing together and synchronizing their dive patterns. Our boat turned off its engine and everyone just listened to the magnificent blows. Also spotted this weekend were harbor porpoise, 20 Pacific white-sided dolphins, 5 Northern right whale dolphins and over 20 species of birds were identified.

Bodega Bay's Saturday trip saw 25 harbor porpoises, California sea lions, harbor seals and over 20 species of birds including great views of Brants (geese). The grays are definitely heading North and by next weekend we should see quite a few from this location.

WEEKEND OF FEB 14-17, 2003

Trip Report: The whale watching weekend of February 15th produced nine gray whales swimming off Half Moon Bay. Monday's trip saw 3 gray whales traveling north with a calf! Another trip highlight was witnessing 400-500 Common dolphin feeding right off Half Moon Bay's coastline.

San Francisco's Saturday trip followed 3 whales for an hour and a half, getting great views of the gray whales' flukes. Other sightings included 7 harbor porpoise, California sea lions and 23 different species of bird.

WEEKEND OF FEB 7-9, 2003

Trip Report: Half Moon Bay was the destination choice of not just gray whales, but also humpback whales this weekend!! We saw thirteen gray whales headed southbound and two humpback whales heading northwest. Our Saturday morning trip cruised along with 4 gray whales for an hour and a half. We could see their flukes from less than 40 feet away! Later in the afternoon, more gray whales were seen as well as our 2 visiting humpbacks! Sunday's trip saw five gray whales with fantastic views of their flukes and backs. In addition to seeing whales, passengers also saw a number of California sea lions, a pod of Dall's porpoises and over 20 species of birds over the weekend.

San Francisco's Sunday trip saw 3 gray whales 2 miles off the southeast end of the Farallon Islands. The weather was wonderful and passengers also saw excellent views of Dall's porpoises, harbor porpoises, harbor seals, California sea lions and a great diversity of bird wildlife.

WEEKEND OF FEB 1-2, 2003

Oceanic Society hosted a free gray whale lecture presented by Dr. Guy Oliver this Friday. It was an incredible lecture and we were glad to see so many gray whale enthusiasts! Thank you for coming and supporting our research and educational efforts at Oceanic Society.

Trip Report: Thar she blows! This weekend our Half Moon Bay trips were cancelled due to high winds.

Our San Francisco trip on Sunday set sail on a beautiful day. Although we didn't spot any gray whales, we did however see 2 harbor porpoises, 35 Northern elephant seals off Pt. Reyes and quite a few Californian sea lions. Nine species of birds were also identified.

WEEKEND OF JAN 24-26, 2003

Five giant gray whales were swimming near Half Moon Bay on the January 25th whale watching trip. Passengers had a bird's eye view of 3 whales only 50 yards from the boat! We also saw several species of birds and were briefly escorted through the waves when 20 harbor porpoise swam right along both sides of the boat.

Gray whales were also spotted off the waters of San Franicsco! Since the beginning of the season, we have enjoyed a 100% sighting rate. In addition to seeing gray whales, we also saw 20 species of birds and 3 types of pinnipeds, which included 25 northern elephant seals and harbor porpoises.

WEEKEND OF JAN 17-19, 2003

What a wonderful weekend of whales!! This weekend (1/17-1/19) we saw 35 gray whales making their way to Baja California. Three whales swam right beside the boat for 3 minutes near Half Moon Bay, while 2 pods of whales swam within 200 yards of the boat near the waters off the Farallon Islands. Very exciting sightings! Also along for the ride were common dolphins, harbor porpoise and eight different species of birds including Northern Fulmars, Western Grebes, Brandt's Cormorants and Rhinoceros Auklets.