FOURTEEN MORE GRAYS: 100 southbound so far! ACS/LA GRAY WHALE CENSUS UPDATE: 17 DEC (Pt. Vicente). A pod of five GRAY WHALES, including some large adults, came in so close to shore that we heard their blows. A single gray whale was swimming about a mile offshore when it suddenly turned and headed offshore to about a mile and a half away (possibly reacr=ting to a pod of Risso’s dolphin). We heard blows on two of seven sightings, and saw flukes during five sightings. Scattered RISSO’S DOLPHIN passed through our field of view during most of the day, coming in to just above “Whale Rock” – where they spent some time breaching. Large numbers of COMMON DOLPHIN came by us; at one point two groups swam toward each other, joined, and then headed west. We also spotted a large pod of offshore BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN.
NOTE FROM ALISA: This is only the sixth time in 30 years (and the third year in a row) that our December count will have exceeded 100 southbound gray whales!
Check out our counts and summaries: http://www.acs-la.org/
Today: Southbound gray whales: 14
Northbound gray whales: 0
Total gray whales: 14
