GRAY WHALE ALERT! NINE grays already spotted by our Gray Whale Census observers since 6am, in patchy fog! Our RECORD December count is now 340: 336 southbound, 4 northbound grays. We nearly always have a few northbounders in December, generally juveniles who may not migrate all the way south to the Baja Lagoons. Four grays out of a population of our 340 (and out of a population of 21,000) is a very small number; in our previous record December count (Dec 2011), we tallied 191 southbound and three northbound grays. We monitor them as they cross our field of view to make sure that they are not milling (circling) around; we often see extensive milling at our location, which is a landfall and resting/socializing area for many grays that are crossing the Santa Monica Bay.
