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ACS/LA Gray Whale Census Update (Pt. Vicente): Twelve more GRAY WHALES! One whale rolled, displaying the sides of its flukes. Another whale milled for ten minutes and did a bubble blast. BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN (3-5) accompanied another whale. Gray whales in eight of nine sightings fluked. Two PROBABLE FIN WHALES emitted very tall blows, but we lost them before we could confirm their ID. We also spotted COMMON DOLPHIN and BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN. Our sunset ended with a nice series of green flashes; one turned blue at the end. -Alisa
Please check out our RECORD counts: http://www.acs-la.org/daily.htm

Gray Whale Census Update – Pt. Vicente: Fifteen Grays! One GRAY WHALE whale in a pair of whales BREACHED five times! Although they were about three miles offshore, we could clearly see the whale as it came out of the water; after breaching, it did a lunge. One gray whale swam VERY slowly; after watching it for an hour, a second gray whale came in from offshore and joined up with the first whale. They milled, and one whale did a bubble blast. Then they logged, and one whale lifted its head high twice in a partial spyhop. We spotted two sightings at about the same time. One gray whale stayed out by the buoy and milled for an hour and a half; a big splash likely resulted from an unseen breach. The other whale moved slowly through our viewing area, fluking frequently. Two sightings came close enough to release audible blows. Gray whales in all twelve sightings fluked. LOTS of FIN WHALES: at least six in the Redondo Canyon area, and one or two toward Santa Catalina Island. We also spotted a MINKE WHALE one time. POSSIBLE ORCAS: we tracked four or five “mystery whales” in the distant haze, that looked very much like orcas – but they were too far away (and too distorted in the haze) to verify. We also spotted COMMON DOLPHIN and BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN. -Alisa
Please check out our record counts: http://www.acs-la.org/daily.htm

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.

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FIFTEEN More GRAY WHALES: lots of breaching and milling! ACS/LA Gray Whale Census Update, 28 DEC (Pt. Vicente): EIGHT BREACHES were right down in front of us, coming from groups of whales that were joining and then separating again. Another whale BREACHED twice, and was surrounded by COMMON DOLPHIN. Six breaches occurred more than four miles offshore and difficult to figure out which whale was breaching, as whales were switching places; one distant whale appeared to have a white belly and could have been a FIN WHALE, but could not be confirmed. Two sightings came close enough for us to hear their blows. We saw “rainblows” on two sightings, as the sun angle turned blows into rainbows. Three sightings milled. We lost one sighting into the sun line (while we were tracking three other sightings). Gray whales fluked on eleven of thirteen sightings. We also spotted FIN WHALES (on two occasions), COMMON DOLPHIN, and BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN. -Alisa
Please check out our counts for this record December: http://www.acs-la.org/daily.htm
Today: Southbound gray whales: 15
Northbound gray whales: 0
Total gray whales: 15
RECORD* Season to Date (1-28 Dec)
Southbound ——— 263
Northbound ———- 3
Total —————– 266
Cow/calves South —- 2

NINETEEN GRAYS: BREAKS 30-YEAR DECEMBER RECORD! ACS/LA Gray Whale Census Update, 25 DEC (Pt. Vicente):Sighting conditions were ideal again with great visibility; a good thing, since two sightings never approached within three miles offshore. One GRAY WHALE foursome was moving very fast when we first saw them; they milled and we lost track of them in the haze, but they showed up again later. Grays in one sighting separated; then the lead whale turned around and reconnected with the other whale. One gray fluked frequently (after nearly every blow), and another whale raised its head high up into the air. On two occasions, small boats interfered with the gray whales: one was bothered by two jet skiers, while the other reacted to a sailboat that passed it very closely by rolling and surfacing further offshore and behind the boat. Gray whales in all twelve sightings fluked. We also tracked at least two FIN WHALES; lots of heat waves on the ocean’s surface made it difficult to positively identify these whales. We also watched spotted COMMON DOLPHIN everywhere throughout the day, with lots of large groups moving back and forth; at one point we could actually see their blows! We also tracked nearshore BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN. -Alisa
Please check out our counts: http://www.acs-la.org/daily.htm
Today: Southbound gray whales: 19
Northbound gray whales: 0
Total gray whales: 19
Running Totals: 208 southbound (including 1 calf), 2 northbound!

FOURTEEN GRAYS: Thirteen southbound, one northbound! ACS/LA Gray Whale Census Update, 22 DEC (Pt. Vicente): Two GRAY WHALE sightings came in so close that we heard their blows. We tracked six of the ten sightings for over an hour each. Two single grays headed right to each other, joined, and then milled. We watched another pair of gray whales for two hours; they came in extremely close to us and swam in a circle. One of these whales was VERY broad (likely pregnant); she lifted her head high many times, did a classic spyhop, rolled, and swam on her back for a while – displaying her lower jaw, pectoral flipper, and half of her fluke. Her companion was also quite “girthy”, possibly pregnant. Gray whales in all sightings fluked. We also spotted COMMON DOLPHIN, BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN, and RISSO’S DOLPHIN; one pod of common dolphin were very spread out, and kept changing their travel direction. -Alisa
Today: Southbound gray whales: 13
Northbound gray whales: 1
Total gray whales: 14
Please check out our counts: http://www.acs-la.org/daily.htm

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/daily.htm
Today: Southbound gray whales: 14
Northbound gray whales: 0
Total gray whales: 14