American Cetacean Society - Los Angeles Chapter (ACS/LA)

2 days ago

ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project Update, Pt. Vicente Interpretive Center, 11 March 2026 - 15 northbound GRAY WHALES! A very stealthy, low profile juvenile quickly passed us, as did an adult that was traveling with a juvenile. A trio milled with a small group of BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS; a group of 5 GRAY WHALES joined them for a while - forming a large group of eight! They separated back into the two original groups, and passed us around a mile offshore. A solo whale was extremely stealthy, making it very hard to track. Our last pair passed so close to shore that we could hear their blows: one whale breached twice! They milled for about 30 minutes, then headed up the coast. GRAY WHALES in 4 of our 7 sightings fluked. We also watched a FIN WHALE, a HUMPBACK WHALE that breached and did flipper slaps, COMMON DOLPHINS, offshore BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS, and coastal BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS. NOTE: we got reports of a trio of northbound GRAY WHALES and a solo juvenile southbound GRAY WHALE; we watched for them for an hour (into overtime) - but they never entered our field of view. (Summary by Census Director Alisa Schulman-Janiger).
PHOTOS TODAY: a group of EIGHT northbound gray whales, with a bottlenose dolphin, in sightings #3 and #4 (by independent offsite drone operator Mauricio Tassara aka @empty_drone); a whale in sighting #7 breached very close to shore (by anchor Joyce Daniels); photo-ID shots of the gray whale pair in sighting #7 (by observer Nina Whiddon).
GRAY WHALES TODAY:
Southbound: 0
Northbound: 15
Cow/calves south: 0
Total: 15
GRAY WHALES TO DATE (since 1 Dec)
Southbound: 199
Northbound: 269
Cow/calves south: 17
Total: 468
#acsladailycount #graywhalecensus #graywhales #finwhale #humpbackwhale #commondolphins #BottlenoseDolphins #breachingwhale ... See MoreSee Less

American Cetacean Society - Los Angeles Chapter (ACS/LA)

3 days ago

ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project Update, Pt. Vicente Interpretive Center, 10 March 2026 - 6 northbound GRAY WHALES! One of the whales in our first pair was skinny, with a dip behind its head instead of a raised fat pad; in that dip was a large white blotch. The other whale fluked; there were white scars at the base of those flukes that looked like healed entanglement scars. The next pair include one whale that fluked; this whale had a lot of white pigment on its head. The whales in our last GRAY WHALE pair were not traveling tightly together. All GRAY WHALES passed us at about a half mile offshore. We also watched a FIN WHALE, COMMON DOLPHINS, and BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS. (Summary by Census Director Alisa Schulman-Janiger).
PHOTOS TODAY: a pair of northbound gray whales in sighting #2 (by independent offsite drone operator Mauricio Tassara aka @empty_drone); A pair of northbound gray whales in sighting #1; the skinny closer whale has a dip behind its head instead of a raised fat pad, and the further whale has distinctive markings that could help ID this individual (by Census Director Alisa Schulman-Janiger); a pair of northbound gray whales in sighting #1; photo ID capture of the closer whale, and the base of the flukes of the other whale have white scars that were likely caused by an entanglement (by Census Director Alisa Schulman-Janiger).
GRAY WHALES TODAY:
Southbound: 0
Northbound: 6
Cow/calves south: 0
Total: 6
GRAY WHALES TO DATE (since 1 Dec)
Southbound: 199
Northbound: 254
Cow/calves south: 17
Total: 453
#acsladailycount #graywhalecensus #graywhales #finwhale #commondolphins #BottlenoseDolphins ... See MoreSee Less

American Cetacean Society - Los Angeles Chapter (ACS/LA)

4 days ago

ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project Update, Pt. Vicente Interpretive Center, 9 March 2026 - 1 southbound and 1 (+1) northbound GRAY WHALES! We got a call from independent drone operator Mauricio Tassara shortly before 6pm, who had spotted a southbound GRAY WHALE about a half mile offshore, up the coast from us; his drone images revealed that this was another emaciated southbound whale (like yesterday). Two members of our Monday Census crew team stayed overtime to watch for this whale. We spotted a northbound GRAY WHALE about 30 minutes later, and tracked it for 30 minutes; it passed us about a mile offshore. We spotted the southbound GRAY WHALE as we were watching the northbound whale. It passed within a quarter mile of shore after sunset, so close that we heard it blow twice! Fourteen minutes later, we heard its loud blows twice more - after it had passed us in near darkness. Neither GRAY WHALE fluked. We also watched an unidentified whale with a bushy blow that could have been a GRAY WHALE or HUMPBACK WHALE (**Update, this was actually another northbound GRAY WHALE, +1), COMMON DOLPHINS, and a few coastal BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS. (Summary by Census Director Alisa Schulman-Janiger).
PHOTOS TODAY: An emaciated southbound gray whale in sighting #2 (by independent offsite drone operator Mauricio Tassara aka @empty_drone); Point Vicente Lighthouse and cove, and Census sunset (by Census Director Alisa Schulman-Janiger).
GRAY WHALES TODAY:
Southbound: 1
Northbound: 1 (+1) = 2
Cow/calves south: 0
Total: 2
GRAY WHALES TO DATE (since 1 Dec)
Southbound: 199
Northbound: 248
Cow/calves south: 17
Total: 447
#acsladailycount #graywhalecensus #graywhales #commondolphins #BottlenoseDolphins ... See MoreSee Less

American Cetacean Society - Los Angeles Chapter (ACS/LA)

5 days ago

ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project Update, Pt. Vicente Interpretive Center, 8 March 2026 - 2 southbound and 5 northbound GRAY WHALES! A solo whale came close to shore and milled for 30 minutes near "Whale Rock"; it had 2 large white spots om its right side. A juvenile whale was somewhat skinny; it had a slight dip behind its head instead of a raised fat pad. A pair of whales kept a low profile at first, when were easier to see after they passed our sun line. Later a yacht-sized private boat, a smaller, boat, and a jet ski followed them fairly closely; after the larger vessel started to aggressively race around the whales, they responded by increasing their speed from ~6-7mph to ~15 mph (according to observer Mauricio Tassara (@empty_drone). One southbound GRAY WHALE was extremely emaciated - with prominent protrusions made by its skull, scapulas, and vertebrae, and ribs, caused by lack of body fat; it was swimming very slowly, surfacing often, and had a very weak wispy blow. Sadly, it will likely not be able to survive its migration back up to Alaska. GRAY WHALES fluked during 2 of our 5 sightings. We also watched a FIN WHALE, COMMON DOLPHINS, coastal BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS, and PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS (one group was mixed with COMMON DOLPHINS). BONUS: a VERY likely sighting of an extremely rarely seen SOUTHERN SEA OTTER, swimming on its back down the coast and periodically rolling over to dive underwater, just outside of our coastal kelp bed! (Summary by Census Director Alisa Schulman-Janiger).
PHOTOS TODAY: Census Observers Cesar Castaneda, Julia Stein, and Lisa Falk scan for whales (by anchor Chad Sprouse); gray whale pair in sighting #4 that were later harassed by a private boat, and a very emaciated southbound gray whale in sighting #5, with extensive scarring on the edges of its flukes (by independent offsite drone operator Mauricio Tassara aka @empty_drone).
GRAY WHALES TODAY:
Southbound: 2
Northbound: 5
Cow/calves south: 0
Total: 7
GRAY WHALES TO DATE (since 1 Dec)
Southbound: 198
Northbound: 246
Cow/calves south: 17
Total: 444
#acsladailycount #graywhalecensus #graywhalecensus #finwhales #commondolphins #BottlenoseDolphins #pacificwhitesideddolphins ... See MoreSee Less

American Cetacean Society - Los Angeles Chapter (ACS/LA)

6 days ago

ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project Update, Pt. Vicente Interpretive Center, 7 March 2026 - 1 southbound and 7 northbound GRAY WHALES! For several hours, high winds with many whitecaps made it difficult to spot and track whales. A dive boat ran over the fluke prints of a solo healthy-looking whale: afterwards, it stayed down longer between its surface intervals. A GRAY WHALE pair was quite stealthy, keeping a low profile; we could barely see them, especially in the afternoon glare. The southbound whale popped up close to the far edge of our viewing area; it passed a whale watching boat a bit down the coast from us. A large healthy adult milled near the end of our day; it was still milling when it we lost sight of it after the sun set. GRAY WHALES fluked during 2 of our 7 sightings. We also watched FIN WHALES, COMMON DOLPHINS, offshore BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS, coastal BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS, and PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS. Bonus sighting: adult westbound BALD EAGLE, high above the sea!(Summary by Census Director Alisa Schulman-Janiger).
PHOTOS TODAY: Our last Census sunset before Daylight Saving Time change, by co-anchors Carla Gagne and Chad Sprouse.
GRAY WHALES TODAY:
Southbound: 1
Northbound: 7
Cow/calves south: 0
Total: 8
GRAY WHALES TO DATE (since 1 Dec)
Southbound: 196
Northbound: 241
Cow/calves south: 17
Total: 437
#acsladailycount #graywhalecensus #graywhales #finwhales #commondolphins #BottlenoseDolphins #pacificwhitesideddolphins ... See MoreSee Less