Happy Valentine’s Day! While we celebrate heart day only once a year, gray whales celebrate heart day every day. Well, maybe not intentionally, but every time they surface and exhale a heart-shaped mist appears. This heart-shaped blow is a special attribute of gray whales and a key way of identifying them out on the water… [read more]
Look at the size of that gray whale penis!
On Sunday, January 26, 2014, a lucky group of whale watchers got to witness gray whales mating just off the backside of Catalina Island. This exciting encounter included a great flash of a gray whale’s penis. Suddenly a male’s privates were not so private if you know what I mean. It’s not super common to… [read more]
Gray whale inspiration for New Year’s resolutions
Gray whales migrate past Southern California every year and of course 2014 is no exception. In fact, gray whale sightings recorded by the ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project during December were the highest in 30 years! On January 14th they spotted 37 gray whales in one day. If one of your New Year’s… [read more]
A whale watching weekend
This weekend I had the chance to go whale watching and I’m so glad I did! My friends and I boarded the Christopher in Long Beach Saturday morning along with 100 other people and headed out to see what we could see. The first whale we came across turned out to be a fin whale,… [read more]
Point Dume wildlife bonanza
Spending Sunday morning at Point Dume turned into a wildlife bonanza with ocean views and sunny skies. In less than one hour I had the chance to see: A gray whale milling about right near shore! California sea lions porpoising and hanging out on the rocks. California brown pelicans watching the waves. Western gulls relaxing… [read more]
Whale watching on the sand
I had a great time whale watching this weekend! Okay, so maybe it wasn’t whale watching exactly…I had the chance to see a life-size Pacific gray whale made out of sand at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium’s Whale Fiesta. And this sand sculpture was very accurate. As you can see in the photo this gray whale had… [read more]
Way to ban plastic bags LA!
On Wednesday, May 23rd, Los Angeles became the largest U.S. city to pass a plastic bag ban with a 13 to 1 vote by the Los Angeles City Council. As a Los Angeles resident and ocean enthusiast, I was thrilled! When plastic shopping bags were first introduced in 1977, no one had an inkling of… [read more]
Have a whale of a Mother’s Day!
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there whether you are feathered, finned, furry or footed! Since this past week was full of fascinating whale news, it’s the perfect time to highlight the trials and tribulations facing some finned moms out there (it’s actually more accurate to say knuckled for gray whales since they… [read more]
Gray whale smackdown
Have you ever gotten so frustrated or annoyed that you just wanted to smack someone? You are not alone. And it turns out we as humans are not alone. I recently had to go through boxes of old newspaper clippings (long story) and came across this headline in the pile: “2nd surfer nailed by whale… [read more]
Gray whale watching bonanza
Gray whale watching started December 26th and it’s shaping up to be one of the best whale watching seasons ever! There has been a ton of press coverage, so this post is definitely on the late side. But it’s still worth mentioning in case anyone missed the news or needs a reminder. Volunteers for the… [read more]