WhaleGirl

Fun facts and the latest science about marine mammals in San Francisco and beyond!

09/06/2021

We spotted transient orcas yesterday - my first time seeing them in the Gulf of the Farallones!

Calling all the orca folks to tell me more about who this animal might be 😊 besides this big male, we also saw a female with a calf.

06/30/2021

Last weekend at the Farallon Islands we got an awesome look at this male Steller sea lion. They really do look like their closest land relatives - bears! The males usually weigh around a thousand pounds.
I have so many more photos to share with you from some recent trips with .society, but I’m hard at work on my thesis - so stay tuned for more soon!

05/18/2021

We’re nearly to the end of gray whale season here in the Bay, as most of the whales continue north towards their summer feeding grounds in the Bering Sea. But by no means does that mean the end of whale season - it’s just the beginning for many species of California whales, including humpbacks, fin whales, and blue whales. These species will feed in our rich, productive waters for the entire summer. Are you planning to see them while they’re here?

05/12/2021

It may look like just another rock at first glance, but that's the classic gray whale silhouette with Yaquina Head Lighthouse in the background!

I recently drove up the coast with , and we stopped in Depoe Bay for some gray whale watching with . There are actually resident gray whales that spend the summer feeding off the Oregon coast instead of heading all the way up to Alaska. We were a bit early to see the residents, but we did get to spot about a dozen gray whales on their northward migration. Many of them were feeding on dungeness crab larvae about 20 feet below the surface. Yep, gray whales eat crab! 🦀 🐋

Photo taken from several hundred feet away with a 100-400mm lens.

05/11/2021

Hope everyone had a happy mother's day weekend...including this very pregnant harbor seal I saw with last week! She's probably given birth by now - she looked like she was about to pop! I love how her flippers are just resting on her belly 😭

It's that time of year when you might see cute little harbor seal pups alone on less trafficked beaches, like the ones in the Marin headlands. If you see a pup by itself, don't worry! Mom is off getting food, but she always keeps an eye on her baby. If you get too close, she might assume you're a predator and have to abandon the pup. Keep your distance so she can return when she's ready!

04/28/2021

The baby elephant seals may not look like this anymore, but there are still plenty of cute babies out on the water these days. 🦭

Spring is in the air, and that means babies! Actually, by now the young elephant seal pictured here probably looks like a 300 pound sausage, but there are plenty of other youngsters out in the wild. A couple weeks ago I saw a little nugget of a fur seal pup shoot out of the water out near the Farallon Islands, as well as some mother humpbacks with their calves. Also keep an eye out for gray whale mother-calf pairs heading up the coast, as well as the young harbor porpoises in the bay. And if you missed it, check out my last post for the baby killer whale in Monterey right now!

Have you seen something cute this spring? 🐣

04/26/2021

What better way to wrap up than to see the ocean's apex predator! Swipe for a glimpse at the tiny little baby!

If you've got a strong stomach, check out pics from 's encounter with them on Friday, where they killed and ate a gray whale calf. Yep, even the baby got involved 😬 fair warning, it's pretty gnarly!

Some folks object to these whales being called killer whales, saying that "orca" is a nicer, more objective term for them. I disagree - killer whale is a perfectly descriptive term for these animals. Plus the term orca probably comes from an old word meaning "sea monster," while the genus name "orcinus" could refer to Orcus, the Roman word for the underworld. Killer whale or sea monster from hell...take your pick! 🤷‍♀️ both names work, so it's up to your personal preference.

These killer whales were photographed from a distance with a 100-400mm lens.

04/07/2021

If you submitted a whale photo to in the past decade, you might have helped me with my Master’s thesis! While there are official surveys, plenty of whale data are collected by community members, whale watchers, and other members of the public.

For humpback whales, the fluke, or tail, is the best way to identify an individual - and your fluke photos are put into a huge database and used by scientists all over the world. I'm using fluke photos taken off of California between 2004-2018 to figure out how many humpback whales have experienced entanglement in fishing gear. So if you’ve submitted a photo before...thank you for furthering science and contributing to conservation!

Photo of a gorgeous humpback fluke 🐋

04/06/2021

For some reason, this photo feels like a baroque painting to me… perhaps a sea lion last supper?

California sea lions are very social and often communicate through vocalizations that sound like barking dogs. Moms and pups have unique vocalizations that enable the mom to pick out her pup among hundreds of others. As an extra precaution, her pup will also have a unique scent so they can easily find each other.

Photo taken in Monterey Bay a few weeks ago with a 100-400mm lens.

03/21/2021

Do whales get cancer? They’re huge, which means they have way more cells than humans, and they have long lifespans - so it might seem safe to assume that they have a good chance of some of those cells being cancerous. But it turns out that cancer is rare in cetaceans, especially baleen whales. What’s their secret?

The trick is in their DNA. Both whales and humans have tumor suppressor genes. These genes slow cell division, correct DNA mistakes, and ultimately prevent cancer. The faster these genes mutate, the better adapted a species will be to suppress cancerous cells. It turns out tumor suppressor genes accumulate mutations six times faster for whales than for humans - contributing to their longevity and gigantism. Studying these genes in whales could even help us develop cancer treatments for humans!

Photo of a gray whale fluke off of Dana Point taken with a 100-400mm lens from a safe distance.

03/19/2021

You don’t always see whales, but you always see something cool! Spotted this peregrine falcon on the cliffs above the Point Reyes Lighthouse last weekend. Of course, as soon as I left the viewing platform, breaching gray whales showed up….classic.

Peregrine falcons are often found along the coast - they’re regularly documented on the Farallon Islands. On the whale watching boat it was always a treat to spot such a powerful bird way out to sea!

BTW, if you missed my quick cameo on All Things Considered yesterday talking about the humpback whale in SF Bay...check it out! It’s in my story and in my “features” highlight.

03/12/2021

You never know who you'll see from the Golden Gate Bridge! Anybody looking for wildlife this weekend? 🌞

California sea lion just before surfacing, photographed from above.

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