Fun in the surf

We were treated to some nice views of dolphins and whales off Salmon Creek Beach today (18 March 2017).

Two record shots of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).  They're a bit distant, but it's worth documenting their continued presence in this area:

 

 

And we were excited to see a Gray Whale cow-calf pair surprisingly close to shore — within ~100 meters of the beach!  The calf seemed to be having fun in the surf.  Here it is, upside down, showing its belly and pectoral fins out to either side:

 

The next view was the underside of the calf's flukes in a wave, headed out to sea:

 

And here's one more — just the tip of the Gray Whale's flukes carving through the water like a shark fin:

 

At one point, the dolphins were very close to the whales and it was interesting to think about what kinds of interactions they might have had.

Here's hoping for more marine mammal sightings this spring!