Lift off

  

Humpback Whales off Bodega Head this morning (10 October 2025).

Here's a view of the splashdown after the breach:

 

 

It's been an amazing summer and fall for seeing Humpbacks off Bodega Head.  Whales were visible across the entire horizon today, both close to shore (within 1 mile) and far offshore.

 

A few more views, showing a dorsal fin, flukes, and spouts:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Multi-porpoise

   

A few quick shots of Harbor Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from Limantour Beach on 23 August 2025.

Sea conditions were relatively calm today, making it easier to spot the porpoises.  But it was hard to tell how many were in this group.  Eric and I agree on at least three individuals, but there could have been more.  I wasn't able to photograph more than two at once.

 

 

 

 

 

Classic view of the nice triangular dorsal fin: 

 

 

 

Swimming north rapidly

  

This was a little unexpected, but as I was watching the Humpback Whales yesterday (26 July 2025), I caught a glimpse of a fin much closer to shore and realized it was a Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).

I wasn't quite ready and didn't get a great photo, but I thought one photo was possibly good enough to identify the individual.  So I sent it off to Bill Keener at The Marine Mammal Center.  Sure enough, Bill was able to match this to a known female in their catalog.  "Cepat" has been seen in Sonoma County before, and as far north as Sea Ranch. 

Here's a few of her heading north:

 

 

By the way, Bill mentioned that Cepat doesn't usually travel alone, so it's a good time to keep an eye out for other Bottlenose Dolphins in the Bodega Bay area.  Let us know if you see any!  

P.S.  I was curious about the name "Cepat," so I looked it up.  Sounds like it's an Indonesian word meaning rapid, quick, or swift.

P.P.S.  Many thanks to Bill for providing the background information about Cepat and for monitoring local marine mammals!

ADDENDUM (31 July 2025): Some people have inquired about how Bill identified Cepat.  Individual Bottlenose Dolphins have distinctive markings on or near their dorsal fins.  So if you get a good enough photo and the dolphin is a known individual in the photo catalog, you can match the markings.  Here's a close-up where you can see a couple of distinctive notches at the base of Cepat's fin:

 

 

Splash dance

  

Whale activity continued off of Bodega Head today (26 July 2025).  This afternoon I tried to get a few photos of breaching.  The whales were pretty far off (perhaps 1.5-2 miles), so these photos aren't the sharpest, but I'm sharing several for the record.

 

 

 

Lobtailing (slapping the flukes against the surface of the water), too :

 

 

 

 

And a view of splashes out near the horizon:

 

 

  

 

 

What a day!

  

Every where I went today (23 July 2025) I heard people saying, "What a day!"  The weather was beautiful at the coast, and it appeared that the whales were enjoying it, too!  Every time I scanned the horizon from Bodega Head today there were at least 8 or more Humpback Whales in view.

I took a few photos here and there, and several seemed to show the whales feeding at the surface, with mouths open:

 

 

Must be some baitfish around! 

White on gray

  

We were on a field trip to the Fort Ross/Salt Point area today (16 July 2025).  I didn't have a chance for many photos, but there was lots of whale activity visible offshore (mostly humpbacks), so here's a photo for the record. 

Dolphin surprise

  

I was working at my desk this morning (19 March 2025), when a lot of splashing offshore caught my eye.  I checked quickly with binoculars and realized it was a large group of dolphins passing Bodega Head, so I went to get my camera to try for photos.

They were pretty far out, so the photos aren't great, but because this doesn't happen very often, here are a few images for the record.  [You can click on the images for sharper versions.]

 

 

This was a large group of Risso's Dolphins (Grampus griseus).  My estimate was somewhere ~100 individuals, but I ran into Lisa who wondered about ~50, so somewhere in the range of 50-100 dolphins.

Look for the relatively large body size (8.5-13 feet), overall grayish coloration, and tall dorsal fin.

 

 

The dolphins were swimming south fairly quickly, but they were in view from Bodega Head for at least 30 minutes (between 10:30-11:00 a.m.). 

Remarkably, we also observed a large group of Risso's Dolphins under very similar circumstances last year on nearly the same date (21 March 2024) -- see post called "Splashes, fins, and leaps!"  Perhaps the week after St. Patrick's Day is a good time to be watching for Risso's from Bodega Head?

Fin in the fog

  

A couple of weeks ago, Eric looked up from the surf zone to see this animal swimming by.

I was surprised how close to shore it was.  Here's a photo with the fin in the distance and the surf zone (next to the beach) in the foreground:

 

 

It surfaced a few more times, so we had some better views, but I didn't have my camera ready and it was a bit foggy and distant, so here's my best shot for the record.  Did you guess its identity?

 

 

 

A Harbor Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) near Drakes Beach on 17 August 2024.

 

I don't spend a lot of time at Drakes Beach, so I'm not sure how often porpoises are seen near the surf zone in that area.  Is it common?  If you have observations to share, please do!

 

P.S.  This sighting reminded me of an older post showing porpoises in Drakes Bay, but in this case they were photographed looking down from above the Chimney Rock Lifeboat Station — see "Breathe" on 26 November 2014.

 

Offshore spouts

  

A distant shot, but I wanted to record that there have been good numbers of Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) off Bodega Head this week -- often 6-8 spouts or more visible across the horizon at any one time.  (And lots of pelican diving, too!)

With or without porpoise

  

It's a busy week (!), but here are a couple of Dall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli) photos from the pelagic trip on 7 May 2023.  One with porpoise (above) and one without (below) — by that I mean the splash is more visible than the animal, which isn't uncommon!

 

 

Out of the water

  

Whoops, I'm running out of time tonight, but here's a dolphin photo for you — Pacific White-sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchos obliquidens) from yesterday's pelagic trip out beyond Cordell Bank.

Following the coast

  

Gray Whales (Eschrichtius robustus) were visible near shore today (3 May 2023), swimming north along the coast.

Along for the ride

 

 

Well, I've wanted to share this photo for a while, but it's been a little busy since Michael first let us know about this fascinating observation in mid-September.  

 

Meet Coronula diadema, sometimes known as a whale barnacle!

 

A young Humpback Whale washed up in Fort Bragg on 12 September 2022.  Michael was part of a team from the Noyo Center that went to document it and he took a few photos of the barnacles living on the whale.  It's not often that we get to see this species of barnacle up close as they live exclusively on whales!

 

You can see that the barnacles are quite rounded; they're often described as cask-shaped (or barrel-shaped).  They have sets of very prominent ribs and in some cases there is black coloration visible if the tops of the ribs have worn away or broken off.  The black is whale skin!  The barnacles anchor themselves in the whale's skin by incorporating it into the inner parts of their shells.

 

If you zoom in and look at the central area of the barnacle, you can see the orangish membrane and a pair of tiny white shells embedded in the membrane.  In other barnacle species, those plates (called scuta) help the barnacle close up entirely (like a trap door), but in Coronula diadema the plates are highly reduced.

 

 

 

  

These barnacles were alive when photographed, and the feeding appendages (known as cirri) were extended in one of the individuals (see below).  In Coronula, the appendages are relatively short.  Interestingly, I read that they have small hook-like structures at the tips of the cirri, perhaps indicating that they feed on larger types of zooplankton.

 

 

 

I can't help sharing one more close-up.  Check out the tiny "beads" at the base of the barnacle shells.  I don't recall seeing this texture in other barnacles.  That's new shell growth (barnacles add new shell at their base) and it's likely the beaded texture is worn away with time.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this introduction to Coronula diadema!  Many thanks to Michael Brito and the Noyo Center for sharing these wonderful photos.

Whale worth it?

 

 

Lots of whale activity off Bodega Head today (3 October 2022)...the most Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) I've seen at one time in a while.  They were quite a ways offshore, but at times there were at least 10 or more whales visible at one time.  Scanning the horizon, it was easy to see spouts, some lobtailing, a few breaches.  Not sure if the activity will continue, but it could be worth a look!

Lions, porpoises, and a mystery

  

Several Steller Sea Lions (Eumetopias jubatus) swimming by while we were offshore on 21 August 2022.  

And although we saw several small groups of porpoises, here's the only photo that came out of a Dall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli).  They're incredibly fast:

 

 

P.S.  In part I thought I'd show these marine mammals tonight because I also had an interesting observation from shore today.  Around midday it's possible I saw a group of Risso's Dolphins (Grampus griseus) swimming south past Bodega Head towards Point Reyes.  I'm not 100% certain, but I feel that it's likely, so if you're near the coast, keep your eyes open for tall, curved fins.

P.P.S.  And I'll add a few more photos to this post.  This is just for fun, and also in case anyone can help provide input re: an identification.  During the boat trip I turned to see an animal at the surface that I couldn't identify.  I thought I saw a somewhat bumpy back and then a gap and a bulbous head.  At sea I thought through the mammals it could possibly be, even something like a Pygmy Sperm Whale.  I snapped a few quick photos in the area, and I did capture something, but it was just a glimpse (a "Loch Ness" view?).  I won't bias you, but I'll tell you what I'm thinking below the photos.  [You can click on the images for larger versions.]

 

 

 

 

This is the same photo as the last one, but showing a wider view:

 

 

Although I don't think the photos are good enough (at least for me), my best guess right now is a Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea).  In the first mystery photo, it's possible that's one or two of the bumpy ridges along a Leatherback's shell.  And in the third mystery photo, perhaps that's part of the head and maybe the top edge of a flipper?  I'm not at all sure, so if you have more experience with Leatherbacks or small cetaceans, let me know what you think!  (And for better photos of a local Leatherback Turtle, you can review Doug Wilgis's photos from 2015.)

Greyhounds of the sea

  

Okay, here you go, more Fin Whale photos!  The first two pictures (above and below) show their long backs.  The raised area surrounding the blowholes is also visible.

 

 

The next series highlights their dorsal fins.  It was hard to tell how many whales there were while they were surfacing in different areas, but it appears there were at least 5 different individual Fin Whales based on the different shapes of the dorsal fins.

 

Individual #1:

 

 

Individual #2:

 

  

 

Individual #3. Two photos, to document that this individual has a hole in its fin:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Individual #4 (with a cutout at the trailing edge of its fin):

 

 

 

 

 

 

Individual #5.  Two photos -- I don't know if the second photo is the same individual as the first, but the fin shape looked similar enough that I couldn't rule it out.  (P.S.  The first photo is the same whale that showed its flukes in last night's post.)

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this visit with the "greyhounds of the sea"!