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:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

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!)

Fins and flukes

  

I don't have much time tonight, but here are a few Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) photos from the offshore boat trip on 21 August 2022.

This is the same whale showing its flukes:

 

 

 

 

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"!

Going, going, gone!

  

I joined an offshore boat trip today (21 August 2022) on the New Sea Angler.  We made it ~30 miles off shore and visited Cordell Bank and Bodega Canyon.

One of the highlights was a small group of Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus).  I'll show more pictures later (of Fin Whales and other species), but for now I thought I'd share these fluke shots.  

I haven't seen Fin Whales very often in this area (but see the previous sighting in the post on 31 July 2016).  And it's rare for them to show their flukes, so here you go!

 

 

 

 

More soon...

Spouts and flukes

  

A Gray Whale (Eschrichtius robustus) has been observed fairly close to shore off Bodega Head during the past few days.  (And a few days ago I could also see quite a few Humpback Whales farther out towards the horizon.)

Here's another view of the Gray Whale heading away:

 

 

Close to shore

 

More Gray Whales were visible close to shore today (15 April 2022) -- here are a few examples!

 

 

 

 

 

Showing the way

 

 

Nice views of Gray Whale (Eschrichtius robustus) cow-calf pairs close to shore off Bodega Head today (13 April 2022).  Head-on view (above) and a side view below:

 

 

 

And a couple of close-ups:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Close to shore

  

I've been hearing reports of Gray Whales off Bodega Head during the past few days, so I took a quick look this afternoon (7 April 2022) and saw a few individuals fairly close to shore.

 

 

 

Pardon me...

 

 

...coming through!

 

A Gray Whale (Eschrichtius robustus) surfaces among Surf Scoters (Melanitta perspicillata) on 12 March 2022.  The whales are on their way north to Alaska.

 

At the surface

 

 

 

Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) at the surface just offshore of Bodega Head, 17 October 2020.

Blues off Bodega Head

Wonderful views of the Pacific Ocean today (24 June 2020), with Blue Whales as a bonus!  Tall spouts were visible approximately 1.5-3 miles (2.5-5.0 km) offshore of Bodega Head.  They were far enough out that it was hard to tell which species of whale was involved, but I took some photos with a zoom lens, and most of the images showed Blue Whales.  The photos aren't great, but they're representative of what you might see with binoculars:

The Pacific:

 

Examples of tall spouts:

 

 

Examples of long gray backs and small (often pointed) dorsal fins:

 

 

 

Example of flukes: 

 

 It's always a treat to see Blue Whales, especially from shore!

Spouts offshore

 

Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) have been visible offshore of Bodega Head recently.  They've been pretty far out, but the sun lights up their spouts at the end of the day.  Photographed from Bodega Head on 13 June 2020.  I hope you've enjoyed World Oceans Week!

Hooked tips

 

Descending Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) flukes, offshore of Bodega Head, 6 October 2019.

Views of Blues

Some of my favorite Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) shots from the pelagic trip on 6 October 2019.

I love their beautiful mottled patterning:

 

 

Two views of the tiny dorsal fin:

 

 

Two whales surfacing:

 

With Point Reyes (and the lighthouse) in the background: