Early Heermann's

 

We spotted this Heermann's Gull (Larus heermanni) on Salmon Creek Beach yesterday, 21 May 2016.  It caught my eye because this is early for Heermann's Gulls to appear along the Sonoma Coast.  Most don't arrive until mid-late June (after nesting in the Gulf of California).

P.S.  For more pictures of this handsome gull, review the post from 5 July 2012.

Patterns in the foam

 

Living in Bodega Bay, you can't help but wonder about sea foam — how is it created, how do the different shapes and sizes form, and what happens to it?  And sometimes it's just nice to appreciate the patterns in the foam.

 

Staying close

Recently, observers have reported many Gray Whale cow/calf pairs swimming north close to shore.  Here's one pair photographed from Bodega Head today (18 May 2016):

 

 

(The calf is smaller and paler than the adult.) 

P.S.  It sounds like the mouth of the Russian River has also been good place to see them.

Positive identification

It sounds like staff at the California Academy of Sciences was able to conclude that the juvenile Gray Whale washed ashore on Salmon Creek Beach yesterday was likely the same animal in the Orca attack offshore of Carmet on Saturday.

See the story in the Press Democrat here.

Eric and I were also working on this analysis tonight...comparing pictures in the video taken offshore to my pictures from the beach. 

We also think the evidence points to it being the same animal, but we used the color pattern on the head (instead of the flipper).

It's a little tricky, since the distance, angle, and lighting are different between the two images, but see what you think.

In the two pictures shown below, compare the sizes, shapes, and positions of the lighter patches on the head.

Here's a still shot from the video, with the head of the juvenile whale on the far right side:

 

And here's a close-up of the head of the whale that washed ashore on Salmon Creek Beach:

 

It seems like too many of the white patches match up to be a coincidence.  

If you haven't yet heard, the whale washed back out to sea last night.

Possible clues

When I arrived at work this morning, I heard that Orcas had been spotted off Bodega Head over the weekend!  Then I heard that someone had filmed Orcas attacking a young Gray Whale offshore of Carmet (just north of Bodega Bay) on Saturday.  Then the phone rang, with a report that a juvenile Gray Whale had washed up dead on the north end of Salmon Creek Beach this morning.

Here's the Gray Whale in the surf zone.  It was ~20-25 feet long:

 

We don't know the cause of death yet, or if this is the same whale that the Orcas attacked.  

Although I'm not an expert at all, I scanned for possible clues and noticed a few.  Below I'll show a couple of close-ups. 

(If you're not comfortable thinking about how this whale might have died, you might want to skip the rest of the pictures below.)

Here's one view of the throat pleats:

 

I'm sure you noticed those jagged rake marks.  Could they be from the teeth of an Orca?  (Or a shark?) 

Next, a view of the tailstock (just before the flukes):

If you look closely, you'll see additional rake marks along the tops of the "knuckles."

The Marine Mammal Center and the California Academy of Sciences hope to take a closer look at this whale.  If I learn any more about a possible cause of death, I'll post an update.

 

P.S.  For a little more information about Gray Whales, see the post from 1 February 2014 when a juvenile washed ashore a couple of years ago.  And if you're interested in the intriguing barnacles that live on these whales, review the post from 24 May 2015.

Driftwood bowl

 

 14 May 2016

Tundra tuxedo

 

Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus), Salmon Creek Beach, 14 May 2016

(all dressed up in breeding plumage, on its way to nest on the tundra)