Fog was not the story, just an interruption. We had two brief timeouts to bring back our horizon and beloved oil platform. We even managed to sight, identify, and count whales before each interruption.

There were only three sightings of whales in the morning — we don’t think the fog was the problem — and we had zero sightings of dolphins. After three we were invaded by Bottlenose, Common, and Pacific White-sided dolphins, along with a rambling group of sea lions. At about four, two groups of Gray whales popped up amongst the invaders, and chaos ruled the moment. After the whales passed Counter Point, they paused, came together as a reformed group of four and bid the dolphins adieu.

A half-hour behind, another pair of Gray whales emerged in the dolphin pool. The Bottlenose dolphins were especially paying attention to the Mother and calf whales, which paused for refreshment, then also moved west as we packed up for the day.

Gray whales northbound (all) 11 | Calves 1 — 2015 Count 863 | 009

Hours 7:24