The morning was long, and we wish the afternoon had been longer.

Our first of two Gray whale sightings was at 1:46. Before that we saw our dolphins: Bottlenose, Pacific White-sided (Lags), and Common dolphins. The Bottlenose were in larger groups than usual and each group had calves. Our first Common group had at least one calf, and we were unable to determine any calves in the Lag group.

The first Gray whale sighting consisted of three Cow/calf pairs, with our second, at quarter to four, a group of two Cow/calf pairs that for most of the way to and past us was so close together, they left a single “foot print.”

One pair, isolated in the above image, surfaced just outside Devereux, where marine biologist Kevin Lafferty was surfing. When he finally noticed what was outside, he used his local knowledge to position himself at the edge of the kelp where he thought the whales might be heading: close enough ...

We now call him Whale Rider.

Gray whales northbound (all) 10 | Calves 5 — 2015 Count 993 | 038

Hours 8:00