Extra Time: Day Four ... Overtime is Over! Drop the confetti from the ceiling!!!

Early morning fog in Santa Barbara put a scare into us. If this was going to be the last day, we wanted to see that no whales were going by. Don’t worry ...

The marine layer was high enough for us to see at least two miles at Campus Point and three miles south and west. Good to go.

We saw a big group of Common dolphins that charged to a spot due south of us and there they found what they were looking for: fish. The dolphins moved around a bit but pretty much were 1.5 to 2 miles straight out from us for three hours.

Our next sighting was a single Bottlenose dolphin. Strange. We rarely see a single Bottlenose. Crazy ... Then again, just right. It was a crazy year.

The weather was amazing. We had many, many, many full days without wind, rain, or fog to keep us from our appointed round up. And, there was an abundance to round up and tally on the board. Our highest raw Count before this year was 1,036. We counted 1,424, about 40% higher. We also counted — again, raw data — the most calves we have ever seen. Whether or not we will have appreciably higher estimates, we will have to wait to do the numbers.

All of this was conducted by Counters who put in a truly amazing effort. What fun!!!

All this raw-data gathering, including our complementary monitoring of the Marine Protected Area MyMPA, was accomplished by RAs Ashley Steinkraus and Samara Travella, with additional effort made by student interns Jimmy Ambach, Conner Ranck, and Cheyenne Ziegler. Thank you.

Of course, the crazyness had to play some dirty tricks ...

We loved that the mother and calf pairs were continuing up the coast from Mexico. We were looking forward to Extra Time. We were until the Refugio State Beach Oil Spill put the whales in jeopardy on their joyous journey north. All of a sudden we cringed at blows at Campus Point. And, while the whales were facing a poisonous slick, they were passing through. The dolphins, sea lions, Harbor seals, fish, kelp, other marine organisms, and birds that live in this severely damaged environment face longterm peril.

The women and men in white coats were back on the beaches again today doing their best to remove what oil they can. Strange boats are all over this area, searching and finding, testing and removing oil. High winds scattered the slick over a much wider area. This is crazy-bad. We warmed to mothers nursing calves and fell silent as they moved beyond Counter Point and the Campus Point State Marine Conservation Area, what is supposed to be a safe haven.

In spite of the obvious, this moment is a time for celebration, a time to warmly recall what brought us to Counter Point in the Coal Oil Point Reserve.

For updates on the oil spill: Independent and Refugio Response Effort.

Gray whales northbound (all) 0 | Calves 0 — 2015 Count 1424 | 249

Hours 8:00