Lately, it has been v e r y s l o w at Counter Point, until —JOLT— just past eleven this morning.

The calf migration arrived blowing up the ocean at Campus Point: four mother/calf pairs. What a treat. They luxuriated in the IV kelp pool for at least a half hour while we took turns trying to guestimate how many whales were actually in the pool. Harder than one might think ... The image we saw was a hot-tub jammed with revelers. It wasn’t until they left the kelp and headed right at us that we could separate the couples in ourscope and binos to make the count.

They were magnificent: a billion blows with body parts all over the place. The spectacle, even a mile and a quarter away, was just fantastic.

We sighed as we realized that the lull between the migrations is over! We acknowledged that what we had just experienced was rare, and then we settled into scanning for more.

Just after two, another mother/calf pair arrived and it, too, headed for the kelp pool. While we wondered how long they might stay and play, another blow spouted further back at Campus Point. The single(?) whale seemed to pass behind the pair in the pool, but we could not find it along the kelp toward us. Instead, another big whale arose in the kelp pool. The three stayed for a time, then exited the kelp on the shore side of the kelp, where they started towards us. There we saw the single was not a single: a calf was alongside. The two pairs crisscrossed through the kelp and emerged just beyond the Devereux surfline where about twenty surfers took in the unexpected nature!

What a sight for them and for us, above, at Counter Point. The accompanying image is one of the two pairs.

Unfortunately, our otter, which we usually found along the IV kelp pool was nowhere to be seen this morning, and not in attendance for the heavyweights’ performances.

At quarter after four, the otter was in place for the final event of the day: one more pair.

Remarkable: seven calves today.

Congratulations to all the Counters who have worked so hard, many taking extra shifts during this extended lull between the general migration and the arrival of the calves.

Thank you all!

More to come ...

Gray whales northbound (all) 14 | Calves 7 — 2016 Count 873 | 029

Time Counting: 8h 0m

Let’s keep this Good Thing Going ...