A lot like yesterday and not ... The wind hit us similarly (not so good) and intrepid, multi-mother/calf pairs were like yesterday, and we all liked that a lot.

This morning the three pairs approaching Counter Point held back enough to let us set up and clean the binos before entering the datasheet just after 9 AM. They posed some problems for us and then posed nicely for the camera guy, so all turned out nicely.

In the above image, one of the pairs crossed the kelp to the shore-side and into the line-up at Devereux. The calf lifts its head to check out the dudes, while milk-splattered mom tries to figure out how to get the milk into her calf, traveling though these waves. (They paused to nurse at least three more times in about a half-mile traveling.)

A sizable crowd gathered to watch. An hour and a half later, when the whales had passed Counter Point, a guy asked us a question. He and his wife live in Malibu and had see whales there. They wondered how long it would take those whales they had seen to reach Counter Point. We used the three pairs they had just seen here as an example of the way mother/calf pairs travel: an hour and a half to go one mile from the Isla Vista kelp to Counter Point kelp. Not very fast and certainly not a constant “speed” nor a direct route. They are adventure-loving meanderers. They can move at two to four or five miles an hour, but they just don’t seem to do that through the nearshore of the Santa Barbara Channel.

There were no dolphins at all that we saw today, and we did not see an otter; but, two Harbor seals were entered in our data. We thought how nice it was to see the otter yesterday. Yes, it could have been a different otter, which would be OK too. We were thinking though, that maybe our otter was comfortable enough to roam a bit and then return to his spot in the Isla Vista kelp.

It is supposed to be even more windy tomorrow, so we might not see it on Monday either.

Gray whales northbound (all) 22 | Calves 11 — 2016 Count 1039 | 111

Time Counting: 5h 26m

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