kerrpet
Registered
Hello,
I work at the beach as a lifeguard and have noticed some really cool things lately. Yesterday was probably one of the best sightings in the past few weeks. On Monday July 23rd 2007 at about 11:30 I noticed a "v-shaped" spout about a quarter mile south of my tower. The spout was just outside the breaking waves approximately 100 meters to 150 meters from shoreline. About ten minutes had passed when a Grey Whale surfaced right in front of my tower. There was no dorsal fin and had the typical "knuckle like" ridges that Grey's have. It must have been in a depth of water of about 8'-12' deep. It was spotted by many of my coworkers too.
I was really surprised to see a Grey this late in the year. I estimate it was about 20'-25' long. There were people in the foreground who had no idea it was there so I used them to get a rough estimate of size. I also assume that due to its size it must still be fairly young? I am not sure though because I am not an expert by any means.
I also spotted a second "v-shaped" spout at about 4:00pm but it was much further out and could not identify what species it was.
Any ideas on why the late migration and age of this whale? I do see them fairly close to shore due regular migration periods, presumably to feed on worms and other invertebrates in the sandy bottom and also to rub off barnacles from their skin.
I work at the beach as a lifeguard and have noticed some really cool things lately. Yesterday was probably one of the best sightings in the past few weeks. On Monday July 23rd 2007 at about 11:30 I noticed a "v-shaped" spout about a quarter mile south of my tower. The spout was just outside the breaking waves approximately 100 meters to 150 meters from shoreline. About ten minutes had passed when a Grey Whale surfaced right in front of my tower. There was no dorsal fin and had the typical "knuckle like" ridges that Grey's have. It must have been in a depth of water of about 8'-12' deep. It was spotted by many of my coworkers too.
I was really surprised to see a Grey this late in the year. I estimate it was about 20'-25' long. There were people in the foreground who had no idea it was there so I used them to get a rough estimate of size. I also assume that due to its size it must still be fairly young? I am not sure though because I am not an expert by any means.
I also spotted a second "v-shaped" spout at about 4:00pm but it was much further out and could not identify what species it was.
Any ideas on why the late migration and age of this whale? I do see them fairly close to shore due regular migration periods, presumably to feed on worms and other invertebrates in the sandy bottom and also to rub off barnacles from their skin.
