from Peninsula Daily News, last year in April.
It says high tide, and early morning. It says mid-April and later. It does not say, nobody does, what it is that draws them right up into the surf at First Beach.
I can't testify from my own experience, as I was nearly entirely unlucky last year. Started too early in the season, for one thing, and was already bored with never seeing them (and went back to frequenting the more beautiful Rialto Beach) before I got into the most likely part of the calendar. But also I had terrible luck. I'd walk up to people and ask if they were seeing whales, and they'd say, oh yesterday or a little while ago (or any time but now) they'd had good views. People would walk up to me on the beach and ask if I was seeing whales, and I'd say, 'Don't stand near me, I never see any.' I seriously imagined that the whales were saying, 'Erk! Miriam's on the beach! Let's leave!!'
The one time I had a sighting was April 21st. I'm thinking I might try harder this year to find a naturalist or biologist who knows anything about WHY they come into the cove at the south end of First Beach, and hang around near the surf line. It will give me something to think about while I fail to see them.
1 comment:
I've been lucky enough to see quite a few gray whales while surfing at Crescent Beach and at random other places throughout the strait. I find them harder to spot at La Push and other west coast spots. Sometimes I see their blowhole spray, but the open ocean surface texture and sunlight angle make it more difficult for me. Great blog- we share similar interests (oceans, weather, birding) so I keep finding myself coming back to look at your great pictures and descriptions.
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