January 20 census from San Ignacio Lagoon
Numbers are growing quickly!
22 adults and 19 mother/calf pairs = 60 gray whales.
January 15 census from Laguna San Ignacio
Our Mexican colleagues report 34 gray whales on that day: 22 adults and 6 mother/calf pairs. The season is underway!
Getting ready!
Gray whales are migrating south past San Diego in good numbers, so that means our Baja whalewatching season is about to start. Our first tour leaves on Sunday night and those passengers will be migrating along with the gray whales, following them right into Laguna San Ignacio!
Please check in to our Wildlife Blog as we will be posting daily updates starting next week.
January 13 report from census
The shore-based census in the LA area reported this: We saw “8 gray whales, including two calves. Both of the cow/calf pairs came in close. In the first sighting they milled, the calf kept rolling and lifting its head high and rode on mom’s back for a while. The second sighting we saw the mom come up with the calf on her rostrum. We could see the fetal folds down the calf’s back. At one point mom, calf and three sea lions circled around”
We see this kind of cow/calf behavior in Laguna San Ignacio as well. Our passengers on 2011 tours will, no doubt, enjoy observing this starting later this month!
January 11 report for Laguna San Igancio
Our Mexican friends and colleagues in Laguna San Ignacio report that at least two babies and 10-12 adult gray whales have arrived!
Chef Charles’ carrot cake recipe
Everyone loves Charles’ carrot cake, so here’s the recipe:
Icing
1-8 oz pkg cream cheese
1 stick butter
1 box powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup pecans halves (optional, for garnish)
Soften cream cheese and butter and mix. Add sugar a little at a time while mixing. Add vanilla.
Cake
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp salt
1 cup Wesson oil
4 eggs
3 cups grated carrots
1 tsp vanilla
Sift dry ingredients together. Add oil, eggs, and carrots. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.
Ice the cake. Add pecans, if desired, on top of each piece.
13 southbound gray whales counted 2 January 2011
Message from the LA-based shore observers: “Best gray whale day so far despite the rain! First we tracked a large pod of five large, fast-moving whales; most fluked. Shortly after that, we found a pod of three whales. Most of the sightings came within a mile offshore, but one gray whale pair stayed out about two miles offshore. We also spotted common dolphin and bottlenose dolphin.”
