Brandt’s cormorants (Phalacrocorax penicillatus) are back on the sea cliff just west of Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz. They started using this ledge in...
The waters of California’s Monterey Bay, particularly around the Santa Cruz Wharf, are home to the cute and quite fuzzy harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). The smaller of...
Winter is a great time to try and see pods of dolphins within the Monterey Bay in Coastal California. The bottlenose dolphins are year-round residents, but there are also...
Surf scoters are named for their propensity to forage in ocean surf and dive through the foam of breaking waves. A flock of surf scoters will often dive in unison to conf...
California’s Santa Cruz Wharf is a common resting place of the oft-noisy sea lion (Zalophus californianus). You may also see harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) but they...
In May marine mammals are reproducing and/or still migrating. Some have already given birth but are still heading north towards summer feeding grounds. May is typically a...
As land dwellers we think of springtime as the time of year when animals mate and have babies. In the sea, many mammals birth their young in the thick of winter. Elephant...
Storms and high winds along coastlines can produce large masses of sea foam. It can form foamy rafts on the water and pile up on beaches, rocky shores, and cliffs. Sea fo...
If you have been to the beach along the west coast of the US lately, you will have seen a brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis). You might see them flying in large V-sha...
Cover photo by Matt Walker, NRB Photography. Whales, dolphins and porpoises are divided into two groups: toothed and baleen. Baleen whales, such as gray and humpback whal...
