On Saturday, March 22, 2008, the Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP) hosted an exciting
and educational, naturalist-lead whale watching cruise on beautiful Bodega Bay.
The 3-hour tour was provided by the non-profit Oceanic Society (www.oceanic-society.org), which
supports marine conservation through education and research.
Since 1972, the Society has
Photos provided by Jennie Anderson
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sponsored expert-guided, educational natural history and wildlife
encounters for over 140,000 people.
This event focused mainly on the observation of the gray whales annual migration, where every year
approximately 15,000 gray whales swim from Arctic feeding grounds in the north to their Baja California
breeding and calving grounds.
The tour started off with an AEP-member (and non-member) meet and greet at the Porto Bodega
Marina aboard our day cruiser, where our crew and Society naturalist provided interesting tidbits on
gray whale observations and Bodega Bay sea life.
Once armed with these helpful tips, we set off into the Bay with binoculars in hand and a trail of
soaring sea birds in our wake.
As soon as we left the harbor, we heard many observers shout “whale at two o’clock” or “blow at
six o’clock”.
Thanks to the combined force of 28 participants we were fortunate to observe five migrating gray
whales, including two mother and calf pairs, during our trip.
We watched these beautiful creatures for as long as we could and just before turning for home received
a wonderful view of a whale’s tail as it dipped below the surface.
If that was not enough, we also encountered a group of extremely vocal sea lions and harbor seals
sunbathing on a rock near the mouth of the harbor.
What a great end to our exciting tour!
This event was a great success in that it provided AEP members a chance to network and socialize in a
beautiful outdoor setting, while learning more about important ongoing environmental conservation
efforts.
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