Gray Whale Seen Inside The Gate

Here at SF Bay Whale Watching we encourage you to "Get Outside The Gate" - travel with us beyond the Golden Gate for a chance to see whales and other marine mammals. Last Thursday the tables turned and a Gray Whale decided to venture inside the Gate, most likely in search of an easy meal. (See SFGate story from April 25, 2008)

When I read about the Gray Whale seen under the Golden Gate Bridge and just beyond Crissy Field last Thursday I remembered that this happened last year too. See Sea Worthy Blog entry dated March 11, 2007 where a reader reports seeing a whale near Crissy Field on May 6, 2007. That earlier blog has information about the Grays' shallow water feeding habits, and in retrospect makes that visit inside the Gate logical.


As Gray Whales migrate towards their feeding grounds at the Bering Sea at this time of year we often hear about sightings near Sausalito, Tiburon or other spots in the Bay. Sometimes we're asked what kind of whale they're seeing.

The easiest way to differentiate a Gray from a Humpback for the casual observer would be to look for a dorsal fin - you won't find one on a Gray. So when the whale dives, and its' back arches you'll see something more like "knuckles" along its backbone. Another ID give-a-way are the whitish spots (... the Gray's coloration reminds me of a linoleum pattern.)

It is assumed that the Gray that was seen inside the Gate last week had a nice meal, took in the sights and safely resumed his or her 5,000 mile migration north. Such was not the harmless idyll for another Gray Whale that wandered about 12 miles from the mouth of the Eel River, off California's north coast.

Students and a professor from Humboldt State University freed the Gray that was snarled in and trailing about 50 feet of crab-pot lines and several marker buoys. (See SFGate whale rescue story from April 27, 2008, and Sea Worthy Blog entry on whale rescue techniques dated December 16, 2006.)

Chances are still much better that you'll see a whale (and without cargo) outside the Gate.

Photos by Ed Estes. Text by Kathleen Jacques.

Alcatraz Island - Home of the West Coast's First Working Lighthouse

Alcatraz = lighthouses? Not exactly the association that first comes to mind, is it? Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, or maybe Robert Stroud, The Birdman of Alcatraz, sure, but who even notices that old lighthouse? In fact, the original lighthouse on Alcatraz Island was the first of eight lighthouses authorized by the US Congress as a response to Gold Rush era maritime traffic. What a relief it must have been on June 1, 1854 when the Alcatraz Island Fresnel lens first beamed its light toward the Golden Gate.

You’ll get a good look at Alcatraz Island on your way out of San Francisco Bay at the start of your whale watching trip. Generally, there’s not much boat traffic in the Bay at that hour so maybe it’ll be easier to recall Alcatraz’s early history without the distractions of modern marine and urban bustle. The 84 foot tall light tower you see today was a 1909 replacement for the first light house after it was both damaged in the 1906 earthquake and rendered ineffective by the encroaching new military prison being built alongside.

The original lighthouse sat centered atop a two story keepers’ cottage. Imagine a tower sitting on the roof of one of the old keepers’ cottages on South Farallon Island and you get the picture. In fact, all of the original eight authorized lighthouses began with the same general blueprint. (On the Farallones, the keepers’ cottages sit alone while the disembodied light tower sits perched atop the highest cliff.)

The original light tower itself was 50 feet tall and often insufficient to penetrate the Bay’s thick fog so two bell fog signals were also built, one each on the North and South sides of the island. Why giant 4,000-pound fog bells were used instead of a fog horn system is unclear. The bells were suspended from the porches of small outbuildings. No “turn the music down or you’ll ruin your hearing” option for that generation of lighthouse keepers’ children - imagine the tinnitus!


Photos and text by Kathleen Jacques.