A trip northward

Looking toward Point Pinos Lighthouse—it’s been operating in Pacific Grove since 1855.

Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus)

Two eastern North Pacific gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) on their impressive annual southbound migration

I’d like to go back in time and bump my shutter speed for this one, but I can’t pass up including a shot of the Monterey Bay celebrity known as Casper. This was my second time seeing said albino Risso’s dolphin.

northern kelp crab (Pugettia producta)

shells at Asilomar State Beach

Menzies' wallflower (Erysimum menziesii)

northern snowy plover (Charadrius nivosus ssp. nivosus)

black oystercatchers (Haematopus bachmanister)

​Monterey cypress grove​ at ​Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

Morning in Big Sur

Big Sur River

coast redwood fire survivor (Sequoia sempervirens)

western sycamore leaf (Platanus racemosa) with charred coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park

Rio Grande turkey (Meleagris gallopavo ssp. intermedia) is a subspecies of wild turkey introduced to the state in the 1950s by the California Fish and Game Commission (now the California Department of Fish and Wildlife).

Cypress Cove at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

North American osprey (Pandion haliaetus ssp. carolinensis)

I watched this southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) hunting for awhile in Cypress Cove. Despite the churning waves, it made an easy snack of a decidedly overabundant purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus). The high urchin numbers are decimating kelp forests on California’s Central Coast.

Here’s a magnificent wall of Dudleya farinosa. My farinose form (powdery white) was purchased from Annie’s Annuals in Richmond. I also scored a green one at CNL Native Plant Nursery in Marin last year. My point is there’s no need to poach members of this genus with so many specialty nurseries propagating them responsibly.

Whale watching in Monterey

Victoria, British Columbia (Canada) in 2009 is where and when I saw my first cetacean in the wild, a mammal-eating transient killer whale. Since moving to San Diego, I’ve been able to observe many more species between Cabo San Lucas and Victoria, including around the Farallon and Channel Islands. One of my favorite things to do is park myself on a bench at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and watch the eastern North Pacific gray whales hugging our coastline for relative safety. They make trips between their feeding grounds in the Arctic and where they most often give birth in Baja, California (Mexico). Some do so along the way and I’ve been lucky to see a newborn calf in San Diego waters that still had its natal folds. They make these perilous semiannual journeys in the presence of large ships and pods of killer whales that prey on the young grays. It’s about 6,000 miles each way.

Being up in Monterey for a few days recently afforded me the opportunity to head out with Monterey Bay Whale Watch again.

Southern sea otter with a crown of sparkles

A humpback whale lunge feeding on a school of fish with shorebirds dining as well

The mighty back of a humpback whale

The darker bands above the coastline are smoke from the wildfire near Big Sur which we’d planned on revisiting for two nights till the 1 was shut down. It was started by an ember blown from a burn pile inexplicably going while there were strong winds in the area.

Humpback mating behavior

This Pacific white-sided dolphin inadvertently put on a spectacular show for us while hopefully living its best life.

Pacific white-sided dolphin headed up to bow ride

Northern right whale dolphins are finless (and adorable in my opinion).

That’s a northern right whale calf leading the charge.

California sea lions thermoregulating

All Risso’s dolphins appear to be smiling.

This is Casper, the aptly named and locally famous albino Risso’s.

Gray whales heading south

Gray whale mating behavior

Gray whale diving into the swell

Goodnight, Monterey Peninsula.

Gray whales and Mylar balloons

San Diego is located along the eastern North Pacific gray whale population's migration route between their Baja breeding and summer feeding grounds in the Arctic. A perfect day of mine is sitting on a bench along the Guy Fleming trail at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and watching them swim by with my binoculars in hand or going out to see them from the vantage point of a boat. My latest piece was inspired by a sighting of a healthy cow and her newborn calf while on the Privateer with San Diego Whale Watch. She clearly didn't make it to the nearby birthing lagoons in Mexico. Said species is in the midst of an unusual mortality event, so it was particularly uplifting to see this pair of whales doing well.

Robin Street-Morris. Baja Bound (Gray Whale Cow Calf Pair). 2021. Transparent watercolor and powdered soft pastel on 300lb cold press paper. 13" x 20" (33 x 51cm).

And, of course, there were the usual Mylar balloon sightings. I get it. They're shiny and the perfect last minute party touch we spot while checking out at the grocery store. I've seen so many floating on the water and stuck in trees and powerlines that I must admit to fantasizing about popping every last one of them while standing in line. That action would likely earn me a court date unlike the manufacturing of these sea turtle chokers that look like jellyfish once the paint sloughs off. But that's how our society works, right? If you must buy these balloons, please pop them and put them in the trash once the festivity is over in an attempt to keep them from entering the food chain.

They’re doing it right with limited capacity.