Two full moons grace the skies in one month, on Jan. 2 and Jan. 31, the latter called a “blue moon.” Seven-foot mid-morning high tides accompany them, so plan beach walks accordingly.
In recent weeks, the solstice welcomed the annual southern migration of Pacific gray whales and the onshore migration of Northern elephant seals. Whales are described as either toothed (Odontocetes), like orcas and sperm whales, or baleen whales (Mysticeti), which have plates of a fingernail-like material in their mouths to browse or graze on their food. Gray whales passing California shores are baleen whales, bottom feeders that excavate troughs in Alaskan waters in search of tiny tube-dwelling amphipods. They feed opportunistically on schooling fish as they travel, but mostly spend summers chowing down. On Christmas Eve, 20 whales were seen in the drizzly conditions.
Sharing the stage are Northern elephant seals, which like to stay put on park beaches for their winter breeding season. Just as the Light will celebrate the first baby of 2018, park researchers will await the first elephant seal pup of the year. Rangers were out over the holiday weekend hoping for the happy news, but no pups have been spotted so far.