Happy Valentine's Day

Anacapa Island

A couple of days after Christmas while Kayla was spending some time at her grandparents, I took advantage of that by taking a day trip out to Anacapa Island. It was a beautiful morning leaving out of Oxnard harbor.

This is a view of Oxnard coastline.

On the way out to Anacapa Island, you have the opportunity of seeing some marine wildlife like the Common Dolphins.

Across the Santa Barbara Channel within the Channel Islands National Park sits Anacapa Island.
The island is located approximately 12 miles off the coast of Ventura, California. It is a small volcanic island made up of three small islets in which are all connected by reefs, and was discovered in 1542 by Cabrillo.

The west and middle portions of the island is closed off to the public except for Frenchy's Cove Beach. The west end is a nesting ground for brown Pelicans, which is protected.

The east end is open to the public and is one square mile in size. Waves have eroded the island, creating steep, towering cliffs, caves and Arch Rock; the forty-foot-high natural bridge.

After climbing 150 stairs to the top of the island, this is the view looking west including the only buildings on the island. To name a few of the buildings; rangers residence, water tank building, visitors center.

Hiking along the well, outlined trail, I came to Cathedral Cove. This is another viewpoint area towards the west.

Coreopsis (below) and iceplant (above) covers the island and blooms in the spring. However, when I was there late December, portions of the iceplant were already in bloom.

At the west end of the eastern part of Anacapa Island is a viewpoint called Inspiration Point. It's a beautiful view of the other islets that make up Anacapa Island. The far distance land in the photo below is Santa Cruz Island. Looks like its perpendicular to the west end of Anacapa.

From the western end of the eastern part of the island, this is the beautiful view below looking east which includes the buildings and Anacapa Lighthouse.

On the north side of the island is a viewpoint called Pinniped Point. Looking east from there is this scene with the California coastline in the far distance.

The United States Coast Guard built a light beacon in 1912 and a light station in 1932.
Anacapa Lighthouse was the last one built by the U.S. Lighthouse Service.

Birds, Sea Lions and Harbor Seals have made Anacapa Island their home.

Beautiful kelp forests around the island make it an ideal location for diving, snorkeling and kayaking.

For more information on the island, please visit here.
To see more images from my trip to the island, please visit here.

Hope everyone is having a terrific weekend - staying dry and warm.

Whale Count - First Day...

Hello Everyone...

I have been busy with responsibilities of life..... I can't believe how fast time is flying by... It's crazy!

Today was my first day participating in the Gray Whales count at Coal Oil Point in Santa Barbara. What a fantastic first day we had. The weather was beautiful, calm waters made for perfect viewing, and a handful of nice people. During my two-hour shift, we spotted a Sea Otter among the kelp near shore, about 20 Bottlenose Dolphins, and a nice surprise about 2 miles out from our point, a small pod of Orcas; probably, Transient. They were traveling east just off of Santa Cruz Island. We could determine that a male was included in this pod due to its large dorsal fin. Other than that, the rest of the identification process was impossible from our viewpoint.

From our viewpoint, you can see the 4 islands that are part of the Channel Islands National Park; Anacapa Island, Santa Cruz Island, Santa Rosa Island, and San Miguel. Here is a photo off the internet that shows the 4 islands I just listed.

If I were to guess, we were located just below the "f" in If.

I also learned a few things today about Bottlenose Dolphins.... They are common to travel along the shoreline and the Common Dolphins are not. In my previous post, I stated just the opposite. From my experience viewing dolphins in the Santa Barbara Channel, this holds true.

Unfortunately, I am not able to take photos during this 2 hour shift, but I do plan to scope out the area and find a nice position to photograph some of the wildlife during off shift hours. From what I understand, the first few weeks are typically slow for whales to migrate through the area, but once they start migrating through, the numbers are endless. :) However, they did have their first juvenile northbound migration through the area this morning just after the first shift started. It is possible that this juvenile Gray Whale did not migrate all the way down to Baja and was just traveling in the route its mother showed him/her last year. From what I heard, it was traveling closer to shore than usual for just a single whale and that also shows it hasn't learned that its okay to travel further off shore like the other juveniles and adults without calves do.

I will be posting my days "Counting" here. It is a weekly shift, but some weeks I am unable to participate....

I am working on my Anacapa Island post, so it should be up by the end of this week, if not sooner. :)

Thank you all for visiting and commenting.

Hope you all are doing great. Have a wonderful week....

Gray Whales in the Santa Barbara Channel

Last Wednesday, I decided to go out and see what kind of photos I can capture of these amazing animals. I still haven't gotten what I need for my project, so another trip out will be necessary next month sometime.

Every year starting around December, the Gray Whales migrate through the Santa Barbara Channel on their way down to Baja. They travel to the warm lagoons to have their calves where they feel protected. Traveling down to Baja to complete a 10,000 mile journey one way, they hug the coastlines of the Channel Islands.

There was a juvenile traveling with this group. Probably born last year, so it is learning the route.

Anacapa Island is in the background:


Once they are ready, then they will return to Canada and Alaska migrating through the Santa Barbara Channel again, but hugging the California Coastline to help keep their calves protected from the predators, like the Orcas. It is believed that the Gray Whales make the longest yearly migration of any mammel.


The Gray Whales can get to be 52 feet long, 36 tons, and an age of 50-60 years old.

It was a beautiful day on the water. So calm, clear and lots of feeding going on. Right outside of the harbor, we were approached by some Bottlenose Dolphins. Not common for them to be so close to the harbor and or shoreline, so that was a nice treat.


The Bottlenose Dolphins can reach a length of 6.6 to 13 feet and weigh between 330 -1400 lbs. The males are a bit larger than the females and their size depends a lot on their habitats. Dolphins in warmer, shallower waters tend to be smaller than those in the cooler pelagic waters.


There are also two types of Bottlenose Dolphins:

1. the Common Bottlenose Dolphins found in most tropical to temperate oceans; colour is grey, with the shade of grey varying among populations; can be bluish-grey, brownish-grey, or even nearly black; often darker on the back from the rostrum to behind the dorsal fin.

2. The Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin living in the waters around India, northern Australia, South China, the Red Sea, and the eastern coast of Africa; back is dark-grey and belly is lighter grey or nearly white with grey spots.

In the channel, there were a TON of Pelicans, Sea Gulls and Common Dolphins feeding. It seem like every direction you look, you could see the splashes from these guys. Pelicans can make a good size splash in the water when diving. It's amazing.

Hope you all have a great week!! Those of you in my area of the world, try to not blow away...

Till next time.....