SHORE CENSUS OF THE SOUTHWARD MIGRATION, 

 1952-53 to 1956-57 



METHODS 



Areas 



A satisfactory count of whales mi- 

 grating south can be made from three 

 points of vantage at San Diego. Two 

 were used routinely by the writer. 

 The first is the summit of Point Loma, 

 a ridge of land separating curved San 

 Diego Bay from the sea at its north- 

 west side. The southern end of Point 

 Loma faces southeast over the en- 

 trance to the bay and over the entire 

 length of coast extending south to 

 Mexico, 15 miles away. It also faces 

 the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, 

 west, and northwest, and the coastline 

 to La Jolla, 10 miles to the north. 

 The panoramic view over the Pacific 

 is about 200 degrees. The elevation 

 is 510 feet above sea level, which 

 allows an observer to see about 15 

 miles to the horizon. Water of 300- 

 foot depth lies 4 to 4-1/2 miles off- 

 shore. Kelp beds, marking approxi- 

 mately the 100-foot depth contour, 

 are less than 1-1/2 miles out. Thus, 

 whales can skirt the point closely and 

 can be observed easily. 



Counts were conducted from a mili- 

 tary bunker partly buried in the sum- 

 mit of the western cliff on Point Loma. 

 The bunker gave shelter from the 

 elements, as well as a place to sit 

 and write, and it offered good visual 

 sweep of the Pacific Ocean. From 

 this location, two seasonal assistants 

 carried on a count of gray whales 

 migrating south. Point Loma ridge 

 is the site of Cabrillo National Monu- 

 ment, and one of the most popular 

 attractions here in winter is the whale 

 migration. During the study, the Na- 

 tional Park Service maintained a 

 "public whale -watch" with the aid of 

 the Superintendent Donald Robinson 

 and Ranger-Naturalists Theodore 

 Walker and Robert Grom. Many tour- 

 ists looking for whales joined the 

 watch daily and their presence helped 

 to alert the regular watchers to 

 "spouts." 



The second point of vantage, used 

 by the writer, was atop a classroom 

 building at Scripps Institution of Ocea- 

 nography in La Jolla, 12 miles north 

 of Point Loma. This lookout post was 

 protected from the weather by a small, 

 wooden structure, and housed a pair 

 of 18 -power binoculars on a stand. 

 The slight curvature of the coast and 

 the westward prolongation of nearby 

 Point La Jolla for one mile, to form 

 the bay of La Jolla, put this observa- 

 tion post at a greater distance from 

 the center of the path of migrating 

 gray whales than Point Loma or Point 

 La Jolla. The low elevation of the 

 Scripps lookout, which is about 100 

 feet above sea level, obliges the 

 watcher to look through more haze 

 and to scan the sea at a lower angle, 

 making whale "slicks" more difficult 

 to see. 



The fact that the location at Scripps 

 is two hours or slightly more, "as 

 the gray whale swims," from Point 

 Loma, allows addition to the Point 

 Loma count of the numbers of whales 

 that pass Scripps from 3 p. m. to 5 

 p. m. Part of these whales do not 

 arrive at Point Loma until after dark. 

 The hours of whale watching at Point 

 Loma are thus increased, in effect, 

 by two, from 10 hours to 12. 



The third point of vantage in the 

 San Diego area is Point La Jolla 

 itself. From here, either from the 

 crest of the sea-cliff some 25 feet 

 above high-tide mark, or from any 

 road parapet nearby, gray whales may 

 be easily seen as they pass along the 

 outer edge of the kelp beds just off 

 the point. The kelp beds, which grow 

 on the rocky bottom, extend to the 

 100-foot depth contour not more than 

 800 yards from shore. 



Gray whales come closer to land at 

 Point La Jolla than at either of the 

 other posts, and permit the clearest 

 and most exciting views of the ani- 

 mals. However, lack of shelter limits 

 the use of this point as a whale - 

 counting station. 



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