Despite low overall numbers for the fall migration so far, September has brought a nice assortment of island rarities.
A slow, yet surprising September
Month: September 2019
Los Farallones
Los Farallones
Tag! Fur seals are it on the Farallones
Starting in 2017, Point Blue biologists began working with partners at NOAA’s Marine Mammal Lab in Seattle and The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito to deploy flipper tags on northern fur seal pups at the Farallones. By tagging pups with unique numbered identification tags, we are able to follow them throughout their lives and learn about pup survival at this colony, recruitment of young into the future breeding population, and movement of individuals between the Farallon rookery and other fur seal rookeries.
Fall migration isn’t just for the birds!
During the fall months, humpback whales begin their long migration from cold, food-rich waters in the north to the warm waters of the southern calving grounds. We’ve recently seen a sudden influx of humpbacks around the island as a large wave of migrants coming down from the north are drawn in close to the island by large schools of bait fish like anchovies.
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