Deep Sea Calendar - December

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Look for the blows of gray whales migrating south through the Gulf of the Farallones Sanctuary and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in December and January. Pregnant females come first, swimming along the coastline and are visible from shore as they head for the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico for calving and mating.

Northern elephant seals arrive at their breeding colonies (Ano Nuevo State Reserve and Piedras Blancas beach) in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Two-ton adult bulls arrive first and fight among themselves for dominant positions; as pregnant females come on shore, they join harems of the highest-ranking bulls. Elephant seal pupping season on San Miguel Island. December and January, Channel Islands Sanctuary.

Gulf of the Farallones Sanctuary place decoys and play vocalizations to attract Common Murres to two restoration sites: Devil's Slide Rock and Point San Pedro. Northern right whales calve off the Georgia and Northern Florida Coasts. Gray's Reef Staff will be standing by to assist New England Aquarium and Georgia Department of Natural Resources teams should they need help in aerial surveys and/or strandings.Herring begins to spawn in San Francisco and Tomales Bays, Gulf of the Farallones Sanctuary

Elephant seal pupping season in the Gulf of the Farallones Sanctuary, through March. Also Northern fur seals migrate and concentrate offshore, approximately one fur seal per square kilometer.

Winter water fowl migrate through, 100,000's of ducks and geese rest and feed in the lagoons and estuaries in the Gulf of the Farallones Sanctuary and northern portion of the Monterey Bay Sanctuary.

Spotted Eagle RaysHammerhead sharks and spotted eagle rays begin arriving in the Flower Garden Banks Sanctuary.