Grey Whale records belong offshore or along California’s Pacific coast, not in the state’s inland forests and deserts. Reports often follow the productive waters shaped by coastal upwelling, but they also reflect where boats and shore watchers spend time.
The deep Monterey Canyon, the continental shelf edge, and waters around the Channel Islands give observers access to very different marine habitats. Sightings don’t measure offshore population size, because effort concentrates near ports, whale-watching routes, and visible migration corridors.
The reporting calendar is strongest from January through May, led by March, and falls to its lowest totals in October and November. That curve captures the timing and visibility of California reports along watched coastal routes; it does not convert the 1,940 records into a count of whales offshore.
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