My class had the luxury/excitement of two grey whales playing in front of us at Zuma for most of the period. Seeing whales this close to the beach is relatively rare. From the size of the animals and the amount of growth on their heads, at the very least one might assume they are yearlings, fully weaned, no parent needed, and making the trip south like all the rest.  What could be interesting is why we find two yearling southbound whales at Zuma, given that the vast majority of the whales travel south offshore, through the Santa Cruz Channel (between Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands).   Odds are that, being yearlings, they are still quite vulnerable to predation by Orca's, which have limited success locating prey in the shallow, noisey surf zone, but might eat their tongues out and kill them in deeper offshore waters.
John Cary

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