Pacific Union’s July 2015 Real Estate Update

Inventory conditions remained tight across the Bay Area as the third quarter began, with the months’ supply of inventory (MSI) dropping or remaining flat from the previous month in the majority of Pacific Union’s regions. Meanwhile, all regions saw the median sales price increase from one year ago with the exception of condominiums in the Lake Tahoe/Truckee region.
Click on the image accompanying each of our regions below for an expanded look at local real estate activity in July.

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MARIN COUNTY

The median sales price in Marin County cooled just a bit from June to land at $1,056,000 in July. At 1.3, the MSI tied its one-year low.
Homes took an average of 38 days to sell — unchanged from June — with the average seller taking in 100.3 percent of the original price.
Defining Marin County: Our real estate markets in Marin County include the cities of Belvedere, Corte Madera, Fairfax, Greenbrae, Kentfield, Larkspur, Mill Valley, Novato, Ross, San Anselmo, San Rafael, Sausalito, and Tiburon. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes single-family homes in these communities.

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NAPA COUNTY

A slim supply of homes for sale helped push Napa County‘s median sales price up to $639,000 in July, a yearly high. At the same, the MSI fell to 2.2, the lowest level observed in the past 12 months.
Homes sold in an average 71 days, almost identical to the pace of sales in May and June. Sellers received 95.7 percent of asking prices, a bit less than they did in the preceding month.
Defining Napa County: Our real estate markets in Napa County include the cities of American Canyon, Angwin, Calistoga, Napa, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena, and Yountville. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes in Napa County.

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SAN FRANCISCO – SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES

The MSI for single-family homes in San Francisco has been slowly dropping since the spring, closing July at 1.3. The median sales price tapered off slightly from June to $1.28 million, up 18 percent from one year ago.
Single-family homes in San Francisco continue to command sizable premiums, selling for 112.3 percent of original price. Buyers took an average 27 days to seal a deal, two days faster than in June.

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SAN FRANCISCO – CONDOMINIUMS

For the sixth straight month, the median sales price for a San Francisco condominium was north of the $1 million mark: $1,085,000 to be precise. At 1.3, the MSI rose a hair from the previous month and is in the same general range as it has been since the spring.
Condominiums in the city sold in an average 28 days in July, unchanged from June. Successful buyers paid 107 percent of asking prices, nearly identical to levels recorded one year earlier.

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SILICON VALLEY

With a July median sales price of $2.7 million, Silicon Valley remains the most expensive real estate market in which Pacific Union operates. For the third straight month, the MSI in the region was 1.2, tying a one-year low.
On average, homes sold in 20 days – two days faster than in June – and for 103.1 percent of asking prices.
Defining Silicon Valley: Our real estate markets in the Silicon Valley region include the cities and towns of Atherton, Los Altos (excluding county area), Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park (excluding east of U.S. 101), Palo Alto, Portola Valley, and Woodside. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes in these communities.
Mid-Peninsula Subregion
For the past few months, the median sales price in our Mid-Peninsula subregion has been climbing and reached $1,803,500 in July, a yearly peak. Inventory conditions remain exceptionally tight, with the 0.8 months’ supply unchanged from June.
Homes sold in exactly three weeks, one day longer than in the preceding month. Sellers received 105.7 percent of original prices, a bit less than they did earlier in the late spring and early summer.
Defining the Mid-Peninsula: Our real estate markets in the Mid-Peninsula subregion include the cities of Burlingame (excluding Ingold Millsdale Industrial Center), Hillsborough, and San Mateo (excluding the North Shoreview/Dore Cavanaugh area). Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes in these communities.

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SONOMA COUNTY

At $545,000, the July median sales price in Sonoma County was essentially unchanged from the previous two months, dropping a mere $500 from June. The MSI shrank to 1.6, which ties one-year lows recorded last December.
The average Sonoma County buyer paid 97.8 percent of the original price, and properties sold in 60 days – both in line with numbers from last July.
Defining Sonoma County: Our real estate markets in Sonoma County include the cities of Cotati, Healdsburg, Penngrove, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, and Windsor. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes and farms and ranches in Sonoma County.

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SONOMA VALLEY

After several months of declines, the median sales price in our Sonoma Valley region rebounded in July, rising to $712,500. Buyers appeared to have a bit more negotiating room than in June, with the average home selling for 96.3 percent of the asking price.
Contrary to patterns observed across the rest of Bay Area, Sonoma Valley saw inventory upticks – albeit very slight ones – on both a monthly and yearly basis, with the MSI rising to 2.4. The pace of sales slowed dramatically from the previous month, with homes selling in an average 66 days in July.
Defining Sonoma Valley: Our real estate markets in Sonoma Valley include the cities of Glen Ellen, Kenwood, and Sonoma. Sales data in the adjoining chart refers to all residential properties – including single-family homes, condominiums, and farms and ranches – in these communities.

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LAKE TAHOE/TRUCKEE – SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES

The median sales price for a single-family home in our Lake Tahoe/Truckee region increased for the second straight month to close July at $599,000. At 6.6, the MSI was up a tiny bit from June but down significantly from levels recorded last July.
Buyers paid 86.5 percent of original prices in July, netting the largest discounts in the past 12 months. Single-family homes sold in an average 84 days, considerably slower than in June.
Defining Tahoe/Truckee: Our real estate markets in the Lake Tahoe/Truckee region include the communities of Alpine Meadows, Donner Lake, Donner Summit, Lahontan, Martis Valley, North Shore Lake Tahoe, Northstar, Squaw Valley, Tahoe City, Tahoe Donner, Truckee, and the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes single-family homes in these communities.

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LAKE TAHOE/TRUCKEE – CONDOMINIUMS

After a brisk pace of sales in June, the condominium market in Lake Tahoe/Truckee slowed again in July, with properties taking an average 107 days to sell. July’s MSI was 8.8, nearly identical to what it was one year earlier.
The median sales price — $356,000 — was down on both a monthly and annual basis, with condominiums selling for 95.9 percent of asking prices.
Defining Tahoe/Truckee: Our real estate markets in the Lake Tahoe/Truckee region include the communities of Alpine Meadows, Donner Lake, Donner Summit, Lahontan, Martis Valley, North Shore Lake Tahoe, Northstar, Squaw Valley, Tahoe City, Tahoe Donner, Truckee, and the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes condominiums in these communities.

Article and images sourced from http://blog.pacificunion.com/pacific-unions-july-2015-real-estate-update/

Pacific Union’s May 2015 Real Estate Update

Available homes across the Bay Area were even harder to come by this May than they were last spring, with the months’ supply of inventory (MSI) dropping from one year ago in all of Pacific Union’s regions except Lake Tahoe/Truckee. Consequently, prices reached yearly peaks in San Francisco and Sonoma counties, and they matched one-year highs in Marin County.
Click on the image accompanying each of our regions below for an expanded look at local real estate activity in May.

MARIN COUNTY
At $1,175,000, the median home sales price in Marin County was unchanged from April, matching its yearly high. Supply increased a hair from the previous month, but with an MSI of 1.3, the market still strongly favors sellers.
Homes sold in an average of 55 days, about the same sales pace observed last May. Buyers got a bit of a break, paying 94.7 percent of original price, the least since December.
Defining Marin County: Our real estate markets in Marin County include the cities of Belvedere, Corte Madera, Fairfax, Greenbrae, Kentfield, Larkspur, Mill Valley, Novato, Ross, San Anselmo, San Rafael, Sausalito, and Tiburon. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes single-family homes in these communities.

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NAPA COUNTY

May 2015 looked almost exactly like May 2014 in Napa County if judged on the numbers alone.
The median sales price in Napa County dipped to $575,000 in May, landing exactly where it was one year ago. The sales-to-list-price ratio was also identical to last May, with buyers paying 95.4 percent of original price. And homes sold in an average of 71 days, the precise amount of time as last May.
The only statistic that differed on an annual basis was the MSI, which at 2.8 is substantially lower than it was in May 2014.
Defining Napa County: Our real estate markets in Napa County include the cities of American Canyon, Angwin, Calistoga, Napa, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena, and Yountville. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes in Napa County.

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SAN FRANCISCO – SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES

The median sales price for a single-family home in San Francisco has been steadily climbing since January and reached another peak in May at $1,400,000. Homes in the city have also been selling at an ever-quickening pace since the beginning of the year and left the market in an average of 24 days.
San Francisco sellers continue to pull in premiums and got 110 percent of original price. At 1.4, the MSI was in the same general range as the previous month and one year ago.

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SAN FRANCISCO – CONDOMINIUMS

As with single-family homes, the median sales price for a San Francisco condominium climbed to a one-year high, reaching $1,167,500. Sellers of condos also took in almost identical premiums as their single-family-home counterparts, with the average property selling for 110.4 percent of asking price.
Just as in the previous two months, the MSI remained constricted at 1.2. Condos sold in an average of 31 days, consistent with the market’s pace this spring.

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SILICON VALLEY

The median sales price in Silicon Valley has been inching down each month since February, but at $2,625,000 it remains Pacific Union’s most expensive region. Houses have been selling for more than original price for most of the year, and in May sellers received an average of 104 percent of original price.
Inventory has been declining since January and hit a one-year low in May, with the MSI falling to 1.1. Homes sold in 21 days, similar to the pace recorded last month and one year ago.
Defining Silicon Valley: Our real estate markets in the Silicon Valley region include the cities and towns of Atherton, Los Altos (excluding county area), Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park (excluding east of U.S. 101), Palo Alto, Portola Valley, and Woodside. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes in these communities.
Mid-Peninsula Subregion
Along with the East Bay, the Mid-Penisula had the lowest inventory of any of our markets in May, as the MSI crept down to 0.9. This was also Pacific Union’s fastest-moving market, with buyers taking just 14 days to purchase the average property.
Although the median sales price dropped on both a monthly and annual basis to $1,400,000, homes were still in high demand, with sellers taking home almost 111 percent of asking price.
Defining the Mid-Peninsula: Our real estate markets in the Mid-Peninsula subregion include the cities of Burlingame (excluding Ingold Millsdale Industrial Center), Hillsborough, and San Mateo (excluding the North Shoreview/Dore Cavanaugh area). Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes in these communities.

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SONOMA COUNTY

The median sales price in Sonoma County has been gradually rising since January and reached a one-year peak in May: $546,000. At 1.7, the MSI was unchanged from the previous month.
Properties sold in an average of 64 days and for 97 percent of original price – generally consistent with levels recorded over the previous two months.
Defining Sonoma County: Our real estate markets in Sonoma County include the cities of Cotati, Healdsburg, Penngrove, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, and Windsor. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes and farms and ranches in Sonoma County.

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SONOMA VALLEY

Sonoma Valley’s median sales price took a sizable dip from April to finish May at $650,000, but it is still up about 20 percent on a year-over-year basis. The supply of homes has been shrinking every month thus far in 2015 and finished May at 1.8.
Properties sold in 51 days, the fastest clip since May 2014. Buyers paid 95.5 percent of original price, less than they did last month or one year ago.
Defining Sonoma Valley: Our real estate markets in Sonoma Valley include the cities of Glen Ellen, Kenwood, and Sonoma. Sales data in the adjoining chart refers to all residential properties – including single-family homes, condominiums, and farms and ranches – in these communities.

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LAKE TAHOE/TRUCKEE – SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES

At $536,000, the median sales price for a single-family home in our Lake Tahoe/Truckee region was almost identical to April’s number. Buyers had a bit more room to negotiate than in the past two months, paying an average of 91.5 percent of asking price.
Homes took an average of 82 days to leave the market – the quickest pace since last fall – while the MSI expanded to 7.6.
Defining Tahoe/Truckee: Our real estate markets in the Lake Tahoe/Truckee region include the communities of Alpine Meadows, Donner Lake, Donner Summit, Lahontan, Martis Valley, North Shore Lake Tahoe, Northstar, Squaw Valley, Tahoe City, Tahoe Donner, Truckee, and the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes single-family homes in these communities.

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LAKE TAHOE/TRUCKEE – CONDOMINIUMS

The median condominium sales price in Lake Tahoe/Truckee rebounded in May, rising to $339,000. While supply remains plentiful in the region, the MSI of 8.9 is significantly smaller than it was in April
Condos in the area have been selling quicker than in the previous month since March and took an average of 73 days to sell in May. Buyers paid 94.1 percent of original price, nearly identical to statistics from the preceding two months.
Defining Tahoe/Truckee: Our real estate markets in the Lake Tahoe/Truckee region include the communities of Alpine Meadows, Donner Lake, Donner Summit, Lahontan, Martis Valley, North Shore Lake Tahoe, Northstar, Squaw Valley, Tahoe City, Tahoe Donner, Truckee, and the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes condominiums in these communities.

Pacific Union’s April 2015 Real Estate Update

Demand for Northern California real estate remained heavy in April, with the median home sales price reaching yearly highs in the majority of Pacific Union’s Bay Area regions. And buyers weren’t wasting any time, particularly in Contra Costa County, the East Bay, Silicon Valley, and the Mid-Peninsula, where homes sold in three weeks or less.

Click on the image accompanying each of our regions below for an expanded look at local real estate activity in April.

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MARIN COUNTY

At 1.2, the MSI in Marin County reached a one-year low in April. Prices headed in the other direction, with the median sales price climbing to $1,203,625.
Homes sold in an average of 58 days, 12 days longer than in March. Buyers got a bit of a break, with the average property selling for about 96 percent of asking price.
Defining Marin County: Our real estate markets in Marin County include the cities of Belvedere, Corte Madera, Fairfax, Greenbrae, Kentfield, Larkspur, Mill Valley, Novato, Ross, San Anselmo, San Rafael, Sausalito, and Tiburon. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes single-family homes in these communities.

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NAPA COUNTY

April’s median sales price in Napa County ratcheted up to $635,000, a year-over-year gain of 24.5 percent. Sellers banked about 96 percent of the original price, similar to what we observed last spring and early summer.
Homes left the market in 96 days, five days longer than in March, while the MSI increased modestly to 3.1.
Defining Napa County: Our real estate markets in Napa County include the cities of American Canyon, Angwin, Calistoga, Napa, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena, and Yountville. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes in Napa County.

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SAN FRANCISCO – SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES

The median sales price for single-family homes in San Francisco has risen every month thus far in 2015 and hit $1,350,500 in April. Overbids remained commonplace, with the average buyer paying about 13 percent above asking price to get the job done.
Homes sold in an average of 26 days, nearly identical to March’s pace, while the MSI dropped to 1.2.

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SAN FRANCISCO – CONDOMINIUMS

The median condominium price in San Francisco was down month over month in April, but at $1,097,500, it is up almost 20 percent from one year ago. Sellers enjoyed premiums of about 8 percent, in line with what we saw last spring.
At 1.1, the MSI was unchanged from the previous month. San Francisco condominiums took an average of 33 days to sell, two days longer than in March.

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SILICON VALLEY

Silicon Valley was one of the few Pacific Union regions where home prices were not at their yearly peaks in April. But with the median sales price at $2,665,000, it remains the most expensive of our Northern California regions in which to purchase a home.
The MSI dipped to 1.2, matching its one-year low. Homes left the market in a brisk 19 days, and the average buyer paid a 6.5 percent premium.
Defining Silicon Valley: Our real estate markets in the Silicon Valley region include the cities and towns of Atherton, Los Altos (excluding county area), Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park (excluding east of U.S. 101), Palo Alto, Portola Valley, and Woodside. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes in these communities.
Mid-Peninsula Subregion
As in neighboring Silicon Valley, homes didn’t linger on the market very long in the Mid-Peninsula, with properties selling in an average of 21 days. The MSI improved slightly from March, but at 1.0, the region’s housing supply remains low.
The median sales price climbed to $1,688,000 with the average buyer paying 7.5 percent more than original price to successfully close a transaction.
Defining the Mid-Peninsula: Our real estate markets in the Mid-Peninsula subregion include the cities of Burlingame (excluding Ingold Millsdale Industrial Center), Hillsborough, and San Mateo (excluding the North Shoreview/Dore Cavanaugh area). Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes in these communities.

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SONOMA COUNTY

The median sales price in Sonoma County has been gaining steam every month in 2015 and closed out April at $541,000. The average seller took home almost 100 percent of the original price, the most in the past year.
Homes left the market in 55 days, more than a month faster than earlier in the year, and the MSI dropped to 1.6.
Defining Sonoma County: Our real estate markets in Sonoma County include the cities of Cotati, Healdsburg, Penngrove, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, and Windsor. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes and farms and ranches in Sonoma County.

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SONOMA VALLEY

Sonoma Valley’s median sales price rocketed up to $757,500 in April, a month-over-month gain of 32 percent. Sellers received an average of 0.5 percent above the original price, the first time in the past year they’ve enjoyed any sort of premium.
Buyers took an average of 66 days to close a deal, two days longer than they did in March. The MSI in Sonoma Valley has been declining every month so far in 2015 and fell to 2.1 in April.
Defining Sonoma Valley: Our real estate markets in Sonoma Valley include the cities of Glen Ellen, Kenwood, and Sonoma. Sales data in the adjoining chart refers to all residential properties – including single-family homes, condominiums, and farms and ranches – in these communities.

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LAKE TAHOE/TRUCKEE – SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES

The median sales price for a single-family home in Pacific Union’s Lake Tahoe/Truckee region dropped to $542,500, not terribly different from what we saw in April 2014. The MSI expanded to 6.4, ensuring that homebuyers in the region have plenty of properties from which to choose.
Homes left the market in an average of 103 days, in line with the pace of sales one year ago. Sellers got an average of 92 percent of the asking price, a bit less than they did in March.
Defining Tahoe/Truckee: Our real estate markets in the Lake Tahoe/Truckee region include the communities of Alpine Meadows, Donner Lake, Donner Summit, Lahontan, Martis Valley, North Shore Lake Tahoe, Northstar, Squaw Valley, Tahoe City, Tahoe Donner, Truckee, and the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes single-family homes in these communities.

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LAKE TAHOE/TRUCKEE – CONDOMINIUMS

The median condominium price also dropped in the Lake Tahoe/Truckee region from the previous month to finish April at $281,000. At 17.9, the MSI nearly doubled from March to reach a yearly high.
Condominiums in the region sold in an average of 100 days, with the average seller receiving about 94 percent of the asking price – unchanged from the preceding month.
Defining Tahoe/Truckee: Our real estate markets in the Lake Tahoe/Truckee region include the communities of Alpine Meadows, Donner Lake, Donner Summit, Lahontan, Martis Valley, North Shore Lake Tahoe, Northstar, Squaw Valley, Tahoe City, Tahoe Donner, Truckee, and the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes condominiums in these communities.

Whales make comeback off Sonoma Coast

This year’s parade of gray whales along the California coast is one of the best in decades, continuing a remarkable comeback story for a species that was hunted to the brink of extinction and in more recent years experienced high death rates due to food scarcity. 

Marine biologists say that at the moment, a population estimated at more than 20,000 gray whales appears to be healthy and reproducing well, as compared to the hundreds that washed up dead and the emaciated individuals that were observed 15 years ago as changing oceanographic conditions eliminated or modified their food supply.

“Right now, it’s a good story — a population that recovered and is doing well,” said Wayne Perryman, a federal marine biologist who has been studying gray whales for 22 years. “The animals look robust and healthy.”

Whale tour boat operators are reporting a banner year for sightings.

“This was the most impressive gray whale season that I’ve had in all my years,” said Capt. Rick Powers, a Bodega Bay skipper who has been conducting tours for 31 years.

“We saw gray whales every single trip this season. It’s very unusual to go out every trip and bat a thousand,” he said of the trips he’s led so far this spring.

Despite the rosy picture, scientists are concerned the whales face continued peril from the unfolding effects of climate change. And advocates for the leviathans, such as the California Gray Whale Coalition, worry that a Washington state Indian tribe’s current proposal to resume traditional gray whale hunting could open the door for more widespread killing of grays, as well as humpbacks.

The gray whales, which spotters say make up 95 percent of the whales seen off the Sonoma Coast, face a host of challenges, from both man-made obstacles and natural predators, as they head toward their Arctic feeding grounds, where they gorge during the summer on tons of minuscule, shrimplike bottom-dwelling amphipods.

The round-trip migration, which averages approximately 12,000 miles, is considered one of the longest among mammals. The northbound migration off the California Coast is expected to run through May.

Bodega Head provides one of the best places on the Sonoma Coast to spot the whales as they come past Doran Beach, and around the mouth of the bay, just outside the surf line.

“The cows and the calves come by very close to the shore — within 100 yards,” said Larry Tiller, a naturalist who is at Bodega Head almost daily to help people spot the whales, which can measure up to 50 feet in length, and educate them about the mammals.

Conditions were windy with 20- to 25-mph gusts on Wednesday as Tiller spotted the telltale spouts and backs of whales.

“Right on cue,” he said as a couple pairs of mothers and calves appeared. “They’re going north to Alaska,” he announced to curious observers, including one middle-aged woman seeing a whale for the first time.

“It about made me cry. I saw the fluke, two little spouts. I’m no longer a whale virgin!” exclaimed Gusti Boiani, an energy medicine practitioner from Colorado.

As the calves, most of which are born in the warm waters of Mexican lagoons, swim north for the first time under the protective presence of their mothers, they have to contend with avoiding boats and freighters in major shipping lanes, as well as fishing gear — nets, lines and floats — that can entangle them. There is also underwater noise from seismic surveys that advocates see as a serious threat to the whales.

One of the biggest hazards is killer orca whales eager to pounce on the relatively defenseless baby gray whales if they stray, for example, into the deeper waters of Monterey Bay.

Mother whales try to fend off attacks by having the babies roll onto the mothers’ backs. But thousands of miles ahead is another formidable challenge — Unimak Pass — a choke point at the Alaskan Peninsula where orcas congregate.

“There are probably 200 killer whales waiting to make calf sandwiches. They lose quite a few,” said Perryman, a scientist with National Marine Fisheries Service.

He said that by the time the mother gray whales arrive there with their calves, “They are out of gas after lactating four months. There’s not much strength left.”

By some estimates as many as 30 percent of the newly born whales don’t survive their first year. But once past that critical first year, gray whales can live 40 to 60 years, with some making it perhaps to 80 years of age.

Biologists say the past four years have been good for calf production following high overall mortality rates for both adults and calves in 1999 and 2000.

“In the last four or five years, the numbers have picked up,” said Steven Swartz, a marine biologist who has studied gray whales for almost 40 years. “It suggests they found enough food and the population is healthy enough that they’re starting to reproduce like they used to.”

Swartz, who focuses his studies on the whale nursery in San Ignacio Lagoon, Mexico, said the whale population looks quite healthy. “The whales are looking good and their birth rates are coming back up,” he said.

He said that by some estimates, as many as 10,000 whales may have died over several years, around the turn of the 21st century.

Scientists theorized that high water surface temperatures led to a decline in the amphipod mass that the gray whales feast on in the Bering and Chukchi seas, and they had a hard time building up enough blubber to sustain themselves on their migration to the Mexican lagoons.

Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the evidence indicates the whales are delaying their migration some years, expanding their feeding range along the migration route and northward to Arctic waters, even remaining in polar waters over winter — all indications that the North Pacific and Arctic ecosystems are in transition.

An Atlantic gray whale population was believed to have become extinct around 1750 at the hands of whaling fleets. But as polar ice has receded and the Northwest Passage has opened, solitary gray whales again have made it into the Atlantic, even showing up in the Mediterranean and off the coast of Namibia, in Africa.

Gray whales have a unique advantage in the way they are able to switch their diet.  Although primarily bottom feeders who suck up their food, they also can skim and gulp other types of prey such as ghost shrimp, mycid shrimp and pelagic crab.

“One of the characteristics that’s made them so successful is if they can’t find their primary food on the bottom, they can take advantage of other sources of prey to make ends meet,” Swartz said.

During their migration along the California coast, gray whales are counted in a couple of spots as part of organized efforts using volunteers with binoculars, as well as by government scientists aided by aerial photography and even thermo-imaging that can detect the warm-blooded creatures at night.

Biologists who have been keeping count of the whales for decades say that this year witnessed a record southbound migration and one of the highest years for northbound whales, with plenty of healthy-looking youngsters.

“It’s another really, really good year,” said Alisa Schulman-Janiger, Gray Whale Census director for the American Cetacean Society’s Los Angeles chapter.  She said that this year, there were 1,901 whales counted on the southbound migration, the highest in the 32 years her organization has been doing it.

Not only has the Cetacean Society seen high numbers, Schulman-Janiger said every whale tour operator in Southern California she’s talked to says it’s the best year they can remember.

The gray whale was one of the first to be designated for protection under an international whaling agreement in 1937, but 20 years ago it was removed from the list of endangered and threatened species.

That has led a Native American tribe, the Makah of Washington, to propose that the U.S. government allow it to resume limited hunting, killing a maximum of five gray whales annually.

Whale protection groups are adamantly opposed, saying it will set bad precedent, with other tribes and nations wanting to get back into the hunt.

“Killing whales in the 21st century has no place in any culture,” stated Sue Arnold, director of the California Gray Whale Coalition.

“There is no way of predicting the future, but what the coalition can say is that with the extent of threats, the future of the gray whale is not secure,” she said in an email.

The gray whale has managed to overcome a lot of adversity. Scientists say the modern species has been around for 120,000 to 140,000 years, through a constantly changing coastal habitat of rising and falling sea levels and multiple ice ages.

“They’re called robustis for a reason,” Swartz said referring to their Latin nomenclature. “They are a pretty good survivor.” 

Article and images sourced from http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/3870565-181/whales-make-comeback-off-sonoma?page=0