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Community Corner

Gray Whale Washes Ashore Pescadero State Beach

Earlier this week a juvenile gray whale washed up on Pescadero State Beach where it can be seen from the cliff above.

This past week a juvenile gray whale was found washed ashore on Pescadero State Beach.  Gray whales migrate along our coast between their summer feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas and the lagoons off Mexico's Baja Peninsula. In Baja, they give birth to their calves and mate.  They can often be seen locally from shore as they swim back north in the spring.  Most gray whales have reached the northern waters by now, but some may linger along the coast.

This is the second time in a year that a whale has washed up on a local beach.  In October last year a and her fetus washed up on Bean Hollow State Beach.  It was determined that the probable cause of her death was a collision with a ship. (To see a video of the whale and her fetus, click on the link in this paragraph or on the link at right).

If you want to see the whale, park at the north end of the central parking lot at Pescadero State Beach--the lot just south of the Highway 1 bridge crossing Pescadero Creek.  Follow one of the trails out to the top of the cliff overlooking the beach.  Today the whale was on the beach about 100 yards south of the mouth of Pescadero Creek, but it may be moved by the waves when the tide comes in.

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If you go, take time to look at some of the wildflowers on the bluffs above the beach.  Many blooms are at their peak right now and you can see two rare plants there--Choris's popcorn flower and the coastal marsh milk vetch.

Half Moon Bay Patch will be following this story and will update the site as more information becomes available.

Find out what's happening in Half Moon Baywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

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