Gray Whale
Flickr Image by: Charlie Stinchcomb

This is a two-day event with a class at the Academy on Saturday from 1pm to 4pm and a boat excursion out of Half Moon Bay into the marine sanctuary on Sunday from 8am to noon.

Reservations: Members $150 Non-Members $175 (Ages 14-17 with Guardian or 18+) To reserve a place today, buy a Member or Non-Member ticket online or over the phone at 1-877-227-1831. Ticket includes all day admission to the Academy on Saturday.

In Partnership with the Oceanic Society

Gary Sharlow, Photographer and Trip Leader

 

Your two day ticket to this event includes all day access to the Academy on Saturday March 21st for a self guided exploration of the museum. Be sure to arrive early and enjoy the sights before our workshop. On day one, we will gather at the Academy for a class that will provide you with instructions for how to make great pictures while riding on a moving platform. We will cover the fundamentals of exposure and explore the best settings for your DSLR while out on our ocean adventure. Topics include shutter priority mode, focus options, in camera light metering, modes of auto focus and more. We will also spend part of the day investigating the life of Gray Whales while learning about conservation approaches taken to ensure their survival while considering their life cycle and migration patterns.

 

On day two, we will meet at the Marina in Half Moon Bay to set out on a 3 hour tour! This trip is set at the height of the annual Gray Whale migration season. Along with the potential to see migrating Gray Whales in the waters of the Golf of the National Marine Sanctuary, we might also catch a glimpse of Harbor porpoises, California sea lions, Common Loons, Earred Grebes, Western Grebes, Northern Fulmars, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Brandt’s Cormorant, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Common Merganser, California Gulls, Herring Gulls, Western Gull, Common Murre and Rhinoceros Auklet, Clark’s Grebes, Pelagic Cormorants, and more... The boat trip could range up to 12 miles while set our sights on locating the whales and whatever other bounties the ocean has to offer. The annual gray whale migration is one of the world's most magnificent and accessible wildlife spectacles on Earth.

Share This

Lectures, Classes, and Excursions

Grab your headphones and your imagination while you listen to top scientists talk about their astronomical research on our iTunes podcast channel. The Academy's Benjamin Dean lecture series hosts the world's leading experts in astronomy, astrophysics, and more.

Pop some popcorn and enjoy a videotaped lecture from some of the top scientists in the world. Academy lectures offer thought provoking discussions on topics such as biology, ecology, sustainability, natural history, biodiversity, and evolution.

Garage Hours: 7 am – 7 pm, except Thursdays, 7 am – 11 pm