In Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary,
rockfish spawning peaks this month.
Northern
elephant seal (Mirounga augustirostris) pupping and
breeding season on San Miguel Island in Channel Islands continues
through February. On Anacapa and Santa Barbara Islands, California
Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus)
begin nesting through the month of February. The seals also
breed on Southeast Farallon Islands and at nearby Pt. Reyes
National Seashore.
Hammerhead sharks and spotted
rays school around the East and West Flower Garden
Banks Sanctuary, through early April.
In mid January, North Atlantic right whale
return to Cape Cod Bay and the southern end of the Stellwagen
Bank Sanctuary to feed on early bloom of copepods.
Winter gull migration begins. Female northern
right whales calve off the coast of Georgia and North Florida,
Gray's Reef Sanctuary.
Alcids, such as razorbills and dovekies,
overwinter at Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.
A portion of the critically endangered North
Atlantic right whale population returns to Cape Cod Bay and
Stellwagen Bank region to feed on patches of copepods.
The winter months are excellent for tidepooling
in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary because afternoon
low tides expose marine algae and invertebrates. The low tides
which began in November continue though February.
Minus tides in the Gulf of the Farallones
National Marine Sanctuary permit intensive intertidal algae
and invertebrate surveys at S.E. Farallon Island.
Gray
whales (Eschrichtius robustus)
migrate south through the Monterey Bay, Gulf of the Farallones,
and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries. From December
through February, the whales swim along the coastline and
may be visible from shore as they head for the warm waters
of Mexico's west coast lagoons for calving and mating
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