Live view from Piedras Blancas Light Station
Enjoy this live streaming video from the light station. If you get an error message, refresh your browser window and/or press play on the screen. The view changes automatically. The camera looks at the main light station grounds, the coast looking north toward Big Sur and the coast looking south toward Cambria. You may see elephant seals in the surf along the beach or big swells hitting the rocks south of the light station. The small white squares you see across the center of the view north are reflective markers on the power lines. They make the lines more visible to prevent bird strikes.
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Were you watching our webcam when you happened to see a stunning sunset, a colorful sunrise, moonlight glistening on the water or huge waves crashing against the rocks? Take a screen shot and email it to us! We'll add it to this slideshow for people around the world to enjoy. Thanks go to Karl S. for submitting the idea and his photos to get us started. Happy watching!
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A beautiful, but treacherous coast
The British bark Harlech Castle sailed from San Francisco for Iquiqui, Peru, on July 16, 1869 with a cargo of barley. She experienced heavy weather most of the time until August 29th, when she struck a sunken rock off San Simeon, San Luis Obispo County, and sunk the following morning. Vessel and cargo were a total loss. Two seamen were lost by swamping of a boat. Captain and survivors arrived at San Francisco on the 8th. (Humboldt Times 09-18-1869, Martin)
October 16, 1869 the steamer Sierra Nevada left San Francisco for San Luis Obispo. Monterey was left the next day in a thick fog, which lasted all thru the day. She was feeling her way at 6.5 knots speed when at 10:30 PM she grounded with moderate force. While trying to back off, a heavy swell picked up the steamer, carried her farther over the rock and then dropped her with such force that the bottom was stove in and her boilers were lifted off their beds. Life-boats were at once launched and occupied, remaining near the wreck until the fog lifted in the morning.
The Sierra Nevada was grounded about three-quarters of a mile off shore and three miles from San Simeon. The boats all rowed to San Simeon, where they landed. Both Sierra Nevada and her cargo were a total loss, being quickly reduced to kindling by the heavy surf. However there was no loss of life among her forty-two passengers and crew. |
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Denizens of the Deep
Summer is a good time to see humpback whales off the coast of San Luis Obispo. They are often found in Avila Beach and San Simeon Bay. You may even spot one while on a tour of the light station. Humpbacks go where the food is and they feed on bait fish close to shore in summer. In contrast, gray whales migrate between Alaska and Baja California to give birth every year. Both humpbacks and grays are baleen whales and feed on small fish like krill.
Note the large pouch under the chin that balloons out when the whale takes in a lot of water and pushes it out of its baleen. Their tongue scrapes the back of their baleen to collect the fish that remains behind.
Note the large pouch under the chin that balloons out when the whale takes in a lot of water and pushes it out of its baleen. Their tongue scrapes the back of their baleen to collect the fish that remains behind.
