Farallon Islands Live Webcam

The islands of the Farallon Islands National Wildlife Refuge are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and are located nearly 30 miles off the coast of San Francisco. The Farallones host globally significant wildlife populations, including hundreds of thousands of seabirds and thousands of seals and sea lions. They are also a place of science where biologists from Point Blue Conservation Science study this complex ecosystem every day of the year, looking at the data to find ways to guide conservation and restoration of the islands in the face of climate change and other threats.

Because of the important and sensitive seabird and mammal populations that use the Farallones as breeding grounds, the islands are not open to the public. They are accessed only by a small number of wildlife biologists and resource managers. Point Blue Conservation Science has been doing science and training the next generation of scientists on the islands since 1968 in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

What to watch for:

Year-round: California sea lions, Western Gulls, beautiful island landscapes
December–February: breeding elephant seal colonies
March–August: breeding seabirds
September–November: transient wildlife like migratory birds, whales, and great white sharks

Seabirds

• Cassin's Auklet*
• Rhinoceros Auklet*
• Ashy Storm-Petrel*
• Western Gull
• Brandt's Cormorant
• Pelagic Cormorant
• Double-crested Cormorant
• Tufted Puffin
• Common Murre
• Pigeon Guillemot
• Black Oystercatcher

Marine mammals

• Steller Sea Lion
• California Sea Lion
• Northern Elephant Seal
• Harbor Seal
• Northern Fur Seal
• Humpback Whale
• Gray Whale
• Blue Whale

* nocturnal species