We're getting our first views of the total solar eclipse from Mazatlán in Mexico, as totality takes hold and darkens afternoon skies.

FORT ERIE, Canada — Hundreds of people have gathered on Bay Beach in Fort Erie, located in the Canadian province of Ontario, to take part in this historic moment. The beach, one of eight designated eclipse viewing spots in Fort Erie, was dotted with telescopes and tents as observers hoped overcast skies would clear.

“I’m a big astronomy fan,” said Chung Zheng, who drove roughly two hours from Toronto with friends to observe the eclipse.

Zheng, 28, set up his own telescope on the beach.

“This is a very rare event for us to have it so close,” he said. “We wouldn’t miss this opportunity for the world.”

Here on the deck of the USS Intrepid, an aicraft-carrier-turned-museum that is hosting an eclipse event, some people have come prepared with pinhole projectors.

Susan Madison said she looked up how to make hers on YouTube.

"I never got glasses. I was afraid we’d get here and they would be out of them, so I looked up and found several different ways to make it," she said.

Karen Armas Landau has just returned from a trip to Peru and figured she'd skip doing anything for the eclipse. Now, she's on the flight deck and ready for the show.

"I just kept thinking about it and saying, 'Yeah, but it’s a solar eclipse,'" she said. "I’ve never seen any eclipse before."

NBC News host Gadi Schwartz is airborne to get a look at the eclipse from high above Texas. Here's a first look at his trip:

A partial eclipse is now visible in Cleveland! The bottom right corner of the sun is covered, making it look like an eyeball looking down from the skies.

President Joe Biden is getting in on the eclipse fun from the White House.

The nation’s capital is not in the eclipse’s path of totality, but the president nonetheless had an important reminder for anyone planning to look skyward and watch the moon partially or fully block the sun’s light today.

“An eclipse is worth marveling at,” Biden wrote in a post on X. “But don’t be silly, folks — play it safe and wear protective eyewear.”

Nearly 50,000 people have descended on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to catch one of the area's best views of today's total solar eclipse.

Indianapolis is the biggest city in the eclipse’s path of totality outside of Texas.

BROCKPORT, N.Y. — Crowds are gathering on the campus of SUNY Brockport in anticipation of today’s total solar eclipse.

The college has been preparing for this day for more than three years and still even at this late hour they don’t know what to expect. The cloudy skies at this point have kept the big crowds away, but there is still a significant group of eclipse watchers lined up on the center line of totality, which runs right through the campus and makes this a special vantage point.

The college has partnered with universities across the U.S. for research projects connected to the eclipse, and they have canceled classes for most of Monday so students can participate in eclipse-themed events.

The clouds are starting to break up, so when the eclipse rolls through they are hopeful this crowd will get the show they are looking for.

Wildlife may respond in various ways to the few minutes of darkness during totality. Jason Milks, a wildlife ecologist with The Nature Conservancy, says the reactions can be grouped into four categories: doing nothing, bedtime behavior, anxiety and possibly even mating.