Whale Watching California

Bundle up and hit the beach — it’s whale watching season in Southern California! After spending the summer feeding in the icy waters off Alaska, the gray whales journey to Baja California’s warm-water lagoons where they mate and give birth.

Traditionally, December through mid-April is peak season for spotting these gentle giants, either by land or on the high seas.

“The whales usually reach Southern California around mid-December as they continue south down to Mexico,” said Dennis Minder, floating lab specialist on the Ocean Institute’s RV Sea Explorer.

The gray whales’ journey — about 10,000 to 12,000 miles — is one of the longest known migrations of any mammal.

The whales usually depart Mexico in late February to return to Alaska, where they spend the summer feeding on krill — shrimp-like creatures that are rich in protein.  According to scientists, for reasons unknown, there are some years that the whales do not return to Alaska.

“Roughly speaking, Feb. 14 is their turn-around time when they begin heading north to feed,” Minder said. “While they migrate south, they don’t feed very much at all. They mostly use their residual fat to get to Mexico.”

The only member of the family Eschrichtiidae, the gray whale is a mysticete, or baleen whale. They forage along the ocean floor, gulping great mouthfuls of silt, straining out the water and mud through their baleen, and swallowing amphipods, or bottom-dwelling invertebrates.

The R/V Sea Explorer is equipped with a full wet lab where guests can view the whales’ food up close.

“We grab a plankton net and pull it on the boat so people can see what they look like under a microscope,” Minder said. “Whales normally have to eat about 2-4 percent of their body weight every day. It’s odd that they’re the largest mammals and have to eat some of the smallest food on earth.”

Since they became a protected species in 1946, gray whales have made a triumphant comeback from near-extinction by hunters whole killed them for the oil in their blubber during the 19th and early 20th centuries. In the early 1900s, there were only about 8,000 individuals. Today, there are about 23,500 grays in the eastern Pacific, a figure believed to match pre-whaling numbers.

Newport Harbor and Dana Point, a promontory that may be a navigational landmark for the gray whales, are wonderful spots to watch whales by land. Many swim within 100 yards of local jetties and piers.

“Today we saw a nice pair of juveniles migrating south,” Minder said. “We also saw a pair socializing together and playing back and forth.”

The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 prohibits boaters from traveling closer than 100 yards to migrating whales. “However, sometimes they come up right beside us in our boat,” said Minder.

Generally, grays travel at about 2-5 knots. “As a rule of thumb, the whales are very focused going south, especially if they are pregnant,” Minder said. “Going north, their travel is slower because they have a small calf with them. The calf is usually on the land side so the mother can protect it from predators.”

Although a gentle animal, female grays can become aggressive if a boater gets too close to her calf. At birth, grays reach lengths of about 12-13 feet and are very dependent on their mothers. Females average 39-46 feet and may weight almost 70,000 pounds. Males are generally smaller, averaging 43 feet.

If you are planning a whale watching trip, be sure to pack accordingly. “With the wind chop swell, it can get a little chilly,” Minder said.

Common items to bring along include a warm coat, hat, comfortable walking shoes, a pair of binoculars and a camera.  A snack or small sack lunch is also advised.

While it is not guaranteed that you will see a whale on a tour, it is likely. Even so, plenty of other sea life abounds.

Great blue herons,  snowy egrets, cormorants, royal terns, brown pelicans, Western grebes, black-crowned night herons and Western gulls are common sights on the coast.

Sea lions often congregate around the San Juan Whistle buoy, along with an occasional harbor seal.

Dolphins — bottlenose, common, Risso’s and Pacific whitesided are the most common — periodically ride the wake of grays. This playfulness often extends to the grays themselves, who can often be seen breaching (leaping halfway out of the water) during their trips back to Alaska. Sometimes, grays will turn on their side and slap the ocean with their flippers.

Spyhopping — the act of a whale sticking its head out of the water — is believed to be a simple form of navigation for the whales.

Another common sight is fluking, when grays flash their tails before going into a deep dive — sometimes as far down as 400 feet. Most dives average 3-5 minutes, but whales have been known to stay beneath the surface for up to 20 minutes.

Prior to a dive, the whales expel air and water from their two blowholes. these puffs can rise more than 14 feet and are visible more than a mile away.

For more information about the Ocean Institute's whale watching tours, visit www.ocean-institute.org

For a complete guide to California Whale Watching tours, click here.