Press "Enter" to skip to content

Blue, fin and humpback whales stop for snack off So Cal coast

There’s a feeding frenzy happening off the Southern California coast.

Blue whales, the largest mammal on Earth, as well as fin whales and humpbacks are stopping and hanging out in local waters, having a snack before they head to tropical areas for the winter season.

Two big blue whales, along with about eight fin whales, were spotted leisurely feasting over the weekend about 12 miles offshore from Long Beach and Newport Beach by an all-day excursion, said Ryan Lawler, captain of Newport Coastal Adventure.

“It was a big surprise,” Lawler said.

This time of year is more known for gray whales, which have a more predictable migration pattern of spending summers feeding in Alaska and winters giving birth in Mexico, passing the Southern California coastline along the way.

Blue whales, which feed on krill and are known for their massive, sleek bodies, are more unpredictable. In past years, they’ve been known to show up in the hundreds during summer months to feed, but this year was slow with only a handful if sightings.

Two blue whales were spotted last weekend, Nov. 6 and 7, 2021, feeding off the Long Beach and Newport Beach coastline. (Photo courtesy of Mark Girardeau/Newport Coastal Adventure)

The most recent appearance was first reported by Harbor Breeze Cruises out of Long Beach, which let Lawler know about the whales’ location before they had to head back to port.

“We started to see all these spouts,” Lawler said. “It was hard to keep track of what whales we were seeing.”

In total, they counted two blue whales and eight fin whales, the second largest whale species.

“They eat the same food source, krill,” Lawler said, noting they also saw humpback whales. “It was a great variety for our trips. Everyone was excited to have a trip with so much diversity.”

Lawler said the whales are likely taking a break from their long migration where there is some extra food to feast on and the water is warmer.

“What we’re seeing every fall is, all these whales that spend the summer feeding off of Northern California, when those first couple storms hit they don’t like staying up there because the water gets too cold,” he said. “They come to Southern California. It’s kind of a haven for them. They don’t want to go to Mexico or wherever they are going to be in the winter just yet, so they kind of stage here in Southern California and get their last days of feeding in.”

In more recent days, there’s been humpback and fin whales spotted even closer to shore, on Tuesday off Laguna Beach, Crystal Cove State Beach, and further south from Dana Point to San Clemente Pier.

//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js

 

One humpback was recognized as a whale known as Top Gun.

The whales were spotted on all three of Dana Wharf Whale Watching’s two-hour excursions about 3 miles from shore, said Donna Kalez, manager of charter fleet.

On Wednesday, Nov. 10, when another humpback, Flicka, was spotted off Dana Point by a Dana Wharf boat.

This is also the time when gray whale season kicks off as the mammals also start making their way to lagoons in Mexico to breed and give birth.

“It’s really exciting that we get some whale action,” she said, calling the fin whales the “other” gray whale based on their coloration. “The fin whale loves to come back right when we start saying, ‘it’s gray whale season.’”


Source: Orange County Register

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *