You never know if the massive blue whales will show up – sometimes they flock to Southern California in big numbers as early as April, while other years sightings are seldom and sporadic throughout summer.
A blue whale appearance off the Orange County coast, although later than usual, was a welcome sight on Thursday, June 25, spurring hope the world’s largest mammal species will come hang out and feed in local waters for summer.
Just one earlier sighting this season was reported off Newport Beach in May.
With boats docked in recent months due to the coronavirus pandemic, it is possible some were visiting earlier and no boats were out to see them during the shut down.
Thursday’s sighting was reported by boat captain Jim Zeimantz during a private charter for Capt. Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari near Dana Point, as well as by Pacific Offshore Expeditions out of Newport Beach, which likely spotted the same whale in deep water about 12 miles from the coast.
Ryan Lawler, owner of Pacific Offshore Expeditions, said the whale was feeding, doing giant circles and taking deep plunges down for 10 minutes or so in 2,000 feet of water.
He said in his five years of running ocean tours, it’s the latest the blue whale season has kicked off. Most of the time, blue whales are here in bigger numbers by Memorial Day, he said.
He believes the red tide conditions and lack of upwelling, which churns up nutrients from deeper ocean depths toward the surface, have kept them away.
But word of the blues down in Mexico and in recent days off San Diego had local whale watching charters on the lookout. Meanwhile, humpback whales have been seen regularly in recent weeks, keeping charter boats busy.
But the blue whales always brings a buzz, Lawler said.
“We always get excited for the largest mammal on the planet,” he said. “It’s everybody’s bucket list to see the blue whale.”
There was word Friday of a 15-foot beluga whale near San Diego, a rare and unheard of sight for the species off local waters.
While gray whales have a predictable migration, with most passing Southern California during their trek from Alaska to Mexico and back, it’s anyone’s guess when, or if, the blue behemoths will show up.
Two decades ago, it would have been big news if a blue whale was spotted along the Southern California coastline.
Prior to the mid-2000s, whale-watchers would have to trek up to the Channel Islands or Monterey to get a glimpse of the sleek-bodied blue whales after they had spent winter months off Costa Rica and Mexico. In the late ’90s, there were some years with only a dozen or so sightings.
But then, likely due to finding food off the coast, the number surged, prompting a wave of whale-watching businesses to open or expand their operations year-round.
In 2008, about 130 blue whale sightings were documented, then 291 the following year, according to Dana Wharf Whale Watching logs. In 2011, there was a surge of blue whales nearly every day during the summer – a total of 752 sightings, according to the logs.
The water changed, however, when El Nino showed up a few years ago. The food disappeared, and so did the whales. According to Dana Wharf logs, sightings dropped from just over 400 in 2014 to a little more than 100 in 2016. In 2017, there were only about 40 blue whale sightings.
In 2018, there was a new resurgence, with sightings up to 169 and the first sighting in May. Last year, an estimated 150 blue whale sightings were logged, with a flurry of sightings throughout April and May and into summer.
The mammoth mammals – whose bodies can reach up to 100 feet long – swam the ocean in great numbers in the late 1800s, with an estimated 200,000-plus population, before people hunted them to near extinction for their valuable oil and meat.
Now protected, their population is rebounding, with the global estimate at about 11,000; about 2,000 of those are living and feeding in Southern California waters.
Source: Orange County Register
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