A pod of about 15 sperm whales was seen west of Long Beach on two occasions Wednesday afternoon by passengers and crew aboard the Christopher (see video, which shows nine of the whales).
This is exciting news for marine mammal enthusiasts. The rare sightings were made aboard the split-level whale-watching boat. The first was in mid-afternoon when it had been returning from a non-whale-watching trip to Catalina. The second was during its 3 p.m. whale-watching run.
The high-speed Christopher, which is part of Harbor Breeze Cruises in Long Beach, will be searching for the iconic toothed cetaceans again on Thursday.
Sperm whales are occasionally spotted off Southern California, but usually as individuals or in very small groups. Large pods such as the one encountered Wednesday are "extremely rare," said Alisa Schulman-Janiger, an American Cetacean Society researcher.
Schulman-Janiger, who runs the Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, said it has been at least 30 years since a large pod was spotted by volunteers atop the South Bay promontory.
Please comment on this blog if you have sighting information or images of these majestic and iconic toothed cetaceans.
-- Pete Thomas
Twitter: @Pete_Thomas
the boat where from people out of
Posted by: Office 2007 | Mar 11, 2011 at 11:01 PM
Pete,
"Way cool", "amazing", "OMG" all do not even begin to describe this. Now if only they'd let us dive with them . . .
Ken Kurtis
Owner, Reef Seekers Dive Co.
Beverely Hills, CA
Posted by: Ken Kurtis | Mar 10, 2011 at 03:29 PM
I will have some good video soon, some I saw on the boat where from people out of town and they will send me their video asap! I have about 9-11 emails from people who had good video! I will keep you posted!
Posted by: Jeff | Mar 09, 2011 at 10:57 PM
There's video on the Harbor Breeze Cruises Facebook profile. You don't get a great view but it's of nine sperm whales swimming very close together.
Posted by: Pete Thomas | Mar 09, 2011 at 08:46 PM
Jeff, do you have any video to post?
Posted by: Meredith | Mar 09, 2011 at 08:39 PM
I was out on the Christopher, I work at the Aquarium! I have people sending me the video and will post when I receive them! It was truly an amazing sight! Their were about 9 that stayed right in front of the bow for about 15 minutes before each individually dived! Awesome!!!!!
Posted by: Jeff | Mar 09, 2011 at 07:40 PM