The sighting Monday morning of a Pacific gray whale by passengers aboard a Dana Wharf Sportfishing boat might be the season's first gray whale sighting off Southern California.
Capt. Chris Pica of the Sum Fun said his passengers were fishing in the kelp just off Laguna Beach when a gray whale estimated to measure 25-30 feet spy-hopped, or popped its head out of the water, less than 20 feet from the stern of the boat.
It then swam beneath the boat, clearly visible about eight feet underwater. After that the whale departed to the south.
Pacific gray whales migrate each fall and winter from Arctic waters to Baja California's lagoons for the calving and nursing season.
Monday's sighting was "very early, but not 'Oh my gosh early,' " said Alisa Schulman-Janiger, a researcher who conducts the annual ASC-LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project from the Point Vicente Interpretive Center on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. "It's just an early bird."
The project, which involves trained volunteer spotters, begins Dec. 1 and runs through mid-May. Most landings in Southern California begin running gray whale excursions the day after Christmas, when sightings during the southbound migration are more likely.
A check of the few Southland landings that send boats out daily in search of whales revealed some fin whales and lingering blue whales, but no gray whales.
The whale spotted by those aboard the Sum Fun was a juvenile, and Schulman-Janiger said the younger whales are often the first whales to appear.
Unfortunately, nobody aboard the Sum Fun photographed the whale. "We were into some great fishing," Pica explained. "Everybody was busy."
Dana Wharf Whale Watching officially begins its gray whale season Nov. 25.
-- Editor's note: Gray whale image is generic, courtesy of Alisa Schulman-Janiger
-- Volunteers needed: The researcher is in need of volunteers for this year's Census and Behavior project and will conduct orientation meetings Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center. For more information phone Schulman-Janiger at (310) 519-8963 or email her at [email protected]
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