At least five blue whales were spotted over the weekend off Southern California, perhaps suggesting an early start to the season.
Four of the majestic leviathans were seen Saturday near the 14-mile bank off Orange County by Capt. Marcus Bailey aboard the fishing boat Fury, which runs from Dana Wharf Sportfishing.
A single blue whale was spotted Sunday beyond the Palos Verdes Peninsula, by volunteers with the ACS-LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center.
It swam within a half-mile from shore on a blustery day in which volunteers also saw gray whales and fin whales. It was the second blue whale sighting within the past week off Point Vicente.
Alisa Shulman-Janiger, who runs the project, said that last year spotters from the promontory saw their first blue whale on March 1, and didn't see another until April 23.
Blue whales, which can reach lengths of about 100 feet and weigh up to 150 tons, generally begin to arrive off Southern California in mid-May, in search of vast blooms of tiny shrimp-like krill.
"It's the presence of food -- unless we actually see them feeding the season hasn't started yet," Schulman-Janiger said. "The one we saw [on Sunday] was just traveling through, and it was very close to shore, which was unusual."
The four blue whales spotted by the Fury crew also were on the move, and it remains to be seen whether they'll will find krill locally or keep moving to the north.
But if blue whales are even looking for krill locally, chances are more will be spotted by boaters admiring the northbound gray whale migration.
Last spring and summer, krill was abundant throughout Southern California waters, and whale-watchers enjoyed perhaps the best-ever season in terms of blue whale sightings.
Blue whales are endangered. There are about 10,000 globally, and about 2,000 in an eastern North Pacific population that utilizes West Coast waters during the spring and summer feeding season.
-- Whale image is from last year off Dana Point. Credit: ©Pete Thomas
My husband saw several juvenile blue whales at Abalone Cove last Sunday (April 22, 2012). They were very active and quite close in.
Posted by: christine campbell | Apr 24, 2012 at 06:31 PM