December was a fantastic month for watching gray whales migrate past Southern California shores, on their way from Arctic waters to nursing grounds in Baja California's lagoons.
But January is the best time to see whale babies, as illustrated beautifully Saturday by naturalist Melissa Panfili Galieti from aboard the Privateer out of San Diego Whale Watch.
The accompanying images show a gray whale that was perhaps a day old, and not more than two days old, according to researcher Alisa Schulman-Janiger. The whale's baleen and tongue are visible in the top image.
Schulman-Janiger runs the ACS/L.A. Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. She said January is both the peak month off Southern California for the southbound migration, and the peak month for cow-calf pairs. (Contrary to popular belief, more than 50% of gray whale calves are born north of Monterey.)
Said Galieti of the incredible sighting from aboard the Privateer: "Mom and calf were swimming with a couple of common dolphins. The calf repeatedly threw flukes into the air. We even saw it nursing for a brief moment!"
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