Reports from Observation Post #5
San Diego, California, United States
News from the 2010 Season

San Diego Bay Photo Rebekah Bohm

From San Diego's Birch Aquarium at Scripps, whale naturalists Rebekah, Caitlin and Staci send us the news!

April 2010

April 4, 2010
This was our final day for whale watching this spring. The final weeks of the whale-watching season brought few gray whales. In fact, we saw hardly any! The grays were few and far between and were often juveniles. It may be the adults had already passed San Diego on their way back north, or they were further off shore.

March 2010

March 30, 2010
Staci sent the news! "On Sunday, March 28, Kari spotted our first confirmed cow and calf pair! They looked very relaxed, snorkeling and blowing right near the surface. All guests on board had a great view of the pair. While we are still seeing adult gray whales head north, this marks the beginning of the second half of the migration. In the next few weeks all whales will leave the lagoons of Baja to return to their cold Arctic feeding grounds. Cassie, one of the Birch Aquarium naturalists, just returned from San Ignacio and noted that moms and calves were hanging out near the mouth of the bay possibly preparing for open ocean conditions. The Birch Aquarium's last day of whale watching is April 4th so we wish all whales, big and small, a safe trip back North and look forward to seeing them again next year! I will let you know if we see anything else!"

March 25, 2010
"We continue to vigilantly watch for the first mother and calf pair heading north," writes Caitlin. "The whales have been very active and social while migrating north, a contrast to their behavior heading south. We have seen large groups of eight to 12 adults moving together, as well as many grays traveling in groups of two to four."

February 2010

Feb. 19, 2010
Staci Shaut of Birch Aquarium at Scripps reported, "We have northbound whales! Naturalist Cassie spotted the first northbound whales on Friday afternoon, Feb. 19 There was a group of four traveling together. Since then, they have seen a few others making their way back. Rebekah, one of our other naturalists, just returned from the lagoons of Baja and reports that there are still lots of gray whales. She observed them mating, playing and she saw moms with babies."

Feb. 18: The gray whales continue their southbound migration. We witnessed fast whales, slow whales, juvenile whales, and adults. One day we saw a small juvenile breach three times.

February 17: Highlights from Caitlin's blog the past two weeks include:

• A record whale-sighting day with 28 whales! All were gray whales. Some were in small groups making their way down to the lagoons. Some were mothers and calves. And many were juveniles. Juvenile grays have been a common sight the last few weeks.
• Many adult whales have made it down to the lagoons. They are in more of a rush to give birth and to mate. Juvenile grays are no longer accompanied by their mother and are not yet of reproductive age and size, which occurs between six and 11 years old.
• Whales are everywhere! Each day we’ve had consistent views of whales near the boat as well as in the distance. This week we witnessed mating, breaching, and of course, slow and steady migration. Many of the whales have been easy to watch. They are not moving erratically nor showing discomfort at the presence of the boat. This was surprising, as there were several naval warships nearby every day.

February 3: Highlights from Caitlin's blog in January include:

• adult whales breaching while in groups. "It is likely that these whales were 'flirting' on their way down to the birthing and breeding lagoons in Baja California."
• a southbound mother and calf! "Sometimes, mother grays with young calves are skittish around boats. If a mother whale begins to push her calf away from a boat, dives deep and surfaces in a different direction, or begins to get agitated, we know she does not want us to spend time near her and we move on to find other whales. However, this mother remained calm and we were able to follow her at a distance for nearly an hour! The calf was quite small; we guess it was about one week old."
• gray whales migrating southward through a very stormy ocean. San Diego Bay was too rough for our boats, and the rainfall set records. "The whales have to make it to the lagoons!"

Caitlin is on board the whale watching boat to teach about whales. Photo Rebekah Bohm

Photo Rebekah Bohm

Photo Rebekah Bohm

This gray whale is interacting with Pacific White-sided dolphins!
Photo Caitlin Scully