Gray Whales off coast of LA

[Katiekakes]

My DH wanted me to post this question. He was wondering if anyone has seen gray whales off the coast of LA on cruise to Hawaiin Islands. He read that there were some sightings in the past. He knows that seeing humpbacks is not unusual, but wondered about the gray whales.

[chrysalis]

they migrate up the entire North American west coast from Baja to north west of Alaska....so seeing them depends on the time of year of your cruise vs the time of the northbound and southbound migration of the whales

[LHT28]

We saw "whale spouts" off the coast on the SFO to Mexico cruise in Oct but did not actually see the whales.

[Splinter]

Because the cruise ships nearly always leave port from Long Beach or San Pedro in the gray migration season after dark, you are very unlikely to see any gray whales off of Southern California unless you have a stop in San Diego or Catalina during the daytime. The migration routes are generally within 20 miles off-shore, so by the time you get up in the AM after embarkation going to Hawaii, you are past these areas. Upon return, the ship is nearly always inside the harbor well before sunrise.

 

If you drive around the Palos Verdes Peninsula (the big hill you will see just west of the San Pedro port) and stop and look, you can nearly always see gray whales close to shore during the migration season (roughly late November to early March). There used to be a museum and whale counting station at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center here, but it is currently closed and being rebuilt.

 

If you arrive in San Pedro a day early, you can get whale watching trips out of that area and are very likely to see gray whales. Due to very strictly enforced laws about marine mammal harassment in the USA, they will not be able to chase or pull up right next to the whales as is done in Mexico. Unless a whale happens to surface right next to your boat, you are more likely to see whales several hundred yards distant from your boat.