Every week, Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching provides the Dana Point Times and San Clemente Times a report on the week’s whale and dolphin sightings from naturalist Laura Lopez, in addition to a weekly log.
Here is Lopez’s report for the past week:
This week’s sightings feature Gray Whales, including cow-calf pairs, Fin Whales, Bottlenose and Common Dolphin, plus By-the-Wind-Sailors (or Velella Velella) and a Blue Shark.
With the recent red tide, we saw hundreds of By-the-Wind-Sailors (or Velella Velella) in our local waters. This organism is actually a colony of many polyps that live on the underside similar to the Portuguese Man o’ War. They float through the ocean using a translucent “sail” that sits upright on a flat, oval body to catch the wind. This sail and platform are made of chiton. On the underneath side are tentacles that hang down containing stinging cells.
Within two days, they were washing up on beaches all over Southern California. Several days later, we were seeing what might be another bloom with many of these tiny creatures from just outside the Dana Point Harbor to several miles offshore.
Gray Whale. Photo Courtesy of Dana Wharf Whale Watching. 
Bottlenose Dolphin. Photo Courtesy of Dana Wharf Whale Watching. 
Gray Whales. Photo Courtesy of Dana Wharf Whale Watching. 
Long-Beaked Common Dolphin Calf. Photo Courtesy of Dana Wharf Whale Watching. 
Gray Whale Fluke. Photo Courtesy of Dana Wharf Whale Watching. 
Gray Whales. Photo Courtesy of Dana Wharf Whale Watching. 
Gray Whale. Photo Courtesy of Dana Wharf Whale Watching. 
By-the-Wind Sailors. Photo Courtesy of Dana Wharf Whale Watching.
Seeing our first northbound Gray Whale cow-calf pairs, we are anticipating the arrival of many more as these are the last of the Gray Whales to leave the birthing lagoons as they begin the long journey returning to their feeding grounds. Some of these whales traveling alone or in pairs have been spotted up to five miles offshore while many others are very close to shore. Fin whales are moving in and out of the area feeding.
The long-beak common dolphin have been in massive pods sometimes in feeding frenzies and even several dolphin stampedes have been witnessed. Various size pods of bottlenose dolphins including those with many tiny calves have been encountered and we even saw a blue shark resting on the surface about 12 miles out.
Early one morning under cloudy skies as soon as we left the Dana Point Harbor, Captain Tommy turned north. While we were traveling up the coast, hundreds of pelicans were passing the Dana Pride also flying north. Soon, we began to see an enormous feeding frenzy with long-beaked common dolphin, hundreds of birds, mostly pelicans feeding together. At one point, the massive bait ball tried to take refuge under the 95-foot Dana Pride. Suddenly, we were in the midst of the frenzy with birds swirling in the air above and alongside us.
The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970, and each year, more than a billion people celebrate to protect our planet. This annual celebration raises awareness and encourages others to protect the Earth’s natural resources for generations to come.
Dana Wharf will be hosting two special Earth Day whale watch trips. The first will be on Saturday, April 22 from 5-7 p.m. with Vicki Patterson, the founder of Stand Up to Trash – an organization dedicated to keeping our beaches and oceans clean. On Sunday, April 23, an Earth Day-inspired ultimate eight-hour Whale Watch led by Captain Todd Mansur will be from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Captain Todd was born in Laguna Beach and for more than 30 years has had a career on the ocean and is a founding member of the Gray Whale Education and Preservation Foundation.
Here is the latest Whale Watching Log from Dana Wharf Whale Watching:
April 13 – 2 Gray Whales, Common Dolphin
April 12 – 8 Gray Whales, including 4 Cow-Calf pairs, 2 Humpback Whales, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin
April 11 – 4 Gray Whales, including 2 Cow-Calf pairs, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin
April 10 – Bottlenose Dolphin
April 9 – 4 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin, 1 Mola Mola
April 8 – 18 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin, 2 Mola Mola, 1 Blue Shark
April 7 – 4 Gray Whales, Common Dolphin, By-the-Wind Sailors
April 6 – 3 Cow-Calf Gray Whale, 2 Fin Whales, Common Dolphin
April 5 – Gray Whale, Common Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin
April 4 – 7 Gray Whales
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