Orange County Register

A gray whale lingers off Newport Beach in February 2008. Image courtesy of Newport Landing.

It was hard to find gray whales in the beginning days of last winter’s annual migration to the lagoons of Baja California. This year, the plodding gentle giants are appearing early and often as they swim south past Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Fullerton naturalist Hugh Ryono, who helps the American Cetacean Society conduct the whale census from the Palos Verdes Peninsula, says there’s been “about a 90 percent increase in southbound (toward OC) gray whale sightings from this time last year (86 versus 45 whales since Dec. 1). Add to that the fin, humpback and blue whales that have been hanging around local waters and you have the potential for some of the best whale watching in many years in SoCal. Let’s hope the trend continues.”

The sightings include 9 gray whales seen on Sunday. The ceteaceans were heading south, toward Orange County. Some whales swim comparatively close to shore. Others stay further out. The southern migration will continue until about late winter, when the whales head back north toward Arctic waters.

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