Curious and Playful Grey Whale Behavior

The grey whale makes one of the longest annual migrations of any mammal on Earth.  Traveling from the Bering Sea to Mexico’s warm-water lagoons, these whales search for a protected area to give birth to calves.  In the video below, a mother and her calf can be seen amusing the ecotourists onboard the ponga.  The young calf, which can grow at a rate of 2.5 pounds per hour, even blows a kiss to the passengers.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V-DcwKDSHs

In Oceanside, we encounter adult grey whales traveling towards San Diego in December and January.  After mothers have given birth to their young, we see them again as they head north towards Newport, and often stop just outside the Oceanside Harbor.

The Sea Star was fortunate enough to spend time with a curious grey whale this past season.  Just outside the Oceanside Harbor entrance, a grey whale spy-hopped and breached to get a better view of us!

Although a majority of the grey whales are north of Oceanside, the blue and finback whales should be arriving in June and July to feed in our warm waters.  Check out our other blog post about these magnificent creatures.