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:
Gray Whale. Photo Courtesy of Dana Wharf Whale Watching 
Long-Beaked Common Dolphin. Photo Courtesy of Dana Wharf Whale Watching 
Pair of Gray Whales. Photo Courtesy of Dana Wharf Whale Watching 
Bottlenose Dolphin. Photo Courtesy of Dana Wharf Whale Watching 
Gray Whale. Photo Courtesy of Dana Wharf Whale Watching 
Mola Mola. Photo Courtesy of Dana Wharf Whale Watching 
Gray Whale. Photo Courtesy of Dana Wharf Whale Watching
Gray whales travel as many as 14,000 miles each year migrating from their feeding to calving and mating grounds. The length of the whales’ migration can vary depending on where they begin as their feeding ground covers hundreds of miles and whether they travel offshore or along the coast. As we begin to transition from the gray whale southbound migration to the northbound migration, we are beginning to see a few northbound gray whales off our coast in singles and pairs. We saw several gray whales each day, but there were no southbound cow/calf pairs seen this week.
Early in the week we saw several pods of offshore bottlenose dolphin ranging in numbers from about 15 to about 40 individuals. For many days, there were no common dolphin sightings, but we ended the week with pods in the hundreds.
Our Wyland Art class students with artists from as far away as Oklahoma were treated to a megapod of long-beaked common dolphin only 4 miles off San Clemente. There were sea lions and hundreds of sea birds in this area all feeding on the same fin bait. Seeing hundreds of dolphin feeding and interacting with other animals always makes an impression!
Here is the latest Whale Watching Log from Dana Wharf Whale Watching:
Feb. 24 – No Trips Due to Weather
Feb. 23 – Bottlenose Dolphin
Feb. 22 – No Trips Due to Weather
Feb. 21 – 6 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin
Feb. 20 – 8 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin
Feb. 19 – 11 Gray Whales, Common Dolphin, Mola Mola
Feb. 18 – 4 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphin, Mega Pod of Common Dolphin, Mola Mola
Feb. 17 – 3 Gray Whales, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin
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