Travels with Auntie M: Whale Watching

I took the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium whale watching adventure. 2014 has been a record year for sightings as seen in this chart by the American Cetacean Society which has volunteers at Point Vicente Interpretative Center recording observation each season.

The day started with a very informative 40 minute lecture/slide show. The Whales we might see would be the gray whales which at 50 feet and 40 tons are in the middle range of all whales. They migrate from the Bering and Chukchi Seas (Alaska) to the calving lagoons in Baja California and Mexico.

This was the third whale watching cruise I have taken and for me it’s 2 hours of cold windy boredom and 2 minutes of excitement when the dolphins show up.

We only saw the nose of one whale...no rising fluke or blowhole sprays, but what was incredible was the number of dolphins we encountered.

At one point there were hundreds surrounding the boat...I was not able to catch the activity on the still camera, but this short video shows more action: Dolphins - San Pedro 23 FEB 2014

FEB 2006

In 2006, my second whale watching cruise, I got the above shot of a dolphin and a few images of the one whale we saw:

Grey Whale - FEB 2006

Fluke - 2006

Grey Whale - FEB 2006

My first two whale watching trips were out of Long Beach; this trip was out of San Pedro (Ports o' Call) which gave me the opportunity to photograph some of the local landmarks from a different vantage point, the water:

Ocean View 2014 (Municipal Fish Market)

Land View 2009 (Municipal Fish Market)

Land View 2008 (Point Vicente Lighthouse)

Ocean View 2014 (Point Vicente Lighthouse)

Land View 2014

Ocean View 2014

Land View 2008 (Point Fermin Lighthouse)

Ocean View 2014 (Point Fermin Lighthouse)

Land View 2011 (Landslide)

Ocean View 2014

Lobster Trap Marker

The lighthouse at the breakwater is called Los Angeles Harbor Lighthouse but everyone call's it Angel's Gate. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Sitting on top of a forty-foot concrete square, safekeeping the port since 1913.