PHOTO: whalespoken.org
It’s Whale Watch Week on the Oregon coast which, despite its Washington home, includes our own Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Cape Disappointment State Park. During the annual watch, trained volunteers will be at “Whale Watching Spoken Here” sites between 10 am and 1 pm daily through January 1st. All of the sites are high vantage points where it is relatively easy to spot the giants as they make their pilgrimage south. Whale watching continues fairly heavily throughout January.
From late December through to the end of January, more than 18,000 Gray Whales pass by our coast on a massive migration south from their summer feeding water in the Bering and Chukchi seas near Alaska to their breeding and calving lagoons along Baja California. Then, just before the beginning of February, like clockwork, it all nearly completely stops. You will see almost nothing until around the beginning of March, as they start the trek back to feeding grounds in the north.
The forecast for whale watching is good this year because of lower winds, though other conditions could stir the surf. Rough surf and high waves make the whales harder to spot. When the surf is smooth, expect to see 10-25 whales per day from the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Binoculars are advised as most are traveling 3-5 miles offshore.
More Information:
Whale Watching Tips
