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Whale Oregon -
Whale Watching On The Oregon Coast
Whale watching on the Oregon Coast is a year-round activity on the Oregon
Coast with gray whales by far the most commonly seen.
Whale watching is not
difficult, but a few tips make it easier. Any location with an ocean view may
yield whale sightings, and morning light with the sun at your back is best.
First locate whale spouts with your naked eye; then focus more closely with
binoculars. For an even closer view, try whale watching from a charterboat. And
some people prefer the view from above—from an airplane or helicopter. Both
charterboats and air services are available (and listed here). And, of course,
calmer days are best, whether by land, sea, or air.
Gray whales migrate
South from their feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi seas around Alaska
from mid-December through January. They are heading to their breeding grounds in
Baja California, Mexico, where warm-water lagoons become nurseries for expectant
mothers. Then from late March to June the whales migrate North back to Alaska.
On each trip, approximately 18,000 gray whales pass close to the Oregon
Coast.
On the trip down, these giant mammals head South on a direct
course, move quickly, and mostly stay about 5 miles offshore. At their peak,
about 30 whales pass by each hour. Coming back, the whales travel much more
leisurely and stay closer to shore—within a half mile is not unusual. The
non-breeding males and females lead the way back with some early birds starting
in late February. They may even pass stragglers still heading south. The
northward migration continues at a slower pace and mothers with young don’t
usually appear until May.
Some gray whales do not continue on to Alaskan
waters but stay off the coast of Oregon between June and November. These
part-time residents number about 200. About 60 whales are seen repeatedly off
the central coast and have been photographed and identified. Of these, about 40
hang out between Lincoln City and Newport each year because that seems to be
what the food supply will support.
Each year peak migration times
coincide with people’s vacation times. The Whale Watching Spoken Here program
takes advantage of this coincidence with two weeks of assisted whale watching:
one is the week between Christmas and New Year’s and the other is during the
last week in March. During each whale-watch week hundreds of volunteers man 28
sites along the coast from Ilwaco, Washington to Crescent City, California.
Since 2004, a third Whale Watching Spoken Here week has been added, and
it’s scheduled during the last week of August through the first Monday in
September. The summer whale watch locations are those along the central coast
and focus on the part-time resident whales.
To be a volunteer in winter,
spring, or summer, you don’t have to be a whale expert, but you do have to
attend one weekend of training. Volunteers come from all walks of life: from
high school students to retirees, from coastal residents to inland city
dwellers. The common denominator is an interest in whales—especially gray
whales. As a volunteer you’ll learn a great deal about these fascinating
leviathons, meet interesting people, and share what you’ve learned with
visitors. It’s exciting to be the one to point and shout, “Over there!” and see
the look of wonder that appears when someone sees their very first whale.
For further information or a registration form for the training weekend,
contact Morris W. Grover, Whale Watch Volunteer Coordinator, Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department, 119 SW Highway 101 (PO Box 703), Depoe Bay, OR 97341,
541-765-3407; fax 541-765-3402; morris.grover@state.or.us; www.whalespoken.org.
Preregistration is required because of limited space. You may register for
training and/or sign up for whale watch week by mail, e-mail, phone, fax, or
dropping in to visit at the Whale Watching Center on Highway 101at the south end
of the bridge in Depoe Bay.
Whether you sign up for a couple days or
a week, it’s your responsibility to arrive early at your whale watching site to
help set up, be on duty from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and then help pull siting
information together and put everything away. Usually two (or more) volunteers
are at each site, and usually the more experienced one is in charge of putting
up the Whale Watching Spoken Here sign and bringing the literature about gray
whales and the program. You’ll find that visitors stop no matter what the
weather. Spring 2006 was quite rainy and still volunteers spoke to more than
16,200 people from nearly every state in the nation and several countries. And
more than 2448 gray whales were spotted.
You’ll learn that gray whales
are baleen whales. This means when feeding for small crustaceans on the ocean
floor, the whales roll on their sides and scoop up water and sediments. They
then force the water and sediments out through the fringed baleen plates that
hang from either side of their upper jaw where teeth would otherwise be. You’ll
learn that gray whales have double spouts just like all baleen whales. That the
blow is not a fountain of water, but of mist that condenses immediately as warm
moist air is exhaled under high pressure from their lungs. And that gray whales
have a rhythmic breathing pattern during migration—three to five short, shallow
dives of 15 to 30 seconds each followed by a long, deep dive of three to six
minutes. When you see flukes, it usually signals a deep dive.
The two
whale behaviors that get people excited are spy hopping—where the head sticks
straight up out of the water—and breaching—where 1/2 to 3/4 of the body length
comes up out of the water and falls on its side or back causing a tremendous
splash.
Bruce Mate’s theory on spy hopping goes against the conventional
wisdom that it’s to see what is happening. Mate suggests that it’s to help the
whales hear better; he has observed that during spy hop behavior the eyes do not
always come above the surface of the water. During migration, it may be to hear
the surf since their route follows the coastline.
As far as breaching
goes, Mate says, “They don't seem to injure themselves. Once one starts, others
follow—like humans yawning.” He goes on to say that no one knows why they do it;
theories range from a way to knock off external parasites, such as barnacles, to
a form of communication . . . or just for the fun of it.
From north to
south, these are the 28 Whale Watching Spoken Here sites. This list includes
those plus three sites no longer a part of the program. With or without a
volunteer to assist, these are the best locations along the coast to spot
whales.
* Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, Ilwaco, Washington
* Fort Stevens, platform at Parking Lot C, (no longer Whale Watching
Spoken Here site)
* Ecola State Park
* Neahkahnie Mountain
Historic Marker Turnout on Highway 101
* Cape Meares State Scenic
Viewpoint
* Cape Lookout State Park— 2.5-mile hike to site at tip of
Cape Lookout (most rugged)
* Cape Kiwanda, Pacific City
* Inn at
Spanish Head, Lobby on 10th floor (most posh)
* Boiler Bay State Scenic
Viewpoint
* Depoe Bay Sea Wall
* The Whale Watching Center, Depoe
Bay
* Rocky Creek State Scenic Viewpoint
* Cape Foulweather
* Devil’s Punchbowl (Otter Rock) State Natural Area
* Yaquina
Head Lighthouse
* Don A. Davis City Kiosk, Newport
* Yaquina Bay
State Recreation Site
* Seal Rock State Recreation Site (no longer Whale
Watching Spoken Here site)
* Yachats State Park (no longer Whale Watching
Spoken Here site)
* Devil’s Churn Viewpoint
* Cape Perpetua
Overlook
* Cape Perpetua Cook’s Chasm Turnout
* Sea Lion Caves
Turnout—largest Highway 101 turnout south of tunnel
* Umpqua Lighthouse,
near Umpqua Lighthouse State Park
* Shore Acres State Park, near
Charleston
* Face Rock Wayside State Scenic Viewpoint, near Bandon
* Cape Blanco Lighthouse, within Cape Blanco State Park
* Battle
Rock Wayfinding Point, Port Orford
* Cape Sebastian, south of Gold Beach
* Cape Ferrelo, north of Brookings
* Harris Beach State Park,
Brookings
* 9th Street Beach, Crescent City, California
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