Whale Watching Is Fun Springtime Activity

There is a special time in the Pacific Northwest each year between March 1 and June 1 when you are most apt to catch sight of the majestic California Gray Whale. The gray whales migrate each year from Baja California to their feeding grounds way up north in the Chukchi and Bering seas.

It's a great excuse to visit the Washington or Oregon coasts where boats are available for short whale-watching tours that take you right out next to some of the biggest creatures on earth. It's also possible to see the whales from various points along the coastline where high rocks or coastal parks offer broad views of the ocean and the migrating whales.

It's estimated there are about 23,000 whales that make this migration. The whales play and feed along the way on amphipods (they're like small shrimp), fish and kelp. How close can you get? Whales will sometimes swim right up next to the boats. They'll roll on their sides and drift along and sometimes lift their heads completely out of the water. You'll probably also see the whales leaping out of the water - quite a sight considering a gray whale might way as much as 35 tons.

Westport, Washington, with its fishing fleet is a good place to go to find a whale-watching charter. People of all ages will enjoy spending a couple hours on the ocean and the locals say you have about a 95 percent chance of seeing a whale.

You can find many vantage points along the Oregon Coast where you can watch the whales from the coast. Neahkahnie Mountain on the northern coast and Yaquina Head, a little further down the coast, are among the best places to go based on the number of sightings. Keep in mind that sightings do vary from year to year, and the total number of sightings can be more in an area if there happen to be more people visiting that area.

One whale-watching option close to Seattle is the Victoria Clipper which offers regular service between Seattle and Victoria, B.C. Clipper Vacations is again offering an excursion that allows passengers to see the whales and also spend some time on Whidbey Island, docking at Coupeville.

The Saturday and Sunday Gray Whale and Sea Life Search excursion is aboard the Victoria Clipper III, departing from Pier 69 in Seattle at 9am. The cruise offers a naturalist to explain more to passengers about what they will be viewing on the cruise.

If you're going on any of the whale-watching cruises, be sure to wear a warm jacket because even in spring the air temperature over the ocean can be cold. And be sure to bring a camera - you'll probably get so close you'll shoot some great photos to show family and friends back home.

Whales almost became extinct back in the mid 1800's but, starting in 1946, they became a protected species. · Altogether there are estimated to be 23,000 gray whales. They can stay below the water up to 15 minutes, but usually stay down less than five minutes to eat. They can be 47 feet long and weigh as much as 70,000 pounds.

Whale-watching is just one of the things you can do in the Pacific Northwest during the spring -- but it's a "huge" amount of fun for anyone giving it a try.


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Cary Ordway is a syndicated travel writer and president of Getaway Media Corp, which publishes websites focused on regional travel. Among GMC's sites are www.californiaweekend.com, featuring California vacation ideas and www.northwesttraveladvisor.com, featuring Pacific Northwest travel.