Whale-watching boats out of Southern California are reporting almost every excursion returns to harbor with giddy patrons carrying images of large marine mammals in their cameras and minds.
“This season has just been magical, there’s just no other way to describe it,” said Dan Salas, a captain for Harbor Breeze Cruises. “And this is just the beginning of gray whale season. It’s going to go all the way until May.”
The gray whales are making their annual migration south from the Arctic Ocean where they feed, down to Mexico, where they breed during winter and late spring.
–
Wide-eyed and smiling children chattered with each sighting.
“I’ve been seeing Mother Nature and the birth of a new whale,” said 11-year-old Connor Parrish from Missouri. “And the awesome dolphins, which are my favorite ocean animal, so it’s been good.”
