It’s a wonderful time of year for whale watchers off Southern California as gray whale mothers and calves pass closely to shore en route to Arctic summer feeding grounds.
The accompanying footage, captured Thursday by Newport Coastal Adventure off Newport Beach, shows two gray whale moms and their babies traveling as a pod beneath the drone-cam.
“Two Pairs of Mom and Baby Whales have a Playdate!” reads the Facebook description.
About 26,000 gray whales complete an annual 12,000-mile roundtrip migration from the Bering Sea to Mexico and back.
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Baby whales are born during the southbound migration or in or near lagoons in Baja California.
Mothers and nursing calves are last to embark on the northbound migration and tend to stick fairly close to shore, which is safer for the young whales.
“The second half of April is certainly the window,” said Capt. Ryan Lawler of Newport Coastal Adventure. “I imagine over the next 15 days we’ll be getting some good activity.”
While footage captured by deckhand Kristin Campbell depicts a peaceful and leisurely travel day for the moms and their babies, the northbound journey can be perilous for cow-calf pairs.
Transient killer whales, which prey on baby gray whales, pose the greatest threat. But this is primarily farther north – notably in Monterey Bay.
The smart moms stay close to shore and avoid deep-water ambush areas, but making it safely to Alaska also requires good fortune in terms of timing.
Meanwhile, while this is expected to be a low calf year, prime time for viewing the migrating mammals is now.
–Image and video are courtesy of Newport Coastal Adventure
