It was spring break and our first day in San Diego. We were in the land of amazing sunsets and even better weather But today we would head off shore to try and catch sight of the many gray whales who migrate past San Diego from December to April in the Great Gray Migration. Davin and I woke relatively early and caught the sleepy neighborhood of Ocean Beach as it lazily came to life. The wonderfully salty pacific breeze and the near perfect temperature that makes it difficult sometimes to express whether your hot or cold. It often times is determined by your position in either sun or shade.
We ran around ocean beach for the morning, had some breakfast and then I checked into the hostel on Newport Avenue in the heart of Ocean Beach. Davin would be sleeping on My brother Eric’s couch and I would retire to the hostel every evening to do a little research into the lifestyle of my fellow travelers. I would find an environment of international representation and meet and make new friends from places as far afield as Ireland, Saudi Arabia and Australia, oh the Australians. We will talk about that in a later post.
Just before lunch we would climb in the car and head to point Lomo and the Marina. Point Lomo is safely nestled in the heart of San Diego bay and is an impressive sight of row after row of fishing boats and schooners. We met Robin and Paul near the pier, some friends from Atlanta who happened to be in San Diego for a few days. We had booked a few outings with them and this was the first time we had met up since our arrival. On our way to the boat we also met up with a friend of Eric and Leefa’s named Celeste and headed down the dock.
It was a descent sized boat and as we boarded the boat the first mate was telling us that it looked like warm weather at sea and not a lot of white caps. Whales and dolphins often spray upon surfacing and if there are a lot of white caps it can be difficult to spot the impressive mammals. As we settled in and the first mate went over a few nautical rules, the boat pulled from the dock and we navigated out of the densely packed marina in America’s Cup Harbor. A quick turn south out of the harbor and we were quickly on our way out of the entrance to San Diego Bay. We past the naval base at Point Loma to our right and caught a glimpse of a docked nuclear sub probably undergoing some maintenance. Just past the naval base we skirted passed the Cabrillo National Monument and the edge of Point Lomo as we swung west and headed for open sea. With Coronado Island behind us, we headed out looking for our visual prey, the Gray Whale and a few dolphins and porpoises if we were a bit lucky.
The Gray Whale
At a maximum length of 49 feet and a weight of up to 99,000 pounds the Gray Whale is an impressive mammal. Taking its name from the blotchy grey patches that dot its skin, it was once referred to as the devil fish by European and American whalers due to the whales aggressive nature and behavior when hunted. There are fossil records showing that there were once four major populations in the world, East and West Atlantic and East and West Pacific. In the Eastern Atlantic, fossils of the whales have been found in coastal areas from Jerusalem to Namibia showing a wide area of original distributions, though the eastern Atlantic populations were extinct by 500 A.D., Western Atlantic populations were hunted to extinction by the early 20th century. It is amazing to think that with modern technology whales were being hunted by the most advanced of nations until the mid 1900’s. It is estimated by some scientists that more whales were harvested worldwide in the first four decades of the 20th century than the previous four centuries combined. It sometimes is bewildering how much human ingenuity can unabashedly cause so much destruction.
Today we know that the Gray Whale only exist in two populations worldwide. The endangered north west pacific population and the least concerned conservation status north east pacific population. The endangered west pacific population is feared to have been diminished to less than 130 individuals, while North American laws and conservation efforts have raised the Eastern North Pacific populations to over 20,000 individuals. At a range of 9,000 to 13,700 miles, the Eastern Pacific population undergoes the longest mammal migration on the planet every year. Mating and birthing in Mexico in the winter, they lumber at a rate of 5 miles per hour to their arctic feeding grounds for the summer months.
It is estimated through modern genetic mapping that the gene pool of the Gray Whale is consistent with an ancestral population of around 100,000 individuals globally or 500% greater than its current size. Though with ever shrinking fisheries and a much changed global ocean ecosystem it is suggested that the North Pacific Eastern Gray Whale is at or near its peak sustainable population. In fact the beginning of 2019 was a rather tough year for the ocean mammal as over 60 deceased whales washed up on shores from California to Alaska in the first six months alone. Researchers and scientists are leaving no stone unturned in trying to discover the causes of death, but preliminary reasoning points to “carrying capacity”, the maximum number of whales a given habitat can sustain. Today we were here to catch site of the whales as they made their way north, back to the feeding grounds in the nutrient rich waters of the arctic. The adults had more than likely made their way further north by now, but the mothers with their new calves and the adolescent whales were just now beginning their long and laborious trek north.
Watching
As we headed into the open sea the lack of white caps were a bit deceiving as the boat rolled over the large swells by a factor of at least 12 to 15 feet. We would roll high over a wave only to crash down into the next. It made for a difficult walk from one side of the boat to the other as the spray methodically splashed up from the bow of the vessel. After about an hour of rocking in the waves we caught up with two adolescent Gray’s as they peacefully lumbered north. The Gray Whale as a baleen filter feeder, has two adjacent blow holes, unlike the toothed whales which have one. The side by side blow holes cause the Gray Whale’s spray to form in the shape of a heart and is unique to other aquatic mammals. As we pulled near the two adolescent whales there size was quite impressive, not fully grown, it made the size of a full grown adult seem mesmerizing. We followed them for some time then broke off and headed further west. Our guide was discussing a pod of dolphins nearby and we were heading to investigate. 
As everyone was gazing intently at the water around, almost out of nowhere, the short beaked common dolphin was everywhere. The guide estimated the pod to roughly 500 individuals, probably information obtained from the research vessels monitoring the waters nearby, they began darting, breaching and swimming in every direction. It was a beautiful and wonderful moment to see such a large concentration of dolphins swimming and playing in their natural habitat. After quite some time of really just meditating on the dolphins around the boat, we began slowly making our way back to harbor. As we came into the San Diego bay there was quite a number of sail boats and vessels cruising around in this beautiful Southern California sun. We even passed a rebuild frigate from the golden age of sailing. We disembarked the boat, grabbed some delicious lunch at Mitch’s Seafood then headed into the hills to meet a few more friends.
