Whale watching season begins

Whale watching season kicked off in November and continues throughout the winter months. Make sure to head to Cannon Beach to see gray whales off the coast in Ecola State Park or from a variety of other viewpoints. Enjoy the article below on Oregon Coast whale watching and contact Ecola State Park for more information. Happy hunting!

View gray whales November through March on the Oregon Coast

The Oregon coast provides ample opportunity to view members of the order Cetacea (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) at any one of the twenty-nine whale viewing parks in the state.  Gray whales are the most commonly viewed species from the parks.  In fact, Oregon Parks and Recreation hosts two Whale Watching weeks each year during the Gray whale migration seasons.  During Whale Watching week, volunteers from the Parks and Recreation department work at the viewing parks to assist visitors in spotting migrating whales and provide helpful information on whale life history.  For a complete list of the twenty-nine whale viewing parks in Oregon, click here.

There are many more Cetaceans that have been viewed in Oregon coastal waters, but sightings of most of them are very rare.  For a complete list of other Cetaceans of Oregon, click here.

For the best chance to view Cetaceans, visit during a Whale Watching week or on your own during a peak month.  Make sure to bring warm clothes and binoculars, and plan to spend a considerable amount of time outdoors at a viewing station.  Best viewing times are on calm days with little or no wind.  Use your eyes to look for blows – tuffs of air that the Cetacean exhales when surfacing to breathe.  Once a blow is spotted, use your binoculars to zero in on the location, and watch for more blows.  You will often see the body of a Cetacean as he/she surfaces to breathe.  If you are very fortunate, you might also see a group of Cetaceans playing, feeding, or resting.  This may allow you to see more of their bodies, a better opportunity to view calves, and also observe them for longer periods of time.  For more tips on viewing Cetaceans in Oregon, check out these sites:

• Oregon Parks and Recreation: Whale Watching Spoken Here.  http://www.whalespoken.org/
• Wild Bird Shop: Pacific Gray Whale. http://www.wildbirdshop.com/Nature/graywhales.html
• Whale Watching on Highway 101. http://www.presys.com/dt/activities/whale.html
• Marine Discovery Tours. http://www.marinediscovery.com/

For more information on Cetaceans, you can visit the following sites:

• University of Berkeley: Introduction to Cetaceans. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/cetacea/cetacean.html
• University of Michigan: Order Cetacea. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/chordata/mammalia/cetacea.html

Below is a synopsis of Cetaceans commonly viewed in Oregon and the peak times to view them.