Whale-watching season is getting under way, and the vast majority of the whales watched hereabouts are California grays, passing by as they make their annual migration from the Arctic waters where they hang out during the summer to the bays of Baja California where they mate and have their babies in the winter and early spring. But the San Diego Port District’s blog yesterday reported on the sighting last Saturday, December 12, of a pod of five Orca whales about nine miles off the coastline near the Coronado Islands. This took place on a Hornblower whale-watching cruise.
The Port District’s account quoted Hornblower’s marketing director, Rebecca Milkey, saying that although Orcas aren’t often seen here (outside of SeaWorld, we would note), they do prey upon the gray whales and might be “positioning themselves for the northern trip of the Gray whales a few months from now.” I can only imagine the whale-sightseeing industry’s happiness should some orca-on-gray action develop.
The whale-watching tours runs through early April. Hornblower’s site claims some 28,000 gray whales should be passing by San Diego during that time.
