As Oregonians continue to grapple with the coronavirus outbreak, gray whales seem to be serenely unaware.

The huge marine mammals will once again swim along the Oregon coast this year on their annual spring migration north, but absent from the event will be some of the humans who usually gather onshore to watch them.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, which organizes the Spring Whale Watch Week event, announced Friday that the event will go on as scheduled from March 21 to 29, but it will not include any of the volunteers who are usually on hand to help people spot the gray whales from shore.

The decision came a day after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced a statewide ban on gatherings of more than 250 people.

“Given the governor's message about improving social distance, especially related to group gatherings, we have decided to remove the volunteer-staffed watching station part of the event,” parks spokesman Chris Havel said Thursday. “We're telling visitors to bring their own gear, use our online resources to learn about whale watching, and go have a good do-it-yourself spring whale watch.”

READ MORE: How to see whales on the Oregon coast as your own guide

Every spring, more than 25,000 gray whales migrate north up the Pacific Coast, from their breeding waters in Baja, Mexico to feeding grounds off the coast of Alaska. Many whales making the spring migration will be accompanied by their newborn calves.

The first large groups of whales pass Oregon around mid-March, with stragglers showing up as late as June.

While gray whales can usually be seen from any good viewpoint overlooking the ocean, the parks department has 24 designated whale watching locations all along the coast. While those will not be staffed with volunteers this year, visitors should still be able to spot the whales using binoculars or the naked eye.

The Whale Watching Center in Depoe Bay is usually open for Spring Whale Watch Week, but this year it will be closed at least through April 1, out of concerns of spreading the coronavirus.

The parks department said while there are no plans to cancel the whale watching event, other events at Oregon state parks may be change with little notice. Officials are encouraging people to keep tabs on the department’s online events calendar for updates.

Otherwise, the parks system will remain open, offering peaceful slices of nature that could benefit those experiencing anxiety during the coronavirus outbreak.

“Parks are open, and maybe more needed now than ever to release some of the stress building up,” Havel said. “But we need to tweak the way we handle groups so we don't make things worse.”

--Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB

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