Blue whale sightings rebound off Southern California coast

Laylan Connelly | The Orange County Register

Show Caption Hide Caption Blue Whales weren't always the giants they are today They only recently evolved to their massive size. Video provided by Newsy

By the turn of the century, blue whales could be extinct.

It was a warning Alisa Schulman-Janiger remembers hearing as a child decades ago, a dire prophecy for the world’s largest animal, one that dwarfed even the biggest dinosaurs that once roamed on land.

The mammoth mammals – whose bodies can reach up to 100 feet long – swam the ocean in great numbers in the late 1800s, with an estimated 200,000-plus, before mankind hunted them to near extinction for valuable oil and meat.

Now protected, their population is rebounding, with the global estimate at about 11,000. And Southern California is among the best places in the world to get close to the whales, with about 2,000 living and feeding in local waters.

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Blue whale season has begun, a time of year when eco-tours are filled with people eager to see the behemoth baleen close to shore. A healthy blue whale season means excitement in the salty ocean air in summer — a seasonal occurrence that has helped grow the coastal tourism industry.

“Off California, they’ve made a really good comeback,” said Schulman-Janiger, research associate for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. “It’s one of the best places in the world to be able to see blue whales.

“But not every year.”

Blues emerge

Two decades ago, it would be big news if a blue whale was spotted along the Southern California coastline. The only sightings came from fishermen who happened upon them on outings near San Clemente Island or further offshore.

Prior to the mid-2000s, you’d have to trek up to Monterey or the Channel Islands to get a glimpse of sleek-bodied blue whales after they’d spend winter months off Costa Rica and Mexico.

An Orange County Register account from 1999 indicates just how rare spotting a blue whale was off Orange County: 12 sightings logged for the year.

“We only whale watched in the winter, then we fished in the summer,” said Donna Kalez, manager of Dana Wharf Whale Watching and Sportsfishing.

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Traditionally, Dana Wharf launched ocean charters around Thanksgiving to spot the predictable gray whales as they made the journey between Alaska and Mexico, passing Southern California until their migration ended around April.

Then, in the mid-2000s, the blues found a feast: a buffet of krill off Southern California.

“When the blues started showing up within five miles of Dana Point, that’s when we really started expanding the whale watching year round, because they were so close,” said Kalez.

“I always say, ‘The gray whales made us famous, but the blue whales are what made us year-round,” Kalez said. “Now we think we’re the best place to whale watch around the world.”

Year after year, the sightings increased. In 2008, about 130 blue whales were spotted, then 291 the following year, according to Dana Wharf logs.

“Ten years ago, when we first saw the blue whales, we were sold out,” she said. “Every boat we had was sold out. Everyone wanted to see a blue whale. People were like, ‘Oh my God.’ We had never seen a blue whale that close to shore.”

By 2011, there was a surge of blue whales nearly every day during the summer — a total of 752 sightings, according to the Dana Wharf logs. There were so many regulars among the pods of blue whales, they started earning names: Delta, Chunk, Hook.

But then, their food disappeared – and sightings dwindled.

Warm water, no krill

Blame it on “the blob.”

The blob, as it became known in scientific circles, was what kept the water unusually warm during El Niño years, its effects seen off the coast from 2012 until last year. Little wind made for beautiful weather, but wind is needed to create “upwelling,” which draws deeper water up to the ocean’s surface and along with it a food source whales love called krill.

“The warm blob didn’t create any conditions good for krill,” said Schulman-Janiger, who is based out of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. “No krill, no blues. … You have to have cold water and a lot of nutrients.”

Schulman-Janiger said krill makes up 95 percent of blue whales’ diet, and they search the ocean for dense patches to feed on.

As the krill shortage hit locally, the number of sightings, according to Dana Wharf logs, dropped from just over 400 in 2014 to 365 in 2015 then, in 2016, to just over 100 sightings.

“We’d see a whale, but it was just traveling by the area. It wasn’t staying,” Kalez said. “We wouldn’t see one for another week.”

Last year? An estimated 40 blue whale sightings, “stragglers” as Kalez called them.

“Last year, we worried.”

Thankfully, other creatures showed up last summer — including humpbacks and great white sharks that prompted “Shark Tours,” which helped business to stay afloat.

Blues are back, baby

On a recent day, a baby blue whale gave passengers aboard the Newport Coastal Adventure boat a thrill.

Photographer Mark Girardeau hovered a drone over a cow and calf duo hanging around off Newport Beach when the youngster suddenly disappeared.

“All of a sudden, it surfaced behind us. I had the drone up, I saw a splash come up behind the boat,” said Girardeau. “I flew the drone in closer and realized it was the baby. We just enjoyed the moment.”

The curious baby spanned 40 feet in length, longer than the 36-foot inflatable boat.

“Usually, when you watch blue whales, you watch them from a distance,” Girardeau said. “They are so big, they aren’t going to change their behavior to come check you out.”

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The thrilling encounter was just one of many blue whale sightings the past few weeks, with images popping up on social media and news accounts spanning from San Diego and San Clemente through Newport Beach and Huntington Beach and into the South Bay, up to the Channel Islands near Santa Barbara and further north in Monterey and Half Moon Bay.

Schulman-Janiger said the cow and calf spotted in Newport Beach are likely the same reported off Laguna Beach, Long Beach and San Pedro.

“They move around a lot looking for the best krill patches,” she said.

Blue whales can remember from years past where the plentiful food was once found, and return to see if their buffet is still serving up krill, she said.

Whether they’ll find enough food to stick around Southern California is yet to be determined, but early figures are promising.

Dana Wharf Whale Watching logs show 45 blue whales have been spotted in the past month, since the start of the season, already surpassing last year’s total sightings.

And they aren’t just cruising by and leaving – they are hanging out, foraging, she said.

The blues aren’t the only ones in town looking for their krill feast. Humpbacks and fins have been “going crazy over the krill” in recent weeks, Schulman-Janiger said. A few weeks ago, during a gray whale census off Point Vicente on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, volunteers saw blues and fins feeding together, an extraordinary, unusual sight, she said.

As for the blue whales, only time will tell if Mother Nature will continue to provide a bountiful feast.

“Everything is cyclical,” Kalez said. “I think they are definitely here to stay.”

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