What to Know
- Whale watching trips for the public start Thursday and go though mid-April
- Voyages depart from Redondo Beach, Long Beach and Marina del Rey
More than 100 newly minted naturalists will take to the sea Wednesday for their inaugural voyage after three months of training, marking the start of the 48th year of the Cabrillo Whalewatch program.
The whale watching season kick-off is co-sponsored by the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Cetacean Society. Throughout the whale watching season, Cabrillo Whalewatch naturalists inform passengers about Pacific gray whales and the variety of other marine life off Southern California's coast.
Whale watching trips for the public start Thursday and go though mid-April. Passengers can choose any of three landings: Redondo Beach, Long Beach and Marina del Rey. Prices and departure times vary by the landing.
The whales migrate annually, from the nutrient-rich waters of the Arctic seas where they spend the summer feeding, to the warm lagoons of Baja, California, where they mate and give birth. New calves can be seen swimming with their mothers as they return north during the second half of the whale watching season.
After a record number of whale sightings last spring, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium officials say they're anticipating another good gray whale watching season.
The Aquarium is located at 3720 Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro, and is a facility of the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.
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For information about whale watching and scheduled departure times, click here or contact Caryn Stanton, whalewatch coordinator at 310-548-7770 or CabrilloWhalewatch@gmail.com.