Thar She Blows!

Sun., Jan. 21, 1996

Associated Press

Whale watching

The gray whale migration off the Washington coast is underway. The behemoths are traveling at 3 to 6 mph from Alaska to Baja California, where they bear young.

In mid-March to May, the whales will begin migrating north, with the mothers and calves coming up in late April, taking their time getting back.

A few whales drop out of the northbound migration, showing up in mid-June and sticking around various bays off Oregon and Washington until they join the next southbound migration.

Traveling whales tend to spout three to five times before going on a deep dive that leaves them underwater for six to eight minutes.

Gray whales can grow to lengths of 45 feet, weighing 30 to 50 tons, A 40-foot tour boat weighs only 15 tons.

The latest surveys estimated there were 22,000 to 25,000 gray whales in existence. The giant mammals eat krill (defined as planktonic crustaceans and larvae) in amounts equivalent to 2,000 Big Macs a day.

Whale-watching tours are available at many coastal ports, including Depoe Bay in Oregon and Westport in Washington.

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