Oregon Celebrates Gray Whale Migration

Gray whales by the thousands are spouting and plunging their way along the Oregon Coast again on their annual migration.

They swam south last fall to Mexico to mate and give birth. They and their young now are making the return trip to Alaska. Their 10,000-mile round-trip migration is the longest known for any mammal.

Oregon celebrates both migrations with a Whale Watch Week. The spring migration week runs through March 28.

More than 225 volunteer whale naturalists will be stationed from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day at 28 sites along the Oregon coast to help explain the migration.

On clear days spotting whales spouting is easy. At some spots, such as Yachats, the mouth of the Umpqua River at Reedsport, and Battle Rock at Port Orford, they often swim very close to shore. They commonly enter the Umpqua River.

Last spring, a record 32,071 visitors watched from the sites, said Mike Rivers, Whale Watch Week coordinator with the state Parks and Recreation Department in Waldport.