Whale Watching in Depoe Bay. Best in Oregon
Whale Watching Report:
07/23/2024
AFTER ONE DAY LATE LAST WEEK WE HAVE HAD EXCELLENT WHALE WATCHING TRIPS WITH MULTIPLE WHALES IN THE AREA AND THEY ARE VERY CLOSE BY FEEDING IN THE EXPANDING KELP BEDS NOW IN THE AREA. IT IS A GREAT TIME TO. VISIT THE COAST AND GO OUT WITH DOCKSIDE AND SEE THE FEEDING GRAY WHALES.
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Depoe Bay is the Whale Watching Capital and Dockside Charters offers Premier Whale Watching Excursions.
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Oregon Coast Whale Watching Tours!
Dockside Charters runs whale watching excursions on a daily basis during our whale watching season. The season typically goes from mid-December through October. Our whale watching season actually is two part: migration and residential. The migratory season begins in December and usually extends until mid May. Mid to late May is when our “resident” whales begin to arrive. Our resident whales are a group of roughly 20 whales that, though they do migrate don’t go all the way to the Bering Sea but rather feed during the summer season within just a few miles of Depoe Bay and stay in the area until late October. The same whales return year after year and we are able to identify returning whales by their individual markings and the skippers even have them named.
Pacific Gray Whales have the longest migration of any animal on earth going from the Bering Sea to the Baja Peninsula and even into the Sea of Cortez. Their migration allows calves to be born in the warm waters of the Baja lagoons, that is vital to the survival of the newborns because they have no insulating blubber layer at birth. As the new calves and their mothers slowly migrate North the calves gain about nine to ten pounds per day. What makes that even more remarkable is the fact that the cows (mother gray whales) feed very little if at all during the migration. This is often quite evident by the physical appearance of the cows when they reach Depoe Bay, they are literally racks of skin and bones, having used their fat reserves to support the calves during migration.
After they arrive here feeding is the priority. Pacific Gray Whales are baleen feeders, they filter food they need from the water by straining it through their baleen plates. Organisms they feed on are quite small, one of the whales most important food sources are Mysid Shrimp. Mysid Shrimp live in and around kelp forests and never get more than about a half inch in length. They resemble mosquito larva more than shrimp and the whales will consume up to 2000 pounds of them a day. At other times they will feed on copepods they filter by taking mouthfuls of muck from the bottom or even skim feed on schools of very small fish.
Humpback and Blues whales are also seen occasionally though not as frequently as Gray Whales. We are fortunate here in Depoe Bay to have whales nearby for us to see for most of the year.
At Dockside Charters we run our Whale Watching excursions from safe comfortable 50 foot Delta Charter boats. They are Coast Guard Certified and have everything required for your safety and piece of mind. They have all the amenities: comfortable heated cabins, rest rooms, indoor seating, seating out on deck. You are able to walk all the way around the boats and are elevated above the water for excellent whale sightings. Our captains have decades of experience and a wealth of knowledge they share during the excursions making them interpretive tours. Our boats have access doors to walk on and off with ease or provide wheel chair access. We can accommodate large groups.
Reservations are recommended for our whale watching tours, to make yours call 541-765-2545
Whale watching excursions seven days a week, subject to marine conditions.
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Archived Whale Watching Reports:
07/19/2024
A tough day on the whale front as we did see a whale on one of the trips but there was so much fog close to shore that finding the whales on most trips today was very difficult. Tomorrow is another day and hopefully better.
07/10/2024
Really good whale watching as for the first time in a week or two we have multiple whales in the area. The whale watch boats were all watching these whales in three different spots we were told with an average of about 1/2 mile from one group to the other.
07/05/2024
Today\'s whale report saw the same thing we have been seeing for over a week now with two whales in the area. Heard a report today that there were three up around the Lincoln City area and that the lack of kelp beds in the area might be the issue. The whales are not going to frequent anyplace where there is no food for them and the kelp beds are really important to their eating habits. Last season the Depoe Bay Area was the kelp bed capitol of the worlds oceans but this season not as much. However we are seeing some kelp beds beginning to form in the area like happens in most summers.
07/03/2024
Whale watching was good this morning but as of the last few days not a whole lot of them in our area right now. I think they were watching two today and the day before so hopefully there number will increase in not so many days.
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06/26/2024
Just like yesterday we had really terrific whale watching trips today as up to around mid-afternoon the sighting of the feeding Gray whales was excellent on the vessels reporting. They were putting on good shows for the folks onboard.
06/25/2024
Unlike yesterday when we had a windy day today was much better and we had really good whale sightings on all of our trips so far this afternoon.
06/24/2024
Not sure any of the boats saw any of the whales on our trips today as late in the morning into the afternoon the winds got ahold of the water which made it a bit difficult to see the spouts and hunt down the Gray whales. Tomorrow is another day.
06/23/2024
We are seeing whales today as a smaller variety is out there feeding in the beds near the coastline and the rocks. Good sightings for quite a while now so a good time to come down and see the Gray whales.
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06/19/2024
Another really good day of whale watching on Wednesday with the whales moving a little north of town and all of the Dockside WW boats saw them on every trip.. Word was there were a few up there today and put on a great show for the folks.
06/18/2024
Our whale watching boats today (Tuesday) had really good spotting of the Gray whales as all of them saw whales on all of the afternoon trips.
06/13/2024
Good whale watching on this Thursday afternoon as all of our boats out there are seeing the whales and they reported they are putting on good shows for the folks.
06/09/2024
NOI whale watching this afternoon as the Depoe Bay bar roughed up to much to run trips out there today. Keep in touch with our office as things will improve.
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06/08/2024
Good whale watching today all day with all of our boats seeing whales on every trip. Call our office and when making your reservations ask about what the ocean conditions are suppose to be and they will give you the best days to come down and see the Gray whales.
05/24/2024
Not a whole bunch of information but we did see whales on our whale watch trips today.
05/19/2024
Good whale watching the past few days as the information off the boats was that they are in shallow water & feeding which is a good sign that some of the seasonal whales we have most of the spring and summer into the fall are here.
05/12/2024
Lots of whales all weekend long out in front of Depoe Bay. With the good weather lots of excellent opportunities to see the last part of the northerly migration and the continued arrival of our resident whales. Sounds like good weather for the next few days.
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05/10/2024
Had a few whale watch trips out this afternoon and we saw whales on all of the trips. The whales are easier to find as well as they are coming in closer to shore where all of the feed is and were chowing down.
04/22/2024
We had several cruises this afternoon some were 1-hr cruises and one 2-hr cruise and we saw whales on both of the cruises. The whales are here with some indications that a few of the resident whales are beginning to show up. The resident whales are the ones that migrate just like the others but many of them stop here in the Depoe Bay area and spend the entire summer into the fall with us here. Should be another great year of whale watching.
04/20/2024
We had excellent whale watch reports all day yesterday (Friday) and today was just as good. We had a really quick hitting rain storm this afternoon which we were told limited the visibility. Just like the Oregon Coast....beautiful sunny day and a few minutes later RAIN .
04/17/2024
Whale watching was really good today onboard the Tacklebuster as they found whales south of the city in pretty close to the shoreline. The captain stated that it looked like one of the resident whales that was with us all summer last year the one that some might remember that had the three hash marks on its back dorsal area.
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04/14/2024
No whale watching again today as this rough weather we have been having fooled us and stayed around for another day. Winds will be down tomorrow and things look much better for tomorrow.
04/13/2024
No whale watching today as the ocean weather turned a little nautical for any afternoon whale watching adventures to get out there. We will be trying again tomorrow.
04/12/2024
Excellent whale watching trips today on all of our boats out there this afternoon and saw Gray whales on all of the trips and also saw Humpback whales as well. Looks like it\'s gonna be a good whale watch year.
04/11/2024
It was a little too rough to go out yesterday but there were a bunch of whales spotted from shore out about whistle buoy depth...about a mile. Good weather today and tomorrow so come on down and see the Gray whale migration.
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04/04/2024
The ocean weather looks to be better as we see it now for the upcoming weekend into the following week. Swells will be down as well as the wind but there will possibly be a few rain drops in the area. Call our office for more information.
04/01/2024
Whale sightings on the afternoon whale watch trips has been really good and it looks like today and tomorrow are really good weather days with Wednesday looking right now a little iffy.
03/28/2024
Hey folks... we\'re into some bad spring weather right now with rain, wind and moderate swells. It will be all out of here late Friday night into Saturday day looks like really nice for whale watching minus the three weather items mentioned above. Give us a call as space is filling up as we go thru the 2nd weekend of the Oregon spring breaks.
03/26/2024
Looks like some unfavorable weather the next three days thru Friday but the weekend into next week looks pretty nice so the office will have the information for you on trips going out this weekend and beyond. Looks like rain and wind and some moderate swells heading our way for the next three days.
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03/24/2024
Excellent whale watching today as the northerly migration is in full swing. We had quite a number of whale watch trips on multiple boats and were seeing 2-4 whales on all of the 1 and 2 hour trips. It\'s a great time to watch the migratory whales and we have another two good days of weather coming up and then a possible change by mid-week. So get down here in the next few days to see the Gray whales swimming by Depoe Bay.
03/14/2024
Hey folks-and all of you whale watchers. The northerly migration of the Gray whales has started as we are seeing whales pass by the area. Today on our one whale watch trip we did see two out there on the trip moving slowly by so it will only get better as the days move on here. Give our office a call as the weather at least for the next week or so looks really good.
(541) 765-2545
