Depoe Bay Whale Watching
Whale Watching Report:
04/22/2023
Beautiful ocean today but on the first trip of the day all three of our boats out there were unable to find any whales to view. They tried inshore and then went offshore 4-5 miles and nothing out there. During the migratory period this happens as they make their way up from the Mexican waters to the Alaskan waters. Hopefully our resident whales will begin to arrive in the numbers we need to keep them pretty close to Depoe Bay all summer long.
04/21/2023
A really nice ocean this morning did what the forecast said it was going to do by a growing swell offshore arrived and made the Depoe Bay bar quite rough as the fishing boats came home in the late morning. The decision was made to cancel the whale watching for the day as we do have nice weather forecasted it looks like for almost the entire week ahead.
04/20/2023
We saw whales on the fishing trip in the morning but on the whale watch cruise in the afternoon we did not see them as the wind had picked up quite a bit from morning to the afternoon. As we spoke about this before it is harder to locate the whales when there is wind around as it blows the spout down thus finding them becomes more difficult. The good news is that the weather forecast thru the next week sounds really good with no really windy days predicted.
04/19/2023
After some really rough ocean conditions the past four days the ocean is beginning to moderate today so we are hopeful to be getting back out there beginning tomorrow into the weekend. Give the office a call for cruise times and ocean conditions.
04/16/2023
Looking like rain, wind and moderate seas thru at least Tuesday with moderation by Wednesday and lots of nice days forecasted after that. Springtime on the Oregon Coast is normally like this with nice days followed by not so nice days and then back to nice days etc. Keep in touch with our website for the updates.
Depoe Bay Whale Watching Report Archive...
Depoe Bay is the Whale Watching Capital and Dockside Charters offers Premier Whale Watching Excursions.
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.
Whale watching report archive...
(541) 765-2545
