Depoe Bay Whale Watching
Whale Watching Report:
03/21/2023
We ran quite a few trips out today but the sightings were not good. The wind that was predicted in the afternoon hours came up and created white caps on top of a very small swell. With the wind blowing and the white caps made it quite difficult to spot any of the whale spouts. Rest assured they were out there just very difficult to find on this day. The good news is that tomorrow the winds will come down quite a bit and make finding the whales easier.
03/20/2023
No whale watching today (Monday) as the ocean got a little on the nautical side in the late morning so we scrubbed it for the day. Tomorrow\'s ocean weather sounds really good with all of the wind and rain moving out of the area.
03/19/2023
We looked inside and outside for the migrating whales this afternoon but were unable to find any today. Here one day and gone the next especially during the migration this time of year as they can be right next to the shoreline moving north as they were last week and then 6-miles offshore like yesterday. Will try again tomorrow.
03/18/2023
Had three whale watch trips out this afternoon and where we have been finding the whales lately they were not there on the first trip of the day. So on the other trips we ventured offshore a ways as on the migratory whales you can find them in a lot of different places and today it was offshore.
03/17/2023
We had some good Kodak moments on our Friday whale watching ventures with a Gray whale performing well for our customers just south of the Depoe bay harbor. This is the time of year to see the whales on their northerly migration.
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
