Depoe Bay Whale Watching
Whale Watching Report:
06/01/2022
We sent out a few whale watching trips yesterday and were able to find one of our resident Gray Whales just South of town a little ways! We have trips scheduled for every day this week, and we\'re coming up on the time of year when our resident Grays should be showing up in bigger numbers. Ocean forecast looks fantastic for the next week, be sure to reserve your spot on one of our one hour trips!
05/31/2022
Our resident Gray Whales have been a little elusive these last couple of days. We had some stormy weather this last weekend that kept us from getting out there to look for them, although we did send out some trips yesterday afternoon once the weather finally cleared up. It didn\'t sound like the boats were able to find them but they did see a lot of Harbor Seals, Sea Lions, and Porpoises out there! Every day is different, you never know what you\'ll see on our trips. The ocean forecast for this next week looks amazing every day, we will be sending out our one hour trips daily!
05/27/2022
Whale watching has been good these last couple of days. It sounds like we have been able to find some of our resident Gray Whales on most of our trips. We have trips scheduled for today, and if the weather holds, we will have some available this weekend as well! On Monday, we also have Whale Watching available after the Fleet of Flowers Ceremony in the afternoon. Ocean conditions starting Monday and on look excellent!
05/24/2022
The ocean conditions could not have been more ideal today! It was as flat as a lake out there, with no swell and no wind. It made for great whale watching on our trips we sent out today. Sounds like the boats were able to find one of our resident Gray Whales out there that put on a decent show. There were also orca sightings late yesterday afternoon, so it would appear we might have some orcas frequenting the area at the moment. We\'ll be back out there tomorrow to see if we can find either them or our gray whales!
05/23/2022
It\'s another gorgeous day in Depoe Bay today! We will be out looking for our resident Gray Whales again today. Yesterday our boat was able to find one just North of Depoe Bay feeding. The ocean conditions look very nice all throughout this week. We have whale watching trips available every day!
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
