Depoe Bay Whale Watching
Whale Watching Report:
04/12/2020
Dockside has suspended our whale watching operations due to the Covid-19 Crisis. We are monitoring the situation and will resume our whale watching operations as soon as possible. Our office is closed to all public access at present. We do have personnel answering the phones during the hours of 10:00 am to 3:00 pm Tuesday through Saturday. We continue to accept online reservations for future cruises at www.docksidedepoebay.com\r\n
04/08/2020
Dockside has suspended our whale watching operations due to the Covid-19 Crisis. We are monitoring the situation and will resume our whale watching operations as soon as possible. Our office is closed to all public access at present. We do have personnel answering the phones during the hours of 10:00 am to 3:00 pm Tuesday through Saturday. We continue to accept online reservations for future cruises at www.docksidedepoebay.com
04/07/2020
Dockside has suspended our whale watching operations due to the Covid-19 Crisis. We are monitoring the situation and will resume our whale watching operations as soon as possible. Our office is closed to call public access at present. We do have personnel answering the phones during the hours of 10:00 am to 3:00 pm Tuesday through Saturday. We continue to accept online reservations for future cruises at www.docksidedepoebay.com
03/19/2020
We had whale watching trips out today on a very user friendly ocean. We have had sightings of whale for several days in a row. The whales are still in their northern migration and the sightings will continue to improve well into May when our resident pods arrive from their migration. We at Dockside Charters are very concerned with the Coronavirus. We are not only concerned for the wellbeing of our clients but also our Captains, crews and shoreside personnel. We have always cleaned our boats on a daily basis, scrubbed thoroughly, always maintaining a high standard that we will certainly continue and in fact increase our efforts. All of our boats have facilities on board for hand washing and cleaning the vessels during the course of the trip is always ongoing. We have instituted additional sanitizing measures in our office as well. We want you be secure knowing that we are making every effort to protect you. One of our new measures is limiting access to the office/waiting room to stay within the group size recommendations. We have trips available on a daily basis, marine conditions permitting. Give us a call to make your reservation at 541-765-2545 or make it online a www.docksidedepoebay.com
03/17/2020
We had whale watching trips out today on a nice although cold ocean. We have had sightings of whale for several days in a row. The whales are still in their northern migration and the sightings will continue to improve well into May when our resident pods arrive from their migration. We at Dockside Charters are very concerned with the Coronavirus. We are not only concerned for the wellbeing of our clients but also our Captains, crews and shoreside personnel. We have always cleaned our boats on a daily basis, scrubbed thoroughly, always maintaining a high standard that we will certainly continue and in fact increase our efforts. All of our boats have facilities on board for hand washing and cleaning the vessels during the course of the trip is always ongoing. We have instituted additional sanitizing measures in our office as well. We want you be secure knowing that we are making every effort to protect you. One of our new measures is limiting access to the office/waiting room to stay within the group size recommendations. We have trips available on a daily basis, marine conditions permitting. Give us a call to make your reservation at 541-765-2545 or make it online a www.docksidedepoebay.com
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
