Depoe Bay Whale Watching
Whale Watching Report:
04/01/2025
Starting Wednesday we have good weather coming in thru Sunday so it will be a great time to go fishing or whale watching with us. Next Monday and Tuesday it appears by the extended forecast that a little swell will be with us and then back to nice weather by Wednesday. Call our office at Dockside Charters for reservations and up-to-date forecasts.
03/30/2025
Really good whale watching today on all of our trips except for one. On that one it just wasn\'t as good as the migratory whale watching we have to sometimes chase after them from trip to trip as they are almost all are moving very quickly to the north. They almost never stop to feed as they are all just interested in getting to their ultimate destination. If that happens we then have to go south and find a new pod(s) coming out of the south heading north and a times we can\'t find any.
03/30/2025
Really nice ocean weather begins today with the ocean forecast for the next week or so looks really nice with some rain during that time. There is one day with a rising swell but for the rest of the days the ocean will see very little swell and wind. Starting Wednesday of next week for the next ten days after that nice ocean weather, sunshine and no rain forecasted. Might be a good time to come down for a fishing or whale watch adventure at Dockside Charters
03/25/2025
Whale Watching was pretty good with most trips seeing whales. Two hr trips were 100% successful, and 1 hr trips saw whales on 75% of the trips. We had a terrific day taking out multiple trips with lots of people looking at the migrating whales. The two hour trips are a small bit more expensive but this time of year the migrating whales tend most of the time to be further offshore. The 2-hr trips allow us to get out there faster and spend more time finding them.. Just a little tip for whale watchers.
03/24/2025
Best days to whale watch the next few days will be all day tomorrow and the morning hours on Wednesday. Then some bad ocean weather looks to be moving in late Wednesday into Thursday.
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
