Whale watchers are saying that migrating gray whales are swimming through Southern California waters in record numbers this winter.
The Los Angeles Times said on Wednesday that whale watchers at Point Vicente in Rancho Palos Verdes have recorded a record 163 sightings in December so far, which is the most that have been logged at this location in 28 years.
At this time last year, observers logged 26 gray whales. The previous record saw 133 of the mammals in 1996.
“I’ve seen some pretty good years but never anything like this,” Joyce Daniels, a volunteer in the whale census, told the LA Times.
“We had whales everywhere. So many I was having trouble figuring out which whale was which,” she said. “It’s a real adrenaline rush to have so many whales.”
Over 20,000 gray whales migrate each year from the arctic to Baja California, where females give birth. The mammals then migrate back north for the spring weather.
California’s coast is not just accustomed to only gray whales. Last spring, hundreds of blue whales were spotted in the area. Humpback whales have also been seen off the Californian coast.
Researchers say they hope this means things in the whaling world are going good and the populations are becoming more robust.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112447067/unusual-amount-of-gray-whales-spotted-of-california-coast/
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