A large number of blue whales have been spotted cruising close to shore in the past two days.

Dana Wharf Sportsfishing and Whale Watching reported five sightings on Thursday, and a dozen more by Friday evening about six miles off the coast.

“It’s the biggest pod in the past month and a half,” said captain Corey Hall. ”These animals seem to be staying put, which is nice.”

Blue whales have been showing up off Orange County for about 10 years, usually starting in June. They seemed to shift south, from the Santa Barbara Channel. The landings in Santa Barbara started sending out tour boats, and O.C. followed when the animals were seen here.

The blue whale season starts in about June. About a dozen were seen off the coast this past June, but the numbers soon after tapered off - especially compared to last year’s 440 sightings - until the past few days.  

Blue whales are sleek and sometimes narrow – especially considering their length of up to 100 feet. 

Hall speculated they found a nearby food source. The whales were showing off for the boat by fluking, he said.  

This year has been sporadic for sightings close to shore, but fishing charters 120 miles off coast are seeing plenty of the whales,  Hall said.

Fun facts about the blue whale:

•The blue whale’s main food source is krill, a shrimp-like crustacean. Large whales can eat up to 4 tons a day.

•A big question remains about the creatures: Scientists are unsure where they go to breed. Some believe they go near Costa Rica.

•They can get up to about 100 feet long and weigh 190 tons.

•Calves are about 20 feet long at birth, and weigh about 5,000 pounds.

•Their voices can travel thousands of miles, and they can recognize voices.

•Their hearts are the size of a Volkswagen Beetle.

For more information about the blue whales, plus a listing of local sightseeing boats, CLICK HERE.

For more stories along the coast, go to ocregister.com/beaches.

- Laylan Connelly

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 15th, 2007 at 12:37 pm and is filed under Beach culture, Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.