Dreaming of a Gray Christmas?
Maybe you’ve packed on a few extra pounds this year thanks to lockdown, but if you want to make yourself feel better, think of the Gray whales, who eat an average of 2,400 calories a day before heading south for the winter.
Gray whales are currently on their annual 12,000-mile migration from the Arctic Ocean to lagoons off the coast of Mexico, where the females give birth in the warmer waters.
The migration, which sees an estimated 20,000 whales making their way along the Oregon Coast during a four-week period, is one of two times per year when sightings become more frequent.
Oregon State Parks Ranger Luke Parsons said whales passing Depoe Bay, one of the best places to spot a spout, tend to swim between one and three miles offshore. He recommends that whale watchers scan the horizon with the naked eye at first, looking for the release of air that can send water shooting 12 feet into the air.
“Each one of their lungs is the size of your household refrigerator, so that’s a lot of air that comes rushing out,” he said. “Once you see that spout, you can bring the binoculars up to get a closer look.”
Calm weather gives watchers the best possible spotting conditions, often occurring more frequently during the winter than the spring migration in mid-March.
During the 2020 spring migration, large screens within the Depoe Bay Whale Watching Center allowed staff and volunteers to bring up video from the center’s cameras for everyone to see. The footage was also live streamed.
Though the whale watching center will remain closed during the winter migration, this archived footage can give a feel for the experience. Go to the Oregon State Parks’ YouTube channel and search “whales.” At roughly four hours, the videos can provide a calming experience and temporarily turn your home into a beachfront property.
Elsewhere on the Central Coast, headlands have historically topped the list of whale sightings, with Cape Lookout near Tillamook and Cape Foulweather just south of Depoe Bay leading the rankings.
If the whales are a little closer to shore, watchers will be able to see their backs when they come out of the water.
And very occasionally, the patient viewer might be rewarded with the Holy Grail of whale watching — a breach, where the whale thrusts its body out of the water.
The sheer size of the Gray whale makes even a partial breach quite a feat. Full-size females reach 45 feet in length, the size of a yellow school bus, and weigh in at 70,000 pounds. Males tend to be smaller at roughly 35 feet long.
Mid December through mid-January are the best times for viewing whales. Observation stations, normally staffed by volunteers and park staff but still great sites for a self-guided experience, are at state parks and headlands along the coast.
From north to south, the Central Coast observation stations are:
• Neahkahnie Mountain Historic Marker, Manzanita
• Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint, Netarts
• Cape Kiwanda, Pacific City
• Boiler Bay State Scenic Viewpoint, Depoe Bay
• Depoe Bay Sea Wall
• Rocky Creek State Scenic Viewpoint, Depoe Bay (Observation deck closed)
• Cape Foulweather
• Devil’s Punchbowl State Natural Area, Otter Rock
• Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, Newport (Lighthouse services closed)
• Don Davis City Park, Newport