Shore Acres, OR - Whale watchers aren't spouting off large numbers of the big gray mammals passing by, during this official Whale Watching Week on the Oregon Coast. In fact, volunteers we spoke with says it's the worst season they've had in at least 13 years.
Multimedia Watch The Video Like clock work, thousands of migrating Gray Whales are making their way down the Pacific, from their feeding area in Alaska, to their breeding destination in California. But on lookers we spoke with haven't had much luck in spotting them. Whale Spoken Volunteer, David Bone said that can be accredited to poor weather conditions, coast-wide.
"This time of year, there's like 29 whales an hour coming by, but you have to figure that with the waves getting real rough, that's more friction for the whales to swim against. So they'll go out further, so they can dive deeper and get underneath that friction." Bone adds, "When the waves get big, the whales can be down in the trough of the wave and they can blow, but it's not high enough for us to see over the waves."
But just because you can't spot their spouts, it doesn't mean there's still not a lot to see, especially at Shore Acres. It's one of the few Whale Spoken Watching sites, that actually has an enclosed gazebo, to keep folks dry, and shows an array of whale artifacts and information inside.
"Share Acres is very fortunate, we get materials from the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology and State Parks, so we're able to show a lot of pictures, models, and we actually have specimens of the food that the whales eat and the barnacles that live on the whales."
Bone says he's optimistic that before the week is through, that he and visitors will be able to see at least a few whales passing by. Volunteers will be out until Sunday, Jan 1, from 10-1 pm. For more information on whale watching events log on to www.whalespoken.org
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