This summer was absolutely unforgettable for us. While the consistency of sightings could have been better, the diversity of marine life was nothing short of spectacular. We got to see blue whales, fin whales, Bryde’s whales, humpbacks, and even minke whales. But honestly, the dolphins stole the show. Watching large pods of hundreds of acrobatic short-beaked common dolphins was mesmerizing. There’s just nothing like the energy of a pod of ‘shorties!’

It wasn’t just about the whales and dolphins though. We spotted sea turtles, massive ocean sunfish, mahi-mahi, swordfish, and even mako and white sharks. Newport Beach is teeming with biodiversity, and every day on the water offered something new and exciting for us.

Fall leads to cooling water temperatures, the calmest sea conditions of the year, abundant biomasses of anchovies, and lots of whales gorging themselves on bait balls as they meander their way South. Humpback whales will be our focus but we also have plenty of opportunity to see fin whales, brydes whales, and minke whales also foraging on anchovies. We are stoked to see what Fall has to bring as we near the end of September, October, and November.

Newport Beach, CA

Sightings this week included: Blue whales, Humpback whales, Minke whales, common dolphins, risso’s dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, mola molas, and even an elephant seal.

This week saw a promising upswing in whale sightings including a few blue whales. Even more exciting was a massive influx of anchovies in our local waters off of Newport Beach, CA bringing minke whales and humpback whales to feed. We have seen humpback whales every tour for 3 days and there is plenty of food to keep these whales in our area.

It’s Blue whale time again! Krill is stacking up along the dropoff and the blue whales are beginning to filter in on the food along the Newport coastline. Consistency has been good for 2-3 days and numbers of whales will be in route. We are looking forward to upcoming trips and more blue whale sightings!

What an amazing couple of weeks we have had in Newport Beach, CA including dolphin trifectas of common dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, and even risso’s dolphins. Though whale sightings have been inconsistent with the occasional blue whale, fin whale, or humpback whale traveling through, we are poised and hopeful for the second spree of blue whale sightings to take place very soon as feeding blue whales south of us have began to travel north. Fluctuations of numbers and consistency of whale sightings are routine for all areas in Southern California. Whale sightings are directly proportional to food supply available in our local waters. Krill and anchovies are the 2 necessary ingredients for the whales to settle in and feed. More blue whales are coming!