Thar She Blows

Thar She Blows

This winter, experience the annual epic journey of gray whales with Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. Whale watchers can enjoy daily local whale-watching cruises featuring aquarium naturalists. This season marks the 15th year of whale watching in San Diego with the experts from Flagship Cruises & Events and Birch Aquarium.

Participate in a cruise aboard Flagship’s Marietta and witness the longest mammal migration in the world, when approximately 20,000 gray whales pass San Diego on their 10,000-mile round-trip journey from the Bering Sea to Baja California’s lagoons. Through April 19, daily tours leave from San Diego Bay at 9:45am and 1:30pm.

Cruises venture out to locate gray whales passing San Diego on their round-trip migration from the chilly Bering Sea feeding grounds to the warmer breeding grounds in Baja California lagoons. See other marine animals such as dolphins and sea lions. Learn about gray whale baleen, barnacles, and prey from aquarium naturalists during this memorable whale-watching experience. Don’t forget warm clothing and binoculars. If you don’t see a whale on your trip, you’ll receive a voucher to come back on a later cruise.

For more information, including an exclusive members-only trip to Baja California to see the whales at their breeding grounds, call or go online. (858.534.7336, www.aquarium.ucsd.edu)