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Our whale watching passengers and crew had a once-in-a-lifetime sighting off the coast of Dana Strands Beach in Dana Point, California, when we encountered a gray whale giving birth to a calf. At first, the sighting appeared to be a typical migrating gray whale. As the boat slowly approached the animal, our crew noticed it was behaving sporadically. Passengers and crew saw something orange and red colored in the water that they thought might have been kelp. Instead, a newborn calf came up to the surface! For a minute, many of us thought it may be a shark or predatory event. But no, instead of the end of life, it was the beginning of a new one! After surfacing, the newborn calf began learning how to swim and bonding with its mother. The female even brought the calf over to the boats as if to show off her offspring and say hello. Gray whales prefer to give birth in the warm and protected lagoons of Baja California, Mexico. The lagoons offer safety from predators such as orcas, as well as warm water for calves who have not yet built up a thick layer of blubber. Although some gray whales do give birth in Baja, there are times when calves just won't wait and are born during the migration. Gray whales migrate annually along the U.S. west coast, swimming 10,000 to 12,000 miles round-trip. It is one of the longest migrations of any mammal. The whales travel from their feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas near Alaska to the mating and birthing lagoons of Baja, and back again. Gray whale calves are about 15 feet long when they’re born and will gain over 50 pounds a day feeding on their mother’s milk. Gray whale mothers can lose 30% of their body weight nursing one calf on milk that contains over 50% fat. Gray whale adults average between 40 to 50 feet in length and weigh 30 to 40 tons. #whale #wildlife #dronevideo ***** 🐳 Captain Dave's Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari offers five-star, eco-friendly, Dana Point dolphin & whale watching experiences with award-winning customer service. Located in Dana Point, the Dolphin and Whale Watching Capital of the World®. Multiple unique and uncrowded vessels include a Catamaran Sailboat with 2 Eye-to-Eye Underwater Viewing Pods and intimate, high-speed Zodiac-style vessels. Tel: (949) 488-2828 Web: Facebook: Instagram: ******* Buy Capt. Dave's Award-Winning Book: Imagine if a whale could talk and tell you about their life, about their incredible journey on one of the longest migrations of any mammal on earth. Imagine that journey is an odyssey filled with horrific dangers and a beauty that hearkens back to creation. And what if you could see all of this through hundreds of real-life photographs. ******* Dolphin and whale footage is copyright David Anderson/ and may not be used without permission. 📷 Video filmed by Matt Stumpf, Stacie Fox, Gary Brighouse
