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| When we were at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center (PVIC) this was the most frequent question we got. Most people are thinking in terms of time of day. But the answer is in time of year. The whales are on a migration from north of Alaska to the west coast of Baja. This is a 7,000 mile journey and they swim day and night, when they pass our point can be any time day or night.
The chart below shows the average number of whales seen in a day for each seven day period during the span of the census from December 1 through May 15. As you can see, the best time of year to be in the middle of March, but there are many opportunities to see them from late December through early May. |
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| American Cetacean Society Gray whale Migration Census, Point Vicente for the period 1991/1992 through 2001/2002 |
Graphics by Joyce Daniels
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| This chart also shows that we see more whales on the northbound migration than on the southbound migration. The whales seem to prefer to go down the outside of Catalina on the southbound migration and yet use the near shore route on the northbound migration. Also the mom's with their calf's appear in April.
Not every year is the same. Below is the past two seasons and you can see that the peak varies from year to year |
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