A great annual migration of beach-goers continues to honor the mighty whale.

It is too late in the year to find giant Pacific gray whales plying local coastal waters and delighting boatloads of whale watchers.

The creatures have returned to their Alaskan feeding grounds after the annual 12,000-mile migration to and from Baja California, where they birth their young.

But in the South Bay, there will still be plenty of excitement about whales Saturday as the Cabrillo Marine Museum in San Pedro stages its free 20th Annual Whale Fiesta from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The daylong event, originally held to mark the end of the whale-watching season, combines games, food, music and sand sculpting with opportunities to learn about marine life through films and talks by experts from such groups as the American Cetacean Society.

“All of these things are to make people aware of whales and the importance of preserving our wildlife,” said Marji Frank, the museum’s volunteer coordinator.

Larry Fukuhara, who is Cabrillo’s program director, calls the fiesta a “fun time for families” with some education thrown in.

People are invited to bring their sand shovels and pails for what always proves to be the high point of every fiesta--creating a life-size whale sand sculpture on the beach near the museum.

This year, Carson High School teacher Bill Samaras will direct the impromptu group of sand artists as they transform piles of sand into a tableau: two swimming cetaceans, a 20-foot-long pilot whale accompanied by a dolphin.

In the middle of the afternoon, a helicopter will fly over the beach and photograph the completed sculpture with everyone who helped make it gathered around.

For families and children who prefer to sculpt their own whales away from the throng, the museum will provide a separate area and give prizes for the best works.

There will also be another outdoor whale, or at least the outline of one. The shape of a 100-foot-long blue whale will be drawn on a parking lot, with a Volkswagen parked to demonstrate the size of the heart, and containers that can hold 2 1/2 gallons. “This is to show how much milk a baby whale drinks in an hour,” said Frank.

Creativity also will be in the spotlight in the “Great Cetacean Creation Sensation Contest,” which offers prizes for artistic renditions of whales, dolphins or porpoises. Entries may be brought to the museum between 8 and 10 a.m. and will be displayed throughout the fiesta.

Any kind of material may be used, and the only limits are that objects must be free-standing and no more than four feet long. “It’s really left up to the imagination,” said Frank, noting that past entries have included a bottlenose dolphin with a bottle for a nose, and carved-wood whales.

A variety of games will offer children the chance to learn about whales and have fun at the same time. In one called “Feed the Sperm Whale,” youngsters catapult rubber octopuses into the open mouth of a cardboard whale. In another, they throw darts to burst balloons that mark the gray-whale migration path on a map.

“And there’s the ever popular dunk tank,” Frank said. Museum staffers have the honor of getting wet as a seat is knocked from under them.

In the last event of the fiesta, museum director emeritus John Olguin will give everyone a chance to feel what it’s like to be a whale--or at least part of one.

He’ll arrange some in the shape of the animal and others will form the heart, eyes, mouth and tail.

Said Frank, “The tail moves, flukes move, and the heart pumps, as people bend and stand. It makes people aware of whales from a different level.”

What: 20th Annual Whale Fiesta.

When: Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Where: Cabrillo Marine Museum, 3720 Stephen White Drive, San Pedro.

Admission: Free; $5.50, parking; free park and ride at 22nd and Miner streets.

Information: 548-7562.