Hulking Mammals and High Technology Are Just the Beginning : A WHALE OF A FESTIVAL

For the second year running, the information superhighway will take a temporary detour through the Dana Point Festival of Whales, giving event-goers a chance to link up electronically with a scientist working in another part of the globe.

At last year’s festival, researchers working in Biosphere 2 conversed via video teleconferences with students and other visitors. The Arizona project, which ended last year, had put a team of scientists in a sealed, self-contained microcosm of Earth for two years.

On Friday, opening day for this year’s festival, the Cousteau Society sponsors a program at Dana Hills High School in which participants will be able to ask questions of geophysicist Robert Ballard as he works on a project in Belize, Central America.

Also on Friday’s program, Peter Burtchell of the Cousteau Society will talk about “Threats to Our Global Oceans.” Ballard’s video satellite hookups will continue during the week, as he tells students and other festival-goers about the Jason Project, an ongoing science program set this year in Belize. Ballard is probably most famous for his discovery of the sunken ocean liner Titanic.

The Ballard teleconferences are just one aspect of the festival, which continues to expand every year. Also offered will be programs set aboard the sailing ship Pilgrim at the Orange County Marine Institute, sand sculpture workshops and a contest, children’s events and activities, a symphony concert, tide-pool tours, a parade, a “Street Faire” and an appearance by popular marine life painter Wyland.

There are athletic contests as well, including a quick but grueling bike climb up Cove Road from the harbor, a long board surfing contest, a 5K run, a volleyball tournament and a sea kayaking clinic.

And, of course, there are whales--Pacific gray whales migrating just beyond the Dana Point Headlands as they make their way south to breeding grounds along the coast of Mexico. This is being called a particularly strong whale season, with multiple sightings on almost every trip out of Dana Point. Whale-watch excursions are offered by Dana Wharf Sportfishing and by the Marine Institute.

Whale-watching provided the original impetus for the festival, which began in 1972, but in recent years it has gained a broader focus.

“When (the festival) first started, it was an educational program only, offered through the schools,” said Jody Tyson, executive director of the Dana Point Chamber of Commerce, sponsors of the event for the past several years. “Every year, hopefully, it gets bigger and better. This should be our biggest so far.”

The festival has grown from being a celebration of the whale to showcasing the entire marine environment. Even with nature documentaries and books, Tyson said, there is no better way to learn and appreciate than to experience the environment firsthand.

“If they have a chance to come down here to walk through the tide pools, to touch an anchovy, to see a gull or just smell the salt air, it can really come alive,” Tyson said.

As in past years, the Orange County Marine Institute in Dana Point Harbor will be a center of activity, with tide-pool tours and other programs about marine life, whale-watch excursions, and programs aboard the brig Pilgrim, a sailing ship outfitted like those of the 19th Century.

“The Arts of the Sailor” will give visitors a chance to “learn what it was like to be a sailor back in the days of the sailing ships,” said Dan Stetson, associate executive director of the institute. “We want to show what it was like to be in the whaling industry in those days and contrast it to what (it’s) like today.”

The marine institute is also involved in the Jason Project, a national effort now in its fifth year “to improve student interest in science,” said Stan Cummings, executive director of the institute. Every year, students at about 30 locations in the United States and Canada are hooked up via satellite with scientists working in some part of the globe. This year, the two-week project happens to fall during the Festival of Whales, so the satellite sessions will also be open to the general public.

Selected students and other audience members will be able to ask questions of Ballard and even operate remote cameras. Ballard’s main specialty has been mapping the ocean floor; the program will focus on both the rain forest and on the coral reefs off Belize, the largest reef system in the Western Hemisphere.

In Dana Point at the Edwards Ocean Ranch Village cinema, the program will be held Monday through Saturday, Feb. 28, to March 5 and March 7 through 12, four times daily: 8:30, 10 and 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Some seats will be set aside for the public at each showing, particularly on Saturdays.

Beyond its educational facets, there are some down-home community aspects of the Festival of Whales as well, such as Saturday’s opening parade, a one-mile line of local marching bands and waving politicians that will end at La Plaza Park, site of the street fair.

“It’s a little hometown parade,” Tyson said. “It gets the entire community out.”

The street fair, which will continue for both weekends of the festival, will include more than 100 booths featuring food and crafts, in addition to a petting zoo. Musical entertainment will range from Big Band to surf rock.

Festival of Whales

Following is a schedule of events for Dana Point’s 23rd Festival of Whales. Locations correspond to the map on page 9. Events are free unless otherwise indicated. Information: (800) 290-3262.

In addition to the events listed below, ongoing activities will take place at the Orange County Marine Institute, (714) 496-2274, and the Youth and Group Facility, (714) 661-7122. Call for details.

Also, whale-watching excursions are offered several times daily by Dana Wharf Sportfishing, $7 to $12. Information: (714) 496-5794.

FRIDAY, FEB. 25

* Peter Burtchell of the Cousteau Society speaks on global threats to ocean environments; live satellite hookup with Robert Ballard, working in Belize. Dana Hills High School, 7 p.m. Tickets $15 to $25.

SATURDAY, FEB. 26

* Festival of Whales parade, 10 a.m. The one-mile parade proceeds from the corner of Street of the Blue Lantern and Santa Clara Drive (location 14 on map) to La Plaza Park.

* Street Faire, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., La Plaza Park.

* Art show, Youth and Group Facility, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

* Sandcastle workshop, Baby Beach, Dana Point Harbor, 12:30 to 2 p.m. $3.

* An auction of a wide variety of items, including vacation packages, 5 p.m., and Capistrano Valley Symphony concert, 7 p.m., at Dana Point Resort. Tickets are $25.

SUNDAY, FEB. 27

* 5K fun run, 8 a.m., Salt Creek Beach. Entry fee is $20.

* Street Faire, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., La Plaza Park.

* Sandcastle workshop, Baby Beach, Dana Point Harbor, 12:30 to 2 p.m. Fee is $3.

* A private reception with marine life artist Wyland will be held at the Dana Point Resort from 1 to 2 p.m. Tickets: $30, wine and food included. Call (714) 661-5000 for reservations. The artist will have a free public signing from 2 to 4 p.m.

SATURDAY, MARCH 5

* Pro-Am longboard surf contest, Salt Creek Beach, 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free to spectators.

* Street Faire, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., La Plaza Park.

* Pet parade, Dana Point Harbor, 9 a.m.

* Sand sculpture contest, Doheny State Beach, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Entry fee is $10.

* Kite-flying exhibition, Doheny State Beach, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

* Sandcastle workshop, Baby Beach, Dana Point Harbor, 12:30 to 2 p.m. $3.

* Art show, Youth and Group Facility, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

* Sea kayaking seminar, Baby Beach, Dana Point Harbor, noon to 3 p.m.

SUNDAY, MARCH 6

* Volleyball tournament, Doheny State Beach, 8 a.m. sign-up and 9 a.m. competition. Entry fee is $20. Alternate site, in case of rain, is Dana Point Parks and Recreation.

* Uphill bike climb, Cove Road and Dana Point Harbor Drive, 8 a.m. Entry is $10.

* Pancake breakfast, Youth and Group Facility, 8:15 a.m. to noon. $3.

* Closing ceremony, La Plaza Park, 4 p.m.

DAILY THROUGH FESTIVAL

* Whale film festival, with whale-related feature films and documentaries, Harpoon Henry’s, 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

* Scuba demonstrations, Best Western Marina Inn, noon to 3 p.m.

Monday, Feb. 28 through Saturday, March 5

* Interactive satellite hookup with Robert Ballard in Belize, regarding rain forest and coral reef habitats. Cost is $6. Call for times, (714) 496-2274.