Catching Site of a Whale

Want to get chummy with a whale? Just click.

We’re not suggesting dunking your head in the ocean and attempting the clicks and whistles with which most of these seagoing giants communicate. There’s a simpler--and drier--way to get to know cetaceans.

For this year’s Dana Point Festival of Whales, which begins Saturday and runs weekends through March 1 throughout the harbor area, whale buffs can use a new Web site (www.dpfestivalofwhales.com) that details the more than 30 events, workshops and excursions held to mark the California gray whale’s yearly Alaska-to-Mexico commute. Out-of-towners can access information on the area’s hotel, restaurants and attractions, too.

Of course, the real attraction are those 35-ton out-of-towners now cruising past Dana Point’s 200-foot cliffs, which some believe whales use as landmarks along their coastal migration. With a few well-placed clicks of the mouse, Web site visitors can find an ocean of information, ranging from whale facts and figures to video footage from whale-watching excursions.

The idea, said chairwoman Kendall Baldwin-Flint, is to give festival-goers an easy-to-use tool to better access the event’s recreational and educational opportunities. And, yes, that includes those of us who would rather dress up like krill and swim into a pod of hungry grays than surf the Web.

“A lot of people are kind of scared of the Web because it’s so massive,” Baldwin-Flint said by phone from her Dana Point home. “But this site is what you might call intuitive. . . . Even if you have no [Web] knowledge at all, the icons or highlighted text are so clear you can just click and it will take you on to that level.”

Don’t have Internet access on your computer? Three computer stations are available during festival hours, provided by Cox Communications’ online service, Cox@Home. They are all in the harbor area, at Dana Wharf Sports Fishing, Coffee Importers and the Orange County Marine Institute.

Opening-weekend highlights include a parade, a street fair, a fund-raising “whale chase” for kids and adults, tide-pool walks and open-house events at Doheny State Beach Visitors Center, the Marine Institute and the Pilgrim, the institute’s replica of the 19th century brig that carried Richard Henry Dana.

Note to lovers: The schedule doesn’t include any Valentine’s Day activities per se, but Baldwin-Flint claims Dana Point harbor is recognized as one of the state’s 10 most romantic places to be kissed. (Based on the area’s popularity with whales, we’re assuming the same goes for them.)

Festivities continue Feb. 21-23 with a boat show and the Festival of Whales Golf Tournament and gala, which are fund-raisers for the Marine Institute. Shuttle service will be provided from Dana Hills High School to major sites on the first two weekends.

The festival concludes Feb. 28 and March 1 with activities including a beach volleyball tournament and the fifth-annual Wag-A-Thon, a people and pet fund-raising walk for the Animal Rescue Foundation presided over by the pooch who was featured in Disney’s “Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco.”

More community groups are benefiting from this year’s festival, with the addition of a casino night fund-raiser for the Capistrano Valley Symphony and a surf music concert to help the Surfrider Foundation and the Festival of Whales. (Festival organizers are working harder than ever to raise money, said Baldwin-Flint, as city support has been cut severely and will be phased out in two years.)

The whales themselves remain the big draw at the festival, which promoters say attracts more than 100,000 visitors each year. Excursions, which range from $14 to $20 per adult, depart regularly from the harbor and include a two-hour cruise by Dana Point Sportfishing, a 2 1/2-hour Marine Mammal Exploration Cruise on board the Marine Institute’s research vessel and a two-hour jaunt on a six-passenger sailboat offered by Dana Island Yacht Charters. All cruises fill quickly, so reservations are suggested.

By law, all craft must stay at least 100 yards away from the whales, Baldwin-Flint said. But, she adds, gray whales don’t always read the rule books.

“They’re very curious and friendly, and they’re highly intelligent creatures,” she said. “Sometimes they like to come in for a closer look at the boats.

“Last year, one came in and breached right next to the boat,” she continued, adding some comforting words for those who might be put off by such proximity.

“These whales are the size of a bus, but they’re very graceful and very in tune with their surroundings,” she said. “They just want to come up and say hello as they’re traveling down the coast.”

* The Dana Point Festival of Whales begins Saturday and continues through March 1 in and around the Dana Point Harbor area. Activity prices vary; many are free. For details, call (714) 496-1555 or visit the Web site at www.dpfestivalofwhales.com.

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VALENTINE’S ARTS: To help you get that lovin’ feelin’, several local venues are hosting Valentine’s-themed workshops and exhibits for families this weekend. To wit:

Irvine Fine Arts Center is hosting a drop-in children’s art workshop Friday from 3 to 5:30 p.m. The open-studio session, lead by center instructors, is part of an ongoing after-school program for youths ages 6 to 11. Friday’s activities will focus on arts and crafts from the heart, just in time for gift-giving to Mom, Dad or (dare we say it?) siblings on Valentine’s morn.

On Saturday, romantics age 5 and up can create gifts and cards at a drop-in Valentine Craft Workshop at the Children’s Museum at La Habra. The museum, housed in a 1923 railroad depot, recently opened its latest hands-on exhibit, “Passport to Egypt.”

Through Feb. 22, you can ooh and aah over an array of vintage valentines, some dating to the mid-1800s, in the “Bears, Balentines and Old Lace” exhibit at the Newland House Museum in Huntington Beach. Presented by the Assistance League of Huntington Beach and the Huntington Beach Historical Society, the collection includes ornate valentines made of luxurious lace and ribbons. Delicate handmade lace, including some pieces more than 100 years old, is also on view.

Standing guard are a collection of endearing teddies, including several distinguished fellows made from their owners’ recycled lamb, mink and beaver-skin coats. All the bears in the collection are nattily turned out in turn-of-the-century garb.

* A drop-in Valentine’s workshop will be held Friday at Irvine Fine Arts Center, 14321 Yale Ave. 3-5:30 p.m. $9. On-site registration at the front desk. (714) 724-6880.

* A drop-in valentine craft workshop will be offered Saturday at the Children’s Museum at La Habra, 301 S. Euclid St. Noon to 4 p.m. Free with museum admission of $4 for children and adults; children under 2 are free. (562) 905-9793.

* “Bears, Balentines and Old Lace” continues through Feb. 22 at the Newland House Museum, 19820 Beach Blvd., Huntington Beach. 2 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, noon to 4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Closed on rainy days. $1-$3. (714) 962-5777.