Seafaring Lab Goes In-Depth

From his vantage point behind the ship’s wheel, Capt. Mike Bursk spotted the big gray as it surfaced, sending up a telltale mist from its blowhole, visible for more than half a mile.

“There’s whales!” Bursk yelled, as he saw a second whale surface, then sound.

He pushed the engine controls forward, bringing the R/V Explorer’s twin diesels to life as he maneuvered the 70-foot craft toward the migrating whales.

Bursk, 46, had been cruising less than a mile off Dana Point -- so close you could discern through binoculars the makes of cars traveling Pacific Coast Highway -- in what he said was “a perfect migrating gray whale corridor.”

Cruising for the grays, once an endangered species, has become a quintessential Southern California pastime.

Up and down the coast -- and especially off Orange County -- private and commercial fishing vessels that once went to dry dock for winter repairs now make up one of the largest whale-watching fleets in the country.

Between October and May, gray whales journey 12,000 miles, from frigid Arctic waters to warm Baja California lagoons and back.

It’s considered the longest known migration for a mammal.

February is prime time for watching the cetaceans, Bursk said, including bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins, which are also in the whale family.

“Because some grays are still heading south while others are going north, I like to tell the kids who board the Explorer they’ve got a 50-50 chance of seeing a migrating whale,” Bursk said.

For nearly 25 years, Bursk has skippered whale-watching cruises from Dana Point for the Ocean Institute.

He’s spent much of the last decade as captain of the Explorer, which the institute calls its floating research laboratory. More than 20,000 schoolchildren climb aboard the boat for cruises each year.

Although a whale sighting cannot be guaranteed, Bursk boasts a 90% success rate.

Said Annette Shoemaker, an Ocean Institute program coordinator: “He has a knack for finding the whales. He has the best eyes of all of us.”

On the day Bursk spotted the two whales, on board the Explorer were 30 teens from Joanne Park’s marine biology class at El Toro High School.

If there’s one thing he’s learned from his young charges, Bursk said, it’s that their reactions differ. Young ones squeal when they see leaping dolphins and other whales up close.

One of Bursk’s fondest memories is of a 10-year-old girl who had never been on a boat.

“She waited for us after we docked and then as we came down the steps she shook each of our hands. She said, ‘You’ve made one of my biggest dreams come true.’

“It’s one of the things that makes this all worthwhile.”

Teens get excited, but in that “California cool” kind of way, he said.

Not Jason Tong, 18. When the Explorer motored into a pod of common dolphins that rode its bow, he yelled: “Look at this!”

Tong then held on to Heather Davis, 17, as she leaned over the railing to snap pictures as dolphins by the dozens surrounded the boat.

“It was amazing,” said another student, Kristi Barry, 16. “You could see them and they were right next to us.”

When the two gray whales were spotted heading south at Dana Point, they swam so close that the students could see barnacles near their heads. Both were mature whales, 35 to 38 feet long, Bursk said.

From a whale’s point of view, they’re nearly at their destination, said Shelley Glenn, program coordinator at the Birch Aquarium of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla.

During the long journey, whales stay close to shore and tend not to feed, apparently to avoid predators, Glenn said.

Once an endangered species, the gray whale was taken off the endangered list in 1994. Scientists believe the whales are above pre-whaling numbers, and estimate the population at more than 26,000, Glenn said.

Bursk says his goal is to help create a bond between schoolchildren and the marine environment.

“With decreasing school budgets, lots of public schools don’t have the money to hire marine biologists, and that’s where the institute comes in,” he said.

“I would like to teach them to become good guardians of the ocean.”

Field trips, said Park, reinforce what many of her students already like and believe in, adding that many feel protective of the environment, especially those who like to surf and hike.

Adam Howard, a 17-year-old junior, said he was impressed by the cruise and the class’ good fortune to see migrating whales, a feat he attributed, in part, to Bursk’s experience.

“I think the captain’s right,” he said.

“It’s important to preserve these sea creatures. I’ve always been concerned about not polluting the oceans. After today, I guess I’m going to be more aggressive on that.”