45th Festival of Whales starts this weekend in Dana Point

Gray whales will make a splash in Dana Point when the world’s largest creatures appear off the Orange County coast this month.

For two weekends, this weekend and March 12 and 13, ocean and whale experts in Dana Point will be on hand during the 45th Festival of Whales, where an estimated 50,000 visitors from throughout Southern California will get a chance to learn about the whales and see them up close in their natural habitat.

Each year, beginning in December and continuing through March, an estimated 20,000 whales travel 7,000 to 10,000 miles from their Bering Sea feeding grounds in Alaska to the warm lagoons of Baja, Mexico, for the mating and birthing season.

“It’s like a highway of gray whales,” said Capt. Todd Mansur, Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching’s lead naturalist, who has led whale-watching excursions for 37 years. “On average, we’ll see 30 whales a day.”

Theirs is one of the longest annual migrations of any mammal, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The migrating grays often travel alone or in small, unstable groups, and they use Dana Point’s headland as a navigational landmark.

The females choose multiple partners, mate for weeks and give birth to their calves in the warm Baja waters, where the young grow strong enough to make their way back north again in the spring, according to researchers.

The large whales can grow to about 50 feet long and about 80,000 pounds. Their life span may be as long as 80 years.

Mansur said whale sightings have increased recently, a fact that he attributes to warmer weather and a recovered whale population.

The Eastern North Pacific stock of gray whales was removed from the U.S. list of endangered and threatened wildlife in 1994, based on evidence that they had recovered to near their estimated original population size and were not in danger of extinction.

But the procession won’t be limited to just grays.

“It’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re going to get,” Mansur said, noting he has seen orcas, dolphins and blue whales. “Dana Point is the easiest destination to see a variety of whales. It’s always exceptional.”

The festival is expected to kick off Saturday with the parade. According to the Dana Point Historical Society, the Festival of Whales parade originated in San Clemente, but when founder Don Hansen moved to Dana Point, he had local historian Doris Walker move the tradition to Dana Point, where it has been for 45 years.

Donna Kalez, general manager of Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching and Hansen’s daughter, said the event started as a two-day festival but morphed into a two-weekend event with family-friendly activities like live concerts, games and a sand-sculpting competition.

“It was just a way to get people to realize that these amazing gray whales were passing by our backyards,” Kalez said. “Now, it’s just blossomed into a huge community event.”

Most festival events are free. They include a marine mammal lecture series, a community whale-painting project, a display of artwork by local artists and students from Dana Hills High School, and a display of classic cars presented by Southern California Chapter of the National Woodie Club.

For more information on events and times, call (888) 440-4309 or visit festivalofwhales.com.