The migration has shifted to where more juvenile and adult Gray Whales are migrating north. To date, we’ve spotted 503 Grays during the current season. We also spotted our first Fin Whale of the season! See our updated Sightings Reports at https://sandiegowhalewatching.com/
February 27, 2019
Morning Cruise
Sightings: 2 Gray Whales
Today’s trips saw scattered clouds, calm winds and seas. Our morning started with a Gray Whale at the mouth of San Diego bay swimming north. This whale was hard to follow but did give us good tail flukes. We headed northwest and enjoyed excellent sightings of a southbound Gray Whale. It would come up for 3 showings and then go down for 5 minutes. We saw great spouts and its tail flukes as it swam close to the boat in very clear water.
Afternoon Cruise
Sightings: 2 Gray Whales
The afternoon trip had 3 whales, a mother/calf pair which were swimming north. We were only able to follow this pair for about 15 minutes with the whales swimming in a zig-zagging manner. We headed back into San Diego Bay where we the juvenile Gray Whale off of Ballast Pt. We got several great views next to the boat before heading back to the dock.
February 28, 2019
Morning Cruise
Sightings: 1 Gray Whale, 100+ Common Dolphins, 50 Pacific White-sided Dolphins
The morning had many pods of Pacific White-sided and Common Dolphins scattered all about the ocean. These pods contained 30-50 animals in each. The dolphins put on a great show and everyone really enjoyed seeing them. We also saw a single juvenile Gray Whale in the bay at Ballast Point. This whale has been at this spot for two weeks now and we watched it surfacing and spyhopping.
Afternoon Cruise
Sightings: 2 Gray Whales, 1000+ Common Dolphins
This afternoon we watched a pair of adult Gray Whales as they swam slowly south. The whales gave us amazing up-close views for most of the afternoon. We left the whales for a mega pod of Common Dolphins, which that stretched out for over a mile! We spent the rest of our time viewing over 1000 dolphins as far as the eye could see in any direction! Another amazing day on the water for all of our guests.
March 1, 2019
Morning Cruise
Sightings: 3 Gray Whales
Partly sunny and cool with calm seas. We spotted 3 northbound Gray Whales during the cruise.
Afternoon Cruise
Sightings: 2 Gray Whales, 300+ Common Dolphins
In addition to 3 Gray Whales traveling north, we enjoyed watching a large herd of Common Dolphins.
March 2, 2019
Morning Cruise
Sightings: 4 Gray Whales
Although the morning was drizzly and hazy, Captain Mike managed to spot 4 Gray Whales, 1 adult and 3 juveniles, all heading north. Along the way, we had a special treat pf brown pelicans drafting on the bow of the Adventure Hornblower. We met guests from England, Belgium, Argentina, North Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado, Ohio and Florida during the cruise.
Afternoon Cruise
Sightings: 3 Bottlenose Dolphins
Guests joined us from Colorado, Texas, Minnesota, Florida and Virginia. We found 3 Bottlenose Dolphins while heading out of the bay. Unfortunately we couldn’t find any baleen whales. We did see a couple of gorgeous rainbows.
March 3, 2019
Morning Cruise
Sightings: 3 Gray Whales
A great show this morning with sightings of 3 Northbound Gray Whales.
Afternoon Cruise
Sightings: 1 Gray Whale
We spotted a single Gray Whale traveling south. As it crossed over the Mexican border, we headed north, but didn’t spot any more whales.
March 4, 2019
Morning Cruise
Sightings: 2 Gray Whales
We departed under overcast skies with moderate winds and 3-5 ft. seas. In spite of difficult viewing conditions, we did manage to see two Gray Whales. The whales were swimming north in a zig-zag pattern. We were lucky enough to have the whales come up next to the boat two different times. The rest of the views were at a distance.
Afternoon Cruise
Sightings: n/a
Whale watching cancelled due to increased wind and rough weather.
March 5, 2019
Morning Cruise
Sightings: 10 Gray Whales, 5 Bottlenose Dolphins
Guests joined us from England, Canada and Mexico as well as from across the U.S. We spotted at least 10 Gray Whales with Many dramatic flukes in beautiful sea conditions. We also enjoyed a brief encounter with some Offshore Bottlenose Dolphins.
Afternoon Cruise
Sightings: 1 Gray Whale, 1 Fin Whale
Just outside the harbor, we spotted a Gray Whale. We then spotted a Fin Whale briefly during the first half of the trip- our first of the season! Rain squalls kicked up during the second part of the afternoon making spotting whales difficult.
Whale Watching Report from Hornblower for February 27 – March 5
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