Twice a year the Oregon State Parks & Recreation Dept. promotes Whale Watch Week with trained-knowledgeable volunteers manning view points from Astoria to Brookings for three-hours a day during the December holiday break, and the March spring break. Thousands of visitors have been educated on the migration of the Gray Whale from the Gulf of Alaska to Baja, Mexico in the Winter, followed by the return in the Spring. However, more and more of these large mammals are deciding to not make the long trek that their ancestors have done for thousands of years. Instead they have opted to become resident whales along the Oregon Coast where they enjoy rich kelp beds near shore. That also provides many opportunities for those traveling the Coast to see the whales up close. A marine biologist is offering another close up view of Gray Whales off the Central Coast. Carrie Newell, accompanied by her reported whale sniffing dog “Kida,” takes whale watchers out in an inflatable boat from Depoe Bay for Whale Research EcoExcursions. Prior to their trip on the ocean, the passengers are given a quick lecture on not only whales by Newell, but other coastal resident mammals, birds and various marine related topics. Her Zodiac-craft seats six and Newell pilots them through a 90-minute outing. OPRD also operates a Whale Watching Center, a historic building in its own right, on the rocks above the ocean at Depoe Bay, which is now not only known as “The World’s Smallest Harbor,” but also “The Whale Watching Capital of the Oregon Coast.”
