Gray whales are making their way past the Southern California coast now as they make one of the longest mammalian migrations known to man. The journey from the Bering and Chukchi seas to the lagoons in Baja California and back averages between 10,000-14,000 miles.

The deep water canyons just off Redondo Beach attracted copious amounts of blue whales earlier this year. Now the blues are gone as more and more gray whales pass by. One of the great things about gray whale watching is that they are frequently visible from shore.

The ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project has been going on since 1979 near Point Vicente in Palos Verdes. The project runs from December to May using volunteers as spotters. Spotters detail whales? behavior including breaching, spy-hopping, nursing and more. They also watch for what effect boats have on the whales and document any harassment issues. Federal law prohibits harassment of these magnificent creatures.

While calving occurs mostly in the lagoons of Baja California, Mexico, some calves are born during the migration. Gray whales were given full protection in 1947 by the International Whaling Commission. Since that time, the eastern north Pacific gray whale population has rebounded to near its original population size somewhere between 19,000 and 23,000 whales.The leviathans feed on crustaceans on the bottom of the ocean by rolling on their sides and drawing up bottom sediments and lots of seawater. The whale then closes its mouth expelling the water and sediment through its baleen plates. Adult males can reach 46 feet while adult females can reach 50 feet. They weigh 30 to 40 tons.