4 Whales 5.5 hrs

July 23,2025 Wednesday

Sunny, warm 70-74 degrees with cool ocean breeze. Wind 3-5mph increasing mid afternoon 15-18mph. Water 62 degrees.

Busy beach with all three towers open and the Mounted Sheriff’s out patrolling along Westward Beach all the way to the Rock Wall at Point Dume State Beach. Later the Sheriff’s patrolled the busy water front beach on 4-wheel Quads.

Whale Sightings:

July 21,2025: two thin adult Gray Whales were sighted during a sunset whale watching tour in San Diego. July 22,2025: several whale watching boats in Orange County also located the pair on their way north to Alaska to feed.

Today, July 23rd,2025, the pair of Gray Whales was likely seen at Point Dume but too far offshore for 100% confirmation or photos due to increased white caps and gusty wind. The pair surfaced three times every 4-5 minutes and continued on until out of site. Later, a large solo whale was seen later even further off shore, possibly a fin whale or blue whale. And a fourth solo whale was observed foraging far off shore.

The pair of adult Gray Whales are thought to be from a group of Gray Whales that were observed in June feeding in Mexico in the birthing lagoons. It is very unusual for Gray Whales to stay in Mexico after the typical northern migration ends in early May. It is also not typical for them to stop and feed on the Northern migration for extended periods of time in the southern region. This year Gray Whales have been observed feeding in the San Fransisco Bay areas.

Every year stragglers or late migrators are seen and occasionally juvenile whales may stop or get side tracked a few days along the migration route but then continue travel north. This year however, Cow (Mother) Gray Whales traveled further south in Mexico to find warmer water due to the cooler La Nina water effects. Many whales traveled past Cabo San Lucas and up into the Loreto Bay area in The California Baja Peninsula of Mexico. The extended travel took its toll and many whales were found dead along the migration route (91 total this year). After the migration season is over the remote Mexican Lagoons are vacated by the whale watching guided boats and seasonal workers who run the camps, until the next whale season which brings in tourism. This year, 60 individual whales were observed and identified by photography in May and June. Another census will be done this month (July) of this unexpected situation.

LA County Ocean Lifeguard Specialists were out on the Jet Ski today performing rescue drills to practice life saving ocean preparedness skills. Rip tides can quickly take swimmers off shore into deep water but the LA County Ocean Lifeguard Specialists train year round and are prepared for any and all emergencies.

All three towers were open today, staffed and ready to keep beach goers safe.

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