Blue Whales: The Largest Show on Earth

Whale watchers aboard Captain Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari are having very up-close encounters with lunge feeding blue whales, the largest known animals to have ever lived on earth, off of Dana Point, California.

Just how big are blue whales? Blue whales are so huge, their heart is the size of a Volkswagen Bug, they have arteries so large a toddler could crawl through them, and their tongue weighs as much as an elephant! “Bigger than the dinosaurs, bigger than Elvis, the only thing bigger than a Blue Whale is God and you hear Him mentioned a lot when a Blue Whale is around… people are always saying, “Oh, my GOD!”

Whale watchers and crew are delighted to see so many blue whale friends that have been seen in past years including “Curly Sue”, “Delta”, “Hook”, “Kinko”, and “Notcho”, and to meet new friends like “Blue Ray” and “Quasimodo”.  “Notcho”, as well as “Kinko”, have been seen lunge feeding. Lunge feeding occurs when the whale swims near the surface, and with its huge mouth wide open, gulps down tons of krill. During lunge feeding areas of the whale that are usually hidden like the throat pleats on the whale's lower jaw and the pectoral flippers are visible. Viewing a blue whale lunge feeding is a rare and memorable encounter for any whale watcher.

Our whale watchers have also been mugged this season by “Kinko” and “Blue Ray”, two whales known to show off their distinctive tail flukes! Muggings occur when a whale takes a special interest in our boat and behaves in a friendly and curious manner. The whale will often swim around and under our boat within very close proximity to whale watching passengers. 

Southern California hosts the largest concentration of blue whales in the world during the summer months.  Between June and October these endangered animals are populating Orange County waters to feed on krill, a very small shrimp-like crustacean. The blue whale belongs to the family of rorquals that include the humpback whale. Rorquals are baleen whales that have pleated grooves running from chin to navel. These ventral pleats allow the whales’ throat to expand tremendously during feeding, bringing in volume of water equivalent to a school bus. Blue whales can consume four tons of krill every day!

After nearly being hunted to extinction in the early 1900’s, endangered blue whales are now protected worldwide. However, while whaling is no longer considered a threat to blue whales, ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are ongoing hazards. Nearly 1,000 dolphins and whales die every day, worldwide, in fishing gear entanglement.  Captain Dave organized Orange County's first whale disentanglement group and has successfully disentangled several gray whales, including the gray whale Lily, whose disentanglement made national headlines.  Captain Dave wrote and published the award winning book, “Lily, A Gray Whale’s Odyssey”, a magnificent photographic journey of a gray whale’s migration.
  
Whale watchers of all ages can see blue whales plus mega-pods of wild dolphins on daily trips aboard Captain Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Safari’s unique catamaran sailboat. The high-tech, high-speed, boat features the world’s only Eye-to-Eye Underwater Viewing Pods and live broadcasting of the trip at WhaleWatchingTV.com

Dana Point Whale Watching reservations and information: 949-488-2828 or visit dolphinsafari.com