S1: Welcome in San Diego , it's Jade Hindman on today's show , the wonder of watching whales in San Diego. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. You know , San Diego is home to many natural wonders. Among those is the ability to see multiple species of whales in their natural habitat. As we speak , gray whales are passing through our waters just off the coast on their way south. Then later this year , you'll see other types of whales , including the biggest animal on the planet , the blue whale. Dominic Biagini is the owner and captain of Gone Whale Watching here in San Diego. Dominic , welcome. Hi.
S2: Hi. Thanks for having us on.
S1: Glad to have you in here. Also with us is Nicole Schreiber , who studies whales at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and also works with Dominic Nicole. Welcome. Hello.
S3: Hello. Very excited to be here.
S1: I'm glad to have you both here.
S3: So throughout the year , we kind of cycle through a lot of different species , some that are just passing through and some that are sticking around to feed. So we get a lot of variety , different whales coming from different parts of the world , all the San Diego. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Interesting. And Dominique , you also say it's due to the geography of where San Diego is.
S2: Yeah , we're really fortunate because , as Nicole was saying , this is both a migratory corridor and a place where we see whales feeding , some of which do both. Um , so San Diego's primary food source kind of shifts season to season from whether it's krill or fish , anchovies , things like that. So even though gray whales are migrating this time of year. Humpbacks are doing the same thing. And if there's food off our coastline , the. Humpbacks actually stop for a while to actually feed. And we've been seeing that since the fall. It's still happening even right now. Wow.
S1: Wow. Okay , so so right now it's the gray whales also that are passing through our waters. Tell me a little bit more about them.
S2: Yeah , honestly , this has been a really exciting gray whale season because it's the first one where the whales have looked healthy in about half a decade. Um , over the last five years , the gray whale population has halved , primarily because they're not finding enough food in their summer feeding grounds up north. Um , and so over the last five years , it was an unusual mortality event. And we have been really hoping to see the population stabilize. And being in a place where we can witness so many of the whales passing by on their way south , we're able to evaluate , especially with drones , what the body condition of those animals are. And they're looking much more robust in years past. And we're actually seeing a lot more of them than the last few years. Interesting.
S1: Interesting. Nicole. Why ? Why is that ? Why ? I mean , they're looking healthier now , but in previous years , their food supply up north had dwindled.
S3: It's kind of a boom bust kind of situation with these gray whales where they reach a good population size and then they just can't keep up the food , can't keep up , and they start declining again. So what we're probably seeing is a bit of an upswing if warming temperatures in the Arctic continue , I do anticipate that it's going to drop back down again. Maybe it'll stabilize eventually. What's happening is that as the Arctic warms , we're getting less and less sea ice , and the sea ice is what grows the food for the gray whales prey , which are little amphipods , little crustaceans on the ocean floor. So it's a knock on effect that affects the whales , and they get a lot skinnier because of their long migration when they're fasting for almost half the year. And then the moms also need to take care of their babies , so they're losing a lot of body fat. The babies aren't surviving as well , and you get that knock on effect. So it kind of seems like maybe we're stabilizing a little bit here , but it's we're going to need a lot more years to actually get an idea of the pattern , but it is promising to know that things aren't going completely downhill this year.
S2: And there is a follow up on that , too , because prior to this big downswing , the Grail population reached a capacity it had not been known capable of reaching. So in the late teens , like 2016 to 2018 era , there was about 27,000 gray whales , which is about 7000 more than their known carrying capacity for the species. And the theory on that is , as the ice melted , it opened up new feeding areas for these gray whales. But once they used that up and the ice didn't reform , now you have more whales than ever before and a stressed food source. So that's one of the theories as to why the population did collapse so quickly. Um , which , as Nicole was saying , grey whale populations are known to fluctuate pretty dramatically because they are so dependent on the sea ice up north. Um , but they usually bounce back quick. This was the first time this downswing was so prolonged. Um , but seeing so many more healthy whales this year , it is like night and day. And it's been really a joy , not just because we're happy that they're looking better , but when whales are looking better and feeling better , they're willing to show themselves a lot more because they have more energy to burn. So we're seeing more socializing , breaching the kinds of behaviors that make , you know , whale watchers really excited.
S1: So the food source up north has sort of replenished itself.
S3: We think it's more of a stabilizing. Like Dom said , you had that big boom in population and then the bust when they can't get enough food for that huge population. And now it's probably just starting to stabilize out a little bit more. So there's less whales , which means they're able to get a bit more food. So we don't think that there's any change in the actual food supply other than the decrease that's going with climate change , but there's less whales competing for that resource , so that's probably why it's starting to stabilize a little bit.
S1: Well , you know , so climate change impacts the food sources the whale population.
S2: If anything , it's been one of the most dramatic things that I've observed. So I've been whale watching in San Diego since 2017. Back then , in the southbound portion of the migration , very common to see gray whales , especially in , like North County , San Diego , super close to shore. What's happening now ? Because the whales are staying to feed longer , because they're not finding enough food , they're taking a more direct route south from Alaska. We think of Alaska being straight north , but it's really northwest. So instead of the whales tugging into the coastline to the east , making a longer southeast migration , we're seeing a lot more of them. Take a direct route almost straight south. And so they're going instead of going in front of the Channel Islands , quite tight to the coastline , they're going behind the Channel Islands and ending up kind of right by the US Mexican border when they're starting to reenter the coastal area. So we are seeing gray whales a lot further offshore this time of year than we typically had in the years past. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Does , you know , and occasionally you'll find a whale washed up on on the beach.
S4: Um , it's that is that why ? Yeah.
S2: I mean , you have to think of it this way. If you don't have enough fat reserves to make a 12,000 mile round trip journey , but you're just programmed to do it. They're almost like when they're migrating. We almost joke that they're on autopilot because they really don't do anything other than swim in a straight line , as long as they're not being disturbed. Um , and if they don't have the fat reserves to make that , the migration is the most vulnerable time for a gray whale. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Well , you know , Nicole , I'm. So I'm going to go on a whale watching tour at some point , but I would imagine that that's the best bet to see some whales. How can San Diego San Diegans see them from shore ? The shore , though.
S3: So the Great Whale migration is definitely the best time to see them from shore , especially on their southbound migration. Like Don was saying , we're getting more whales offshore , but in general , it's still a trend that the southbound whales tend to be a bit closer to shore. So right now is kind of your best chance. Find a spot with a good view of the ocean , grab some binoculars and find a nice , comfortable , comfortable place to sit. Just stare at the ocean. You're going to look for a puff of mist that lingers for a moment. That's the whales spout when they exhale. And that's how you can find those gray whales. You might need a little bit of patience. Sit there and just watch the horizon. But right now is a really good time to go shore based whale watching here in San Diego.
S2: Yeah , and an insider tip on that. You're going to have a lot more success in the afternoon. Not because there's more whales in the afternoon , but our sun sets in the west. And as the horizon becomes more backlit , whale spouts look much brighter and much more vibrant compared to early in the morning when the light is behind you and not illuminating those spouts.
S1: Yeah , it's such a fascinating thing. I mean , Dominik , later this year , blue whales come to our waters. We often hear about how huge these animals are.
S2: And it's one of the the things that has kind of put San Diego whale watching on the map over the last decade , as this has kind of morphed into the most reliable place to see blue whales on the West Coast. Um , even last year , which was kind of our first down year , out of the last , like ten , we still had more blue whale sightings than anywhere on the West Coast , at least from a whale watching destination standpoint. Um , and they come here for one reason , and that's krill. If there's krill in our local waters , these whales will dine out. But we get lucky that even when we don't have as much krill , the way they make their migration north , San Diego is kind of this launching pad where we're the first kind of spot they check. And if there's no food here , they have a direct offshore underwater canyon they follow straight out into the open ocean behind our Channel Islands again. But we still see them here in coastal San Diego before they do that. So even the years where krill production isn't quite as strong. We still get very lucky to see blue whales right off our coast. Interesting.
S1: Interesting. You know , when a lot of people think about whales , I think the first image may be that of a humpback whale jumping out of the ocean.
S3: On their southbound and northbound migrations , they're passing by our coast. The ones that go to Mexico , Central America , come right past our coast , and they'll either just be migrating through on their way. But some of them do stop to feed here on the fish. Small bait fish , anchovies , sardines. And so we will see some whales stick around and do spectacular feeding displays as far as the breaching out of the water. Humpbacks are the whale. That's probably best known for that. We see it definitely less on their migration route. You're going to see a lot more reliable beaches in their wintering areas , where they're going to be competing for mates , playing around. You get little babies learning how to be a whale , but we will still see it occasionally here on our coast and it's absolutely spectacular. But yeah , fall is our best time for humpbacks like November. That's when you're going to see the most feeding activity and their migration. And then we also get them in the spring on their northbound migration. But it's a little bit less reliable. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Interesting.
S5:
S2: Gray whales in the surf break , especially on the the moms and calves on the northbound portion of the migration. Um , they're much more likely to hug the coastline to avoid predators. And gray whales are very comfortable and very shallow water. So I have seen gray whales quite literally swim under surfers. And because our coastal water isn't always that clear. The surfers don't realize there's a £50,000 animal underneath them , which is always really fascinating to me. Um , but Watts is great. Like Nicole was saying. On a positive note , the humpback population is thriving. It's really ballooned over the last couple of decades , and we actually now see humpback whales , more day out , more days out of the year than any other whale species in San Diego , which is pretty amazing. Wow.
S1: Wow. Well , that is very , very fascinating. I've been speaking with Dominick Biagini and he's he's from Gone Whale watching , so you'll definitely want to pair up with him to see some whales. Also with us is Nicole Schreiber , a graduate student with Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Thank you both for joining.
S3: Thank you. Thank you so much.
S1: That's our show for today.
S6: I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
