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The month of March brings whale watchers

The California Coastal town of Dana Point is hunkering down for an influx of whale watchers this month. Gray whales make their annual trek from frosty Arctic waters to the toasty lagoons of Baja, and nature lovers are lining up for their ringside seats.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) – This month, the whales can be spotted along the Dana Points headlands. Up to 50 whales making the migration can be spotted daily. Dana Points 200-foot cliffs offer a magnificent view of the migrations, and dedicated whale watchers hope to catch the rare sight of a baby whale or two.

"You can see the ones with calves especially, because they will use the shoreline as a guide for their first northern migration," a marine oficial says.

Dana Point's Festival of Whales is held two weekends in March and attracts whale watchers from all over the world. The festival began with a parade on March 6 and will end on March 14 with a  5k Grunion Run.

In addition, there will be a Street Faire, lectures, sailing rides and the Ocean Institute. There will also be fishing and stand-up paddling clinics, canoe races, a pancake breakfast, a horseshoe tournament and live musical performances. 

"WeŽll be offering a variety of hands-on activities throughout the festival, like mackerel dissection and programs on sound and echolocation and other whale-specific marine and mammalian activities," Jonathan Witt, director of Environmental programs at the institute tells Coast magazine.

For more information about the festival, you can log on to www.dpfestivalofwhales.com

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