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Dana Wharf Whale Watch

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Dana Point, CA
Dana Wharf Whale Watch

Year round opportunity to see many whale and dolphin species right here in Dana Point, CA And just like that, whale watching was born.
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The story of Dana Wharf:
In 1958 While running several sport fishing boats off the San Clemente Pier,Don Hansen, decided to take children out on a whale watching excursion at the urging of friend and local educator Philip Grignon. For years Hansen and his fellow captains had been watching Gray Whales pass by them but no one was really watching this majestic Whales at the time. Some years later, H

ansen moved the operation to Dana Point Harbor when it opened in 1971. This was where the West Coast Whale Watching industry originated - not only for school field trips, but the public Whale Watching excursion was born in Dana Point. Don's love for the Gray Whale inspired people from all around the world to come and see for themselves the friendly Gray Whales as they migrate past Dana Point. Dana Wharf Whale Watching, the first whale watching company in Orange County, is a year-round whale watching facility in Southern California. Interacting with thousands of whales during the Gray Whale migration in the winter and Blue whales in the summer plus year round whales such as Fin , Orca, Minke and Humpback . In addition to whales, thousands of dolphins, sea lions, sea faring birds and even sharks are found in the beautiful waters right off Dana Wharf. There is always plenty of wildlife to experience, as you will see in this video. Today Dana Wharf sits in the heart of a busy, flourishing harbor and continues to be owned and operated by the Hansen family.

06/22/2024

Playful Common Dolphin All Day, Plus 5 Mola mola!

Long-beaked Common Dolphin were seen on every trip today! These playful cetaceans put on great acrobatic displays including leaps, flips, tail walks and were in small groups of only a few to large pods of at least thousand including tiny calves! The highest concentration of dolphin was just north of Aliso Canyon about 5 miles offshore spread out for over a mile. One smaller pod was just south of the San Clemente Pier feeding with pelicans, cormorants and various gulls. Several Mola Mola were spotted with a larger one at least 6 feet long found this afternoon.

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez

06/21/2024

2 Minke Whales, Bottlenose & Common Dolphin, plus 3 Mola mola! 🐬

On our first 2 trips we found a the same huge pod of at least 1,000 Long-beaked Common Dolphin off south Laguna Beach trending north. These dolphin were breaching all around us with some doing flips, tail walks and chin slaps. Such a happy way to start the first day of Summer! We found 2 pods of Offshore Bottlenose with one just a few miles off the Dana Point Harbor and the second further north on our last trip. The last group was very energetic breaching with some right off our bow even splashing our passengers. A pair of Minke Whales were feeding about 4 miles off Aliso Canyon on our third trip. We ended the day with another pod of ~200 Common Dolphin racing north about 5 miles out.

Note: Ocean trash picked up today, June 20, 2024 ~ 2 Mylar balloons and one burlap bag

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez

06/20/2024

1 Fin Whale, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin & 9 Mola molas!

After watching a Mola mola, we continued south of the Dana Point Harbor and found a megapod of Long-beaked Common Dolphin off south San Clemente 4.5 miles out. These dolphin were hunting and changing direction often. A smaller pod Common Dolphin were found 4.5 miles off the San Clemente Pier on our next trip. Turning north there were about 20-30 Offshore Bottlenose 6 miles offshore. They were traveling south and spread out, but raced over to the Ocean Adventures to ride the bow and several breached alongside us and in the stern wake. On our last trip, we likely found this same group off Bottlenose now off San Onofre. Mola molas were seen on every trip, including a breaching Mola at the end of the day! A Fin Whale was spotted by the Clemente on a fishing charter.

Note: Ocean Trash picked up today ~ June 19, 2024: 2 Large Mylar Balloons

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez
Drone 📸 Gavriel Berghouse

06/19/2024

It’s Whale Tail Wednesday! 🐳🫶🏻🐳
The blue whale fluke, or tail, is one of the most iconic and distinguishing features of this majestic marine mammal.

The blue whale fluke is massive, often reaching a width of up to 25 feet! Researchers use the unique patterns of pigmentation, scars, and the shape of the fluke to identify individual blue whales. This helps in tracking their movements and studying their behaviors.

📸 by

06/19/2024

The day began with a pod of about 1,000 Long-beaked Common Dolphin just a mile out from the Dana Point Harbor. Other groups were spotted including a few hundred feeding with sea lions, sea birds including pelicans, shearwaters and gulls about 2 miles off the coast from Ritz Point to the Montage and even Crystal Cove. We are seeing several Mola molas each day often in schools of 3 or more.

🎥 Laura Lopez

06/18/2024

Common Dolphin & 7 Mola mola! 🐬

Common Dolphin were seen throughout the day with the largest pod found south of the Dana Point Harbor about 6 miles offshore. On our noon trip we met Greg and his family. His favorite ocean animal is the Mola mola which had never seen in the wild until his wife spotted one on our return to the harbor. Captain Frank turned the Ocean Adventures around so he, along with the rest of our passengers could get a look. Many selfies were taken and he said today was the best day ever! Besides seeing other Mola molas earlier in the day, we saw 4 large ones all likely weighing hundreds of pounds under a kelp patty on our last trip!

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez

06/17/2024

Bottlenose & Common Dolphin! 🐬

Hundreds of Long-beaked Common Dolphin were seen on all our trips today including nursery pods from 4.5 to 7 miles offshore. We saw lots of breaching, leaping and tail walking as the dolphin seemed to be enjoying today’s swell. This afternoon, likely the same very relaxed pod of 15-20 Offshore Bottlenose Dolphin were encountered on 2 trips.

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez

Ocean trash picked up today - June 16, 2024 ~ One Mylar balloon

06/16/2024

Happy Father’s Day to all the awesome rad dads out there. Thank you for bringing excitement and adventure into our lives.

06/16/2024

Bottlenose & Common Dolphin, plus a Mola mola!

We spotted an unusual likely leucistic Long-beaked Common Dolphin hanging out with its other dolphin friends just about 3 miles from the Dana Point Harbor early in the day. A small pod of about 20 Offshore Bottlenose Dolphin were found midday and we had a large male California Sea Lion show off as it had climbed up to the “penthouse” of the SJR navigational buoy!

🎥 Laura Lopez

06/15/2024

1 Humpback Whale, 2 Minke Whales, Common Dolphin and 18 Mola mola! 🐬

A pod of at least 100 Long-beaked Common Dolphin were feeding with hundreds of terns, plunge diving pelicans and gulls less than half a mile off Three Arch Bay with other feeding groups as far as 5 miles offshore on all three trips. We saw calves of varying sizes as these dolphin approached the Dana Pride to bow-ride and surf our stern wake. Turning farther offshore on our noon trip we found a small Humpback Whale which appeared to be traveling north and fluked on 2 of the 3 dives during this encounter. On our last trip, after stopping to look at the sea lions hauled out on the SJR buoy off the headlands, we were checking out a floating kelp patty with at least 4 good sized Mola molas when a Minke Whale was spotted off our starboard side. The Minke Whale then surfaced off our stern heading south towards the feeding frenzy we recently left. We saw it blow once more before it disappeared. We stopped on additional kelp patties observing as many more Mola molas feeding on salps floating on the water’s surface!

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez

06/14/2024

3 Minke Whales, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin & 3 Mola mola! 🐬

This morning as soon as we left the Dana Point Harbor hundreds of terns, some pelicans with other sea birds could be seen feeding over a wide area with scattered pods of dolphin. Once we reached 5 miles offshore, huge groups of Long-beaked Common Dolphin were now in this massive feeding frenzy along with 3 Minke Whales. These Minkes made several close passes and one surprised us surfacing close to our bow. Our next two trips found more Common Dolphin, plus large groups of 50 or more Offshore Bottlenose Dolphin including calves with the last one being 6.5 miles offshore. These later trips watched from our stern as these energetic Bottlenose were leaping high in the air several at a time!

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez

06/13/2024

5 Minke Whale Sightings, Common Dolphin, 1 Mola mola, plus 1 Unidentified Shark! 🦈

While we didn’t see a large baleen whale today, we know Blue, Fin & Humpback Whales are still in the area. We did see Minke Whales on every trip including 2 surfacing one following the other crossing the Dana Point Headlands this afternoon. These Minke Whales were within 3 miles of the Dana Point Harbor with some swimming under the Ocean Adventures and others surfacing off our bow, our stern and alongside us. You just never know where a “Sneaky Minke” might appear! Long-beaked Common Dolphin were seen on our morning and noon trips with the largest pod found close to shore just north of the San Clemente Pier while the sun was shining!

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez

06/13/2024

Eye Sea you Mola mola! 👀 ☀️ 🐠

Mola mola also known as the “Ocean’s Sunfish” are the largest bony fish in the sea! They weigh in around 5,000lbs and are lengths of 5-10ft!

Mola molas are often seen basking in the sun near the surface of the water. This behavior is believed to help them regulate their body temperature after deep dives into colder waters.

Despite their enormous size and unusual shape, Mola molas are generally harmless and are often considered a marvel to observe due to their gentle nature and distinctive appearance.

📸 by

06/12/2024

4 Blue Whales, 5 Minke Whales, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin, 3 Mola mola!

June gloom and red tide continues but our waters are still showing signs of life. At 10 AM we had a large feeding frenzy barely 2 miles straight out from Dana Point Harbor. Among the plethora of birds were two Minke Whales, Common Dolphin, and a Blue Whale. We believe this might be the Blue Whale named “Kinko” due to the kink on her right fluke. This large Blue Whale raised her flukes high on several but not all of her terminal dives. At 12pm we saw dolphin going up the coast as we too headed in that direction in hopes of relocating this Big Blue. And we did; but it was off of Crystal Cove, and we could only observe one breathing cycle. As one of our passengers said, “It was beautiful because we saw those huge flukes!” At 2:30 we had a most sneaky Minke who only surfaced two times after a long sounding. No dolphin were seen. There was great excitement over a Swordfish that stayed at the surface, approached the Dana Pride, and swam right down the port side of the boat! We also saw a small Mola mola. But there were no more Cetaceans so we “whale checked” the trip. At 4:30 we headed down the coast for the first time today. We went along the 50-fathom curve then turned even farther out to sea. Another whale check. Come back again, soon please. Today’s totals: 1 Blue whale seen on 2 trips, 3 Minke Whales, 2 Mola molas, 1 Swordfish, and pods of Common Dolphin.

Report & 📸 Nona Brinkman Reimer

06/11/2024

2 Blue Whale Sightings & Bottlenose Dolphin! 🐳

A Magical Day With the Blue Whale Kinko on 2 trips! The day began with a great pod of 30-40 Offshore Bottlenose Dolphin engaging with the Ocean Adventures and putting on a great show breaching in our stern wake for several minutes! We found a second smaller pod on our noon trip. “Kinko” who is a large female Blue Whale was feeding from the San Clemente Pier trending south and we left this magnificent Blue Whale off San Onofre late this afternoon! She used to be sighted frequently 10+ years ago and has been sighted multiple times in recent weeks.

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez
Drone 📸 Gavriel Berghouse
📸 of children with leaping bottlenose dolphin by passenger Missy Crumpler

06/10/2024

3 Blue Whales, 1 Minke Whale, Common Dolphin and 4 Mola mola! 🐳

Our first trip left the Dana Point Harbor and headed south seeing lots of birds and soon we were in a pod of several hundred Long-beaked Common Dolphin including little calves all racing north. Hundreds of Shearwaters and Terns were also feeding in the area with other sea birds. Turning back south we found a Minke whale which swam under the Dana Pride twice. At noon, we found another nursery dolphin pod heading south. We then headed north to find a Blue Whale off Laguna Main Beach which was both feeding and fluking before each dive. At 2:30pm, we returned north to see the Blue Whale now off Aliso Canyon. With so many groups of Common Dolphin including one racing towards the coast, a passenger commented they were the intermission entertainment while we were waiting for the Blue Whale to surface. At 3:30pm, Captain Tommy said the Blue Whale swam directly under the Dana Pride at a depth of 525 feet. Our passengers on both the last 2 trips received their commemorative Dana Wharf Blue Whale Pins!

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez

06/09/2024

4 Blue Whales, 1 Minke Whale & Common Dolphin! 🐳🐬🐳

Nona the Naturalist’s Report from the Dana Pride:
June gloom and red tide continue to prevail, but the Cetaceans are still present. Our 10am and 12pm trips were able to see a Blue Whale. This Blue Whale was not the easiest to observe as it had a long down time of 10 minutes or more, then it would surface quite a ways away and only have a few blows at the surface. Sometimes it would do a split dive with only two breaths at the surface before going back down for 10 min. Although it never fluked, this whale would raise its rostrum (head) just a bit before it arched its back on its terminal dive. Our 2:30pm trip was able to see a Minke Whale. This whale came close to our boat then moved out about 100 yards or more from us. It circled in the area and all passengers were able to see our sneaky Minke. Common Dolphin were present in large numbers on all three trips.

Report & 📸 Nona Brinkman Reimer

06/08/2024

7 Blue Whales (6 Trips), Bottlenose & Common Dolphin, Plus 1 Mola mola! 🐬

This morning’s first trip encountered a Blue Whale, an elusive Minke, Bottlenose & Common Dolphin. At noon, one Blue Whale was seen feeding just about 1.5 miles off of Dana Point Harbor in about 500 feet of water. Spread out around the whale was a pod of Common Dolphin. A stop by the red navigational buoy to see the sea lions almost completed the trip. As we returned to the harbor, there were several Coastal Bottlenose at the entrance. At 2:30pm, we headed south a found a Blue Whale off of San Mateo Point. This whale made about 7 blows and would submerge for about 8 minutes. It never “fluked” for us, but all were excited to see the largest, longest, and loudest animal on the planet. We also had a pod of about 75 Common Dolphin and one Mola mola we could watch between surface times. Also, a Blue Whale was spotted offshore on a Reel Fun fishing charter.

Report & 📸 Nona Brinkman Reimer

06/08/2024

Did you know that Blue Whales have names?! 🐳 This whale is named Kinko and experts typically identify them by their flukes!
📸 taken by Captain Frank Brennan

06/07/2024

5 Blue Whales, 1 Humpback Whale & Common Dolphin! 🐳

On this day when we remember The Greatest Generation on the 80th anniversary of D-Day, you just couldn’t help but pause and look to the shoreline and cliffs of Camp Pendleton and think of brave men that stormed the beaches of Normandy and the over 4,000 that gave their lives that day. Today as we scanned the waters we were able to find pods of Common Dolphin south of the Dana Point Harbor but mostly in the waters off of San Mateo Point. There were Blue whales on all 3 of our trips. The Blue Whales were feeding in waters off of San Onofre. Our 10am and 12pm trips saw two Blues. At 2:30, we saw one Blue and for only one breathing cycle.

Report & 📸 Nona Brinkman Reimer

06/06/2024

2 Minke Whales, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin and 3 Mola mola! 🐬

Under today's grey skies with flat glassy seas, a pod of ~500 Long-beaked Common Dolphin were traveling and feeding 4.5 miles out and slightly south of the Dana Point Harbor with a second smaller pod ~200 off south San Clemente with Terns, Gulls, and a few Shearwaters in the same areas. Turning north, we came across a pod of about 10 very relaxed Offshore Bottlenose Dolphin which engaged in bow-riding. Continuing north still 4 miles offshore were 2 Minke Whales with one staying on the surface for several blows making a couple close passes off our bow. On our second and third trips we found more pods of Common Dolphin, plus hundreds of Shearwaters in various groups resting on the water. We ended the day with a megapod of well over a thousand Common Dolphin off Aliso Canyon who joined and surrounded us as we headed south back to the harbor. Good sized Mola molas were spotted on every trip. Besides seeing the sea lions on the navigational buoys, a few seemed to stay huddled on the inside of the outer jetty with one larger male swimming below them at the end of the day!

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez

06/05/2024

3 Blue Whales, 7 Minke Whales, Common Dolphin and 2 Mola mola (on Six Trips)! 🐳

Such hungry animals awaited us just a couple of miles from Dana Point Harbor. In this feeding frenzy there were hundreds and hundreds of Common Dolphin, Shearwaters, Sea Lions, and two Minke Whales. The Shearwaters are back from their winter migration thousands of miles from here. At 12 pm, we relocated the Minke Whales moving up our coast. Unlike the usual “Sneaky Minkes,” these surfaced in predictable patterns still swimming with the Common Dolphin. With the report of a whale, we turned around and searched down the coast. In a little while we found the distinct blow of a Blue Whale. The first several cycles, this whale only spent a few blows at the surface. Then it approached our boat and everyone could see just how huge the Blue Whale is! We also saw 2 Ocean Sunfish on this trip. At 2:30 pm, we traveled up the coast almost to Laguna Beach where we found a large pod of Common Dolphin. Coming back we found another Minke Whale about 2 miles off of Aliso Creek. Today’s totals on the Dana Pride: 6 Minke Whales, 1 Blue Whale, several pods of long beaked Common Dolphin, Sea Lions, 2 Mola molas, and many birds including the return of the Shearwaters.

Report & 📸 Nona Brinkman Reimer

06/04/2024

6 Blue Whales, 1 Minke Whale, Common Dolphin, 5 Mola mola!

Blue Whales, Goosebumps & Tears of Joy! 🐳

Our first trip found multiple pods of Common Dolphin with some small feeding groups outside the Dana Point Harbor. With a report of 10+ Blue Whales, we headed north on our next trip and reached Newport Beach to see these magnificent animals. There were many passengers who were moved to tears at the sheer beauty of the up close encounters while others exclaimed they had goosebumps! We saw Common Dolphin as we headed north and more on our return. Heading south on our last trip with the sun now shining, scattered pods of Long-beaked Common Dolphin with some feeding groups were from the San Clemente Pier to north of San Onofre. A Minke Whale popped up off our bow as we headed further offshore to a huge pod of about 1,000 very active dolphin which soon surrounded the Ocean Adventures. Dolphin raced around every side of us with others scattered for at least a half mile in every direction! Mola molas were seen on every trip today.

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez
Drone 📸 Gavriel Berghouse

06/03/2024

Eleven Blue Whale & 2 Fin Whale Sightings on 3 Trips, plus Bottlenose & Common Dolphin! 🐳

Heading north from the Dana Point Harbor on our first trip this morning, we watched a pod of about 150 Long-beaked Common Dolphin as they were also headed north towards a report of 4 Blue Whales. Just 2.5 miles off Aliso Canyon, we watched our first Blue Whale of the day while other blows were seen further north along with a small Fin Whale. At noon, we spotted a Blue Whale cow/calf pair traveling north close to shore off Ritz Point and possibly the same Fin Whale and more Common Dolphin returning to the harbor. As we left on our last trip, at least 3 Coastal Bottlenose were entering the harbor including a cow/calf pair. A large pod Common Dolphin just south of harbor were heading north engaged with the Dana Pride surrounding our vessel breaching in our wake and bow-riding. Likely a nursery pod, we were able to see many tiny dolphin in this group before they turned out to sea. Returning to the same area off Aliso Canyon, not only did we find the 4 Blue Whales from earlier in the day, the Blue Whale cow/calf pair and joined in feeding on the still abundant krill often in just a few hundred feet of water. The Blue Whale calf came alongside the port side and even spy-hopped as if it was watching us as we watched it! One of the larger Blue Whales was fluking on most dives to the delight of everyone onboard. All our passengers received a Blue Whale Pin welcoming them to the 1% club where less than 1% of the world's 8 billion people have ever seen a Blue Whale.

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez

06/02/2024

31 Blue Whale Sightings (7 Trips), Common Dolphin & a Mola mola! 🐳

Nona the Naturalist’s Report from the Ocean Adventures: May Gray has morphed into June Gloom but its Blue Whale-palooza on the waters off of Dana Point. Today we saw no less than 5-7 Blue whales on all four of our trips today. These whales were feeding in waters off of Aliso Creek. At just about 2 miles offshore, we were on the first edge of the Continental Shelf in waters from 600 feet to 2,000 feet. Some Blue Whales would throw their flukes high into the air on their terminal dive while others just arched and went down. So the challenge today was not finding a Blue Whale, but finding the one(s) that would show their tail! We all worked on our “telling time skills”; with whales simultaneously at 2, 7, 9 and noon! Even our passengers learned to recognize distinguishing characteristics of the vestigial dorsal fin and marks on the flukes that help us identify individual whales. What a day! Common dolphin were also seen on the 10a, 12p, and 2:30p trips. Our passengers left today proudly wearing buttons proclaiming they are now members of our 1% Club ~ those folks that have had the privilege to go whale watching and see the largest, longest, and loudest animal on Earth!

Report & 📸 Nona Brinkman Reimer

06/01/2024

30 Blue Whale Sightings, 2 Fin Whales, Common Dolphin & 3 Mola molas! 🐳 ( 6 trips )

Blue Whales! Blue Whales! Everywhere Blue Whales! We were barely a mile out of the Dana Point Harbor when we saw our first Blue Whale, from there we only traveled up the coast to South Laguna and were hardly 2 miles offshore. In that time we saw eight Blue Whales including a cow/calf pair. Common Dolphin joined in and were swimming around our boat. We passed an Ocean Sunfish as well. The 12pm trip was no different. This time we only saw five Blue Whales. Dolphin were present all around us. The juvenile Blue Whale came and circled our boat several times, lifting its rostrum out of the water. Again, at 2:30pm we were fortunate to find Blues just out of the harbor in about 450 feet of water. These two large Blues, did not throw their flukes, so we traveled back up the coast to find more. We found the cow/calf pain and a Fin Whale. There were more Blue whales outside of us, but none through their flukes up above the water for our guests. We did have evidence that they were feeding on krill! No dolphin on the last trip either.

Report & 📸 Nona Brinkman Reimer

05/31/2024

10 Blue Whale Sightings, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin & 3 Mola molas! 🐳

Barely 1.5 miles out of the Dana Point Harbor we had multiple Blue Whales feeding. We followed two of them for the majority of our trip. These large animals have been seen for several days feeding in this same area. After watching several breathing cycles a pod of Common Dolphin passed nearby. They too were feeding in the area, but not on krill. These dolphin used their ability to echolocate to horn in on their “fin food” prey such as anchovy and sardines. At 12pm we headed up the coast and found a pod of Bottlenose Dolphin. These playful dolphin interacted with our boat, leaping high in the air and coming to our bow. Then we headed back to the area we had been at a 10am and also had multiple Blue Whales. These whales are feeding in about 300 feet of water! 2:30pm was no different. We were able to find multiple Blue Whales not far from the harbor in 300-600 feet of water. We were especially happy to find a larger Blue Whale that would throw its flukes high into the air on its terminal dive. Then this whale would submerge for 8-9 minutes before surfacing to breathe. Mola molas, the Ocean Sunfish, were seen on all trips today as well as our sea lions. Total of 10 sightings of Blue Whales, 3 Mola molas, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin, CA Sea lions and a bundle a balloons retrieved out of the water.

Report by Nona Brinkman Reimer
📸 Nona Brinkman Reimer & Loriannah Hespe

Note: Ocean trash picked up today, May 30, 2024 ~ 6 Mylar balloons.

Balloons Blow Stand Up To Trash

05/30/2024

5 Blue Whale Sightings, 1 Fin Whale, Common Dolphin & 3 Mola mola! 🐳

We saw at least 3 different Blue Whales throughout the day! These Blue Whales continue to feed and were found from 1 to 5 miles off the Dana Point Harbor! The sun was shining before noon which enabled our passengers to see the blue glow in the water outlining the bodies of these massive and magnificent whales! The mottled blue-gray coloring of the Blue Whale appears light blue under the water’s surface also giving perspective to their massive size! On our last trip, Captain Steve spotted a Blue Whale blowing in front of the harbor. As we turned towards it, a Fin Whale crossed our bow heading northwest. Common Dolphin continue to be found in small feeding groups usually closer to shore with the largest pod of a few hundred found late in the day off the San Clemente Pier! We encountered one Mola mola one each trip.

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez

05/29/2024

8 Blue Whale Sightings including a Cow/Calf pair & Common Dolphin! 🐳

Our 10am trip was barely out of Dana Point Harbor when we found a pod of Common Dolphin actively feeding off of Doheny State Beach. From there we joined other boats on a Blue Whale cow/calf pair just a couple of miles offshore. These whales put some distance between us and themselves and were seen lunge feeding far out in front of us. This pattern continued on our 12pm and 2:30pm trips. We were able to find multiple pods of Common Dolphin while watching as many as three Blue Whales feeding about 3-4 miles offshore of Dana Point/Capistrano Beach. Several of the whales would throw their flukes high up on their terminal dive. Today’s totals: 8 Blue Whale sightings, multiple pods of Common Dolphin.

Report & 📸 Nona Brinkman Reimer

05/28/2024

So beautiful to see a Blue Whale Mama & Calf together yesterday 🐳💙🐳

Female blue whales give birth to a single calf every 2-3 years after a gestation period of about 11-12 months. Calves are around 23 feet long and weigh about 5,000-6,000 pounds at birth. Incredible! 📸 by

Address

34675 Golden Lantern
Dana Point, CA
92629

Opening Hours

Monday	6am - 10pm
Tuesday	6am - 10pm
Wednesday	6am - 10pm
Thursday	6am - 10pm
Friday	5am - 10pm
Saturday	9am - 10pm
Sunday	9am - 10pm

Telephone

+18005909994

Website

http://danawharfwhalewatching.org/

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Videos

Thar’ she blows! 🐳💨🐳💨 We’re getting really excited for our Ultimate 8 Hour Adventure on June 30th! Book your unforgettable trip at danawharf.com #danapoint #whalewatching #summervibes #summer #visitcalifornia Video by deckhand Otto

POV seeing a Swordfish 🐟⚔️🐟 in the wild! We are still in awe over this amazing encounter earlier this week. You just never know what we’re going to see out there! Video by deckhand Otto #swordfish #whalewatching #southernca #danapoint #danapointharbor #wildanimals #oceanlovers #summervibes

Minke Whales LOVE Dana Point! 🐳✨🐳 These cutie patooties are the smallest of all the whales and have white markings that look they’re wearing mittens! Video by @oceanluvr4ever #minkewhales #whalewatching #danapoint #sunshine #summervibes #letsgo #outside

Bottlenose & Common Dolphin, plus a Mola mola! We spotted an unusual likely leucistic Long-beaked Common Dolphin hanging out with its other dolphin friends just about 3 miles from the Dana Point Harbor early in the day. A small pod of about 20 Offshore Bottlenose Dolphin were found midday and we had a large male California Sea Lion show off as it had climbed up to the “penthouse” of the SJR navigational buoy! 🎥 Laura Lopez

Dinnertime! 🍽️ 🐟 Nom, Nom, Nom It was a bad day to be an anchovy! Multiple pods of Long-beaked common dolphin with many tiny calves were seen feeding on anchovies with hundreds of sea birds including Terns & plunge diving Pelicans off Three Arch bay close to shore. We even saw a sneaky Minke headed that direction late today! Video by @oceanluvr4ever

Whale hello there Kinko! 🐳✨👋🏻 This beautiful Blue whale named Kinko was spotted on two of our trips today! Did you know Blue whale flukes are unique and can be used to identify individual whales, similar to fingerprints, so cool! 🎥 by @oceanluvr4ever #bluewhale #kinko #whalewatching #danapoint #thingstodoorangecounty #naturerocks #natureinspired #oceanlover

Somebody’s got a case of the Mondays 🤣🫶🏻🦭 #mondaymotivation #sealionsrock #sealion #cuties #whalewatching #danapoint

Happy Fluking Friday! Beautiful big BLUE coming right up to the Lot’ A Fun with a giant fluke! We hope you will join us this weekend, book your trip at danawharf.com 🐳✨🐳 Video by Mike Meyers #bluewhale #whalewatching #danapoint #natureinspired #oceanlovers #visitdanapoint #thingstodoorangecounty

The sun does come out and when it does the Blue whales shine! 🐳☀️🐳☀️🐳 🎥 by @oceanluvr4ever #bluewhales #bluesummer #whalewatching #danapoint #thingstodoorangecounty #orangecounty #whalelovers #oceanlovers #naturerocks

We encountered an adorable Minke Whale today, the smallest of the baleen whales. So adorable, it looks like they have white mittens! 🐋💙 #minkewhale #whalewatching #Danapoint #visitdanapoint #getoutside #natureinspired Video by @diamondblockstudios

It’s all about the FLUKE! 🐳💙🐳 The crowd goes wild! Video by @oceanluvr4ever #whalewatching #danapoint #natureinspired #oceanlovers #naturephotography

Mother and calf Blue whale, such a treat! 🐳💙🐳 We just love seeing these baby Blue whales with their Moms. 🥹#bluewhalecalf #bluewhale #whalewatching #danapoint #visitdanapoint #natureinspired #babyanimals #oceanlovers Video by @oceanluvr4ever

Close encounters of a Blue kind! Mom and baby Blue whale 🐳 🫶🏻 🐳 They came over to the Lot a Fun to take a closer look, so amazing! Vide taken by Mike Myers #bluewhale #whalewatching #danapoint #visitdanapoint #natureinspired #animalbabies

Blue Whales💙🐳 they just keep going and going and going! They can grow up to 100 feet in length and weigh as much as 200 tons — the weight of 30 elephants and longer than the longest jumbo jet. You can see how encountering one in person is so remarkable! Video by Captain Steve Burkhalter #bluewhale #danapoint #whalewatching #thingstodoorangecounty #summerishere☀️ #letsgetoutside #bluewhalesofinstagram

Summer is just around the corner and we think it’s the perfect reason to celebrate with us and book a PRIVATE Charter today!! Ideal for birthdays, engagements, wine cruises….and so much more!! Our fleet can accommodate your summer #funday from #winetime to #whaletime and all of the above 🎉 We’ve got big boats and we can not lie 😉........................#celebratelife #privatecharter #humpbackwhale #birthday #graduation #smallparty #thegreatoutdoors #thatslovelyweekend #ocwinecruise #danawharf #danappoint #danapointharbor #harborcruise #winelife #wineoclock #visitcalifornia #wineexperience #winestagram #winewinewine #ocwine #abc7la #onceinalifetime #mylagunabeach #sanclemente #booktoday #livelocaldanapoint #mydanapoint #ourgoldenstate

Massive Blue whale swimming right towards us today!🐳✨🐳 It’s just miraculous to see this in person, come check it off your bucket list! When we see one you become part of the 1% of the population club to have seen one in their lifetime! Everyone one on board receives a commemorative pin each time a Blue is spotted. 🎥 by @nbreimer #bluewhale #whalewatching #danapoint #bluewhalesofinstagram #naturephotography #oceanlovers #natureinspired

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on our trips : Visitors can take a voyage with Orange County’s original whale watching company. Riders on one of Dana Wharf's 17 vessels often see whales, dolphins and sea lions while embracing the majestic coastline of DanaPoint, all these excursions are narrated by expert naturalists . In addition, Dana Wharf is endorsed by renowned wildlife Artist Wyland.