Dana Wharf Whale Watch

04/24/2025

This could be YOU jumping for joy because you were picked as the GRAND PRIZE WINNER from the Whale and Dolphin Adventure Art Lessons for our 2025 season….

Our annual Wyland art lessons are such a fun tradition! The best part is presenting the winner! It’s no joke that Wyland picks the GRAND PRIZE WINNER, here is one of our past winners jumping for joy in front of Wyland’s Laguna Beach studio 💕

Get your tickets now for this Saturday’s art lesson and whale watching adventure at 9am.
Click our or head over to our website for more information 🐬

04/24/2025

Honoring the legacy of Captain Don and his promise of an annual school field trip for RH Dana Elementary, five vessels of the Dana Wharf fleet headed out this morning with four hundred excited students! Sightings included a Fin Whale, Bottlenose Dolphin, and Common Dolphin. By noon, the sun was peeking through the clouds as we found more feeding Common Dolphin and likely the same group of very active Bottlenose Dolphin also feeding just a few miles from the Dana Point Harbor. Our last trip found a raft of about 100 sea lions trending north 2 miles off Doheny State Beach. Turning offshore, we again found the Bottlenose Dolphin. These dolphin raced over to the Ocean Adventures in groups of 10-20 while others continued to feed. As we left the area, Captain Steve picked up the speed and the dolphin began leaping high out of water of both sides of our wake. As we returned to the harbor at the end of the day, an Osprey was once again spotted on the marker in the inner jetty.

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez
Drone 📸 Gavriel Berghouse

04/23/2025

Happy Earth Day from the Dana Pride. The first Earth Day was celebrated 55 years ago. Not long after that first Earth Day, the United States set the example for the world by establishing the Environmental Protection Agency, and passing the Clean Air Act, The Clean Water Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the Endangered Species Act. All of which came about only a few years after that first Earth Day. Today on our 2:30pm trip, we traveled 8 miles out from the Dana Point Harbor to see the second largest animal to ever live on the planet, the Fin Whale. Today their population is estimated to be near 40,000 in the Northern Hemisphere and between 15,00-20,000 in the Southern Hemisphere. This Fin Whale was curious and practically “mugged” the Dana Pride coming within 30 feet of our boat. Earlier in the day on our 10am and 12pm trips we saw several large rafts of sea lions feeding about two miles offshore. We also observed multiple pods of over thirty Offshore Bottlenose Dolphin. These toothed whales enjoyed leaping high out of the water in our stern wake. Scientist believe dolphin do this just for fun. Returning to the harbor at the end of our last trip, we saw our first Common Dolphin for the day. This pod of at least 100 dolphin, extended about a quarter of a mile around our vessel. Did you know that expending energy just for fun is a sign of intelligence? How fortunate we were share in the fun with the Bottlenose and Common Dolphins, Sea lions, and Fin Whale today. Congratulations to Claudia, our Earth Day raffle prize winner! In the words of John Muir, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” What simple things can you do at home to ensure our marine environment stays healthy for years to come? Remember, it’s all hitched together! Happy Earth Day.

Report & 📸 Nona Brinkman Reimer

04/22/2025

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/16-5-million-year-old-unusually-complete-baleen-whale-fossil-found-off-santa-barbara-coast/ar-AA1DjqnG?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=385002119bdc4a89958a299d6618b570&ei=29&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR6YHfnwl-uO9TuAQNBk20obkPfoBf1m1RFdnMi_Kzp4l7EBJxXFHcyh7cy9xA_aem_vNLE84xd0VUUD0FeXTW6xQ

A near-complete ancient baleen whale fossil was located by chance off the Santa Barbara Coast.

04/22/2025

The first cetaceans we encountered today were a large pod of about 40 Offshore Bottlenose Dolphin spread out over at least a mile about 5 miles off the San Clemente Pier. Turning towards the coast, a pod of about 200 Long-beaked Common Dolphin in a feeding frenzy were just 2 miles offshore just north of the Dana Point Harbor. The calm seas allowed us clear views of these dolphin including numerous cow/calf pairs as they began to surface all around the Ocean Adventures. More Common Dolphin feeding frenzies were found this afternoon and included California sea lions along with sea birds. We saw a large male sea lion on the inner jetty early this morning and watched one climbing up out of the water to the same location this afternoon. Maybe it was the same sea lion who’s decided this is his favorite spot to haul out and enjoy the sun during the day!

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez

04/21/2025

On this blustery Easter Sunday, a large male California sea lion was hauled out on the inner jetty enjoying the sun. After numerous Black-crowned night herons landed on the Dana Pride as soon as we exited the Dana Point Harbor, we traveled south of San Onofre to find a small pod of Long-beaked Common Dolphin in a feeding frenzy with sea lions, hundreds of sea birds which were mostly Pelicans and gulls! These birds clearly outnumbered the dolphin who were doing all the work cooperatively working together to round up the anchovies pining them at the surface. Plunge diving pelicans would surface with fish spilling out of the pouches as hungry gulls quickly snatched them up. The next trip saw Snowy Egrets were hitching a ride on our vessel. Coastal Bottlenose Dolphin were at the harbor mount on our last two trips and accompanied a pair of Gray Whales as they headed north along the outer jetty. These whale were hard to track in the afternoon swells and wind. With today’s sea state, there were no sea lions hauled out on the SJR buoy, although we saw several swimming near and inside the harbor.

Note: Ocean trash picked up today, April 20, 2025 ~ One Mylar balloon.

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez

04/19/2025

It was a Fruitful and Fintastic day on the water. Our 10 am trip ventured up and outside to find a Fin Whale feeding in the waters about 3.5 miles offshore. On the way, we went through a pod of Common Dolphin feeding in the area. We circled back to find a Humpback reported by our boat, the Lot’a Fun. Unfortunately, we never saw it. We were able to visit the green navigational buoy and observe the CA sea lions hauled out and resting. At 12pm we came out of the Dana Point Harbor pointed down the coast when we joined other boats on a Fin whale. Then we saw another blow farther out to sea. It too was a Fin whale that came near our boat. We were able to watch several breathing cycles as this whale only stayed down about eight minutes. This whale was 3.7 miles directly out from the San Clemente Pier and about six miles from the harbor. Coming in, we found a third Fin Whale. It may have been one of the two we had previously seen. Our 2:30 trip began with a robust feeding frenzy of Common Dolphin and birds predating on several large bait balls of anchovies. Trying to escape the mouth of the dolphin by leaping out of the water often led to being eaten by a diving gull or pelican. We ventured farther offshore in the hopes of relocating the Fin whales but they eluded our sight. Today’s totals: 4 sightings of Fin Whales, 1 Humpback whale, several pods of Common Dolphin, and sea lions on the buoys.

Report and 📸 Nona Brinkman Reimer

04/19/2025

Leaving the Dana Point Harbor and heading south, we found literally hundreds of California sea lions off the San Clemente Pier and more or our return to the harbor. Despite the playful antics of the sea lions, no cetaceans were seen on our first trip so our guests received “whale checks” to come back again for free. Heading north to Laguna Main Beach and turning offshore, a pod of several hundred Long-beaked Common Dolphin were enjoyed with lots of calves swimming and jumping out of the water alongside their moms! Partly cloudy skies cast a steel blue color on the water. A group of Sea lions seemed to be having a “pool party” just inside the inner jetty with lots of splashing as they rolled around which was still going on as we left on our next trip! Several Coastal Bottlenose were heading north on the outer jetty as we left on our last trip and came over to bow ride with a few lining up in our wake. Likely the our pod of Common Dolphin from our earlier trip were located in the same area this afternoon. Still feeding and energetic, several approached us bow-riding and surfing our stern wake!

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez

04/18/2025

A Fin whale was feeding and circling in the water about 3 miles out from the Dana Point Harbor. Although Fin whales can stay down for up to 17 minutes, this one usually sounded for about 8 minutes before surfacing and taking 3 breaths at the surface. Seeing the second largest animal on the planet is always a treat. Seeing the large curved dorsal fin is a good reminder of how the Fin or Finback got its name. A Humpback whale was seen 10 miles north of the harbor on the 10 am trips, too. Common dolphin were spread out over the waters sometimes feeding but mostly just traveling. We even had a brief dolphin stampede on our 12 pm trip! By-the-Wind-Sailors and one large pelagic purple striped jellyfish along with the ubiquitous sea lions were seen on all trips today.

Report & 📸 Nona Brinkman Reimer

04/17/2025

We only have TWO more sessions of our Saturday Wyland Whale and Dolphin Art Lessons before we close out the season!!

Our annual Wyland art lessons are such a fun tradition! The best part is presenting the winner! It’s no joke that Wyland picks the GRAND PRIZE WINNER, like William here as our 2023 winner!

Get your tickets now for an art lesson and a 🐋 watching adventure at 9am.
Click our on our or head over to our website for more information 🐬

https://danawharf.com/cruises-and-events/wylands-whale-and-dolphin-adventure-art-lesson/


❤️

04/17/2025

We only have TWO more sessions of our Saturday Wyland Whale and Dolphin Art Lessons before we close out the season!!

Our annual Wyland art lessons are such a fun tradition! The best part is presenting the winner! It’s no joke that Wyland picks the GRAND PRIZE WINNER, like William here as our 2023 winner!

Get your tickets now for an art lesson and a 🐋 watching adventure at 9am.
Click our or head over to our website for more information 🐬

04/17/2025

This cutie giving us the side eye 🤣 🦭👌🏻 These Sea Lions are so cute and playful! We saw a very large raft of them yesterday off the coast.
📸

04/17/2025

A great day on the water found feeding Long-beaked Common Dolphin off Laguna Main Beach. Baitfish could been seen off the bow and sides of our vessel. Velella velellas or By-the-Wind Sailors were seen on our earlier trips. During our encounter with about 200 dolphin, they erupted in a stampede less than a mile offshore racing northwest! Smaller pods of dolphin were seen 5 miles offshore directly out from the Dana Point Harbor. Late in the day, a huge raft of about 100 California sea lions were feeding about 2 miles south of the harbor. We watched as these sea lions were bobbing their heads out of the water as they swam by the Ocean Adventures as they seemed to watch us watching them!

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez

04/16/2025

The dolphins were not concerned that it was Tax Day here in the USA. Maybe they knew it was also Jackie Robinson Day, as baseball honors the first black man to break the color barrier in baseball and make baseball the game for everyone! These excited dolphin were surfing our stern wake and bow riding as we passed through two large pods of Common Dolphin on our morning trip. Dolphin were first spotted barely a mile out from the Dana Point Harbor. Our second pod was farther out and slightly above the Headlands. At noon we once again found several larger pods of Long beaked Common Dolphin. Often feeding or traveling, we noted many cow calf pairs in these pods. Our 2:30 trip came across a very active feeding frenzy of dolphins, sea lions, and a variety of birds all preying on anchovy. There was so much “fin food” in the water that schools would often leap out of the water. Not the best day to be an anchovy! Traveling father south, we joined the Ocean Adventures on a northbound Gray Whale. This whale would surface to breathe 2-3 times before sounding for 3 minutes. We were able to watch several breathing cycles and it fluked to give us a wave good bye as we headed back in to the harbor. Today’s totals: Thousands of Common Dolphin, many California Sea Lions, and one northbound Gray Whale.

Report & 📸Nona Brinkman Reimerr

04/15/2025

Our first sighting was a northbound adult Gray Whale off south Laguna Beach. Blowing three times before fluking with a dive time of about 4-5 minutes, we stayed with this whale until Laguna Main Beach before turning offshore. Heading southwest, we found a pod of several hundred Common Dolphin trending south along with Velella velella of By-the-Wind Sailors floating on the water. Before noon, the sun was shining and on our next trip, this pod was now over 10 miles from the Dana Point Harbor. The seas were glassy and blue so the plentiful baitfish could be seen just below the water’s surface along with the dolphin swimming alongside the Ocean Adventure. As we returned to the harbor more dolphin were racing south. Leaving on our last trip just a few minutes later, a huge feeding frenzy had developed with dolphin and hundreds of California Brown Pelicans along with a few gulls. While watching the intense plunge diving pelican action just off our bow, a northbound adult Gray Whale surfaced less than a mile out. We watched this whale for a few sequences as it would blow only once and dive for 5-6 minutes. We moved on covering more water finding scatted dolphin to finish the day!

Report & 🎥 Laura Lopez

04/15/2025

Happy National Dolphin Day! 🐬

National Dolphin Day is celebrated on April 14 every year. On this day, we celebrate dolphins — one of the most intelligent and friendly mammals in the world. Dolphins are cetacean mammals that belong to the same family as whales and porpoises. There have been many representations of dolphins in popular culture through books and films. Most of these popular representations are accurate. Dolphins are extremely social and friendly beings. They love company and have an acute sense of hearing. Yes, they can hear many more frequencies than adult humans.

https://nationaltoday.com/national-dolphin-day/

📸 Laura Lopez

04/14/2025

2 Gray Whales (First cow/calf pair of the season), 2 Fin Whales, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin and 6 Mola mola!

Feeding groups Long-beaked Common Dolphin were seen not long after leaving the Dana Point Harbor on our first trip. By the time we were four miles offshore, dolphin could be seen for miles in every direction. Turning in closer to shore with a report of a baleen whale, we encountered 2 Fin Whales with one being significantly smaller than the other. This pair was feeding swimming so close together it was some time before we could see there were two whales. We also passed a school of about 6 small Mola molas enroute to the Fins. Heading north at noon with sunshine and a report of a Gray Whale we traveled several miles up the cosst before turning offshore and back south to find a large pod of feeding Common Dolphin. Captain Brandon spotted two blows in front of San Juan Rock. At last, our first Gray Whale cow/calf pair was heading north in front of the Dana Point Headlands. Seeing the blow from the mom (cow) and then the tiny “puff” from the calf delighted all onboard! This pair stayed very close to shore and we relocated them off Aliso Canyon and now they seemed to have a Coastal Bottlenose Dolphin Es**rt leading the way. Occasionally, this little whale would get ahead of its mom, but never strayed far. We wished this pair well as we left them off Victoria Beach. Again, we were heading south and could see in the distance hundreds of Common Dolphin racing north just south of the harbor. Many tiny calves were in this pod as it stretched for a mile or more surrounding the Dana Pride as the charged ahead!

Report & 📸 Laura Lopez
Drone 📸 Gavriel Berghouse

04/13/2025

This morning began on the Dana Pride with Wyland’s Whale and Dolphin Adventure Art Lesson led by Nona the Naturalist! This event is every Saturday thru the end of April at 9am and open to kids from 3-12 years old!

Under white skies and silver water the Dana Pride glided over the Pacific Ocean in search of cetaceans. Our first two trips of the day had toothed whales: our Common Dolphins. They were numerous. Scattered small pods could be seen and father out large pods spreading a half a mile or so could be seen all around the boat. The greatest concentration of Common Dolphin were 5 miles offshore from Dana Point Harbor. At 2:30PM we were able to find a Gray Whale. It was first seen about 3 miles from the harbor just about a mile offshore. Unusual for this time of year, this Gray Whale was headed south. We followed it for multiple breathing cycles and by its size we could concur it was an adult whale. It never fluked but did make high arches on its terminal dive after spouting about 3 times per cycle. Sea lions, resting and thermoregulating on our buoys, were seen on all three trips. Today’s totals: Multiple pods of Common Dolphin, a number of sea lions, and one Gray Whale.

Report & 📸 Nona Brinkman Reimer