SANTA MONICA BAY — Lifeguards said they were treated to a rare site on Monday, spotting what they believed to be a young gray whale cruising the breakwater near the Santa Monica Pier.
The whale, roughly 15 to 20 feet long, surfaced for air at about 8:30 a.m. near Will Rogers State Beach and continued to cruise south at a normal speed, showing no signs of distress, said lifeguard David Estey.
Lifeguards observed the whale, which was traveling roughly 100 feet offshore, for about an hour to make sure it wasn’t trying to beach itself. Estey said the whale looked to be moving freely and was not tangled in any netting.
“We generally see them around this time of year, but not in the (Santa Monica) Bay. That’s a pretty rare occurrence,” Estey said.
Whales are often spotted around this time of year as they make their way to Baja California to mate and give birth in the warmer waters. Whales typically head south around November through December and make the trek north around March and April. During the annual migration, a gray whale can travel as far as 6,000 miles each way, according to www.whaletimes.org, an informational Web site on whales.
“This could have been a newborn who was born early and was simply patrolling the shoreline, maybe playing in the surf,” said Peter Wallerstein, president of Whale Rescue Team, a non-profit organization that provides animal rescue services for the city. “This is the time when newborns are learning what the ocean is. The mother could be 100 yards away and keep in constant contact, knowing every move their babies are making.”
Since gray whales feed off what lives on or near the ocean floor, filtering sand through their baleen plates, the whale spotted on Monday could have been feeding in the shallow water or simply using the ocean floor to scrape off barnacles and lice.
“It’s really nothing to get concerned over,” Wallerstein said. “Maybe one out of 100 whales might need help if they are that close to the shore, but most of the time it’s usually a good thing to sit back and enjoy.”
The gray whale, or Eschrichtius Robustus, tends to reach lengths of up to 45 feet and can weigh as much as 70,000 pounds. At birth, calves are approximately 15 feet long, according whaletimes.org. An adult eats about 660 pounds of food a day or 340,000 pounds during their four-month feeding period.
