Whale Watching on Land in Southern California

Watch whales migrate up the Southern California coast to Alaska from February through April while standing on dry land. Starting in November, the whales pass by again as they head south to the warmer waters of Baja.

Where
Los Serenos de Point Vicente is a terrific place to stand high on cliffs above the ocean and see whales migrate up the coast. Bring binoculars to get a good view. A viewing platform is outside the back of the museum.

We drove in to the parking lot off Rancho Palos Drive West to a spectacular view. To the southwest Catalina Island was in clear view 20 miles across the channel. The details of its ridges were clear. A few large ships sailed past the island to the horizon and we scanned the waters below for whale sightings.

Directly to the north was Malibu, showing how dramatically the coast curves in and then juts out again.

A crowd stood on the balcony with binoculars, telescopes, and imaging devices hooked up to a laptop computer. A dry erase board with the number of whales spotted was nearby. Eight whales had been spotted that day by the time we arrived at noon.

The whale census officially starts December 1 and ends May 15.

Whale Sightings
While we scanned the waters and enjoyed watching the surf splash against the cliffs, I wondered if we would see any. I glanced back at the crowd and when I heard murmurings and saw what appeared to be veteran whale watchers take action I looked back and saw a spout of water not much more than a half mile off shore.

I looked and saw it again, slightly further to the north.

Then another spout of water appeared and a dark form quickly skimmed the surface.

The trail of water spouts was heading north at a steady pace. I looked to the horizon and saw the ships appear smaller. And then I looked back to the water and the whales had passed. It was quiet again until more water spouts appeared in approximately the same area.

Other whale watchers were members of the American Cetacean Society. Then we hiked a wide trail leading along the edge of the cliffs glancing to the ocean and occasionally seeing water spouts move in to the distance.

We had seen five whales by the time we left after 2 hours.

About Point Vicente
Los Serenos de Point Vicente is located in Rancho Palos Verdes and it juts in to the water so the coast both to the north and south curve back toward the mainland. The Point Vicente Interpretive Center is worth visiting with educational exhibits on the Tongva Indians and an exhibit dedicated to the original Marineland, a park that was a pioneer in aquatic animal shows starting in 1954 and finally closing doors in 1987.

The park and museum are located at 31501 Palos Verdes Drive West
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275. Phone 310-377-5370. There was no charge for parking.

It's 31 miles south of Los Angeles and just a few miles north of Long Beach.

Be patient with the surface street traffic off the 110 freeway when exiting through San Pedro on Pacific Coast Highway or farther south. The drive is certainly worthwhile.

Log on to http://www.losserenos.org.