Spouting and Diving Gray Whales

Gray whales swim by moving their large powerful tail flukes in an up and down motion and may span up to10 feet across, the tail flukes often have scars, scratches or bite marks from orca whale attacks. The normal cruising speed for a gray whale is between 2 to 6 mph but they can show burst of speed up to 10 to 12 mph if threatened by predators. Gray whales will surface and breathe two or three times at 10-20 second intervals before submerging for three to five minutes. When a gray whale goes on a deep dive the whale will usually show its tail flukes or arch its back where you would see its knuckles. Gray whales have no dorsal (back) fins. Instead, they have a low hump and a series of six to twelve knuckles or bumps. The gray whale can stay under water for at about 30 minutes and reappear 1/2 mile or more away unless they are feeding in the area. When whales go below the surface of the water it will leave an oval patch of calm water called a fluke print, this is caused from upwelling from the whale’s tail fluke.

When a gray whale goes on a dive it is usually less than 100 feet mainly because the food that the whale eats is in shallower waters. The gray whale has two blowholes that are oval shaped and during a dive, the valves around the whale’s blowhole close to keep water out. Upon surfacing the gray whales spout is about 10 feet high and, if there is no wind can be seen as a heart shape when observed directly in front or from behind. In a single blow about 100 gallons of air can be expelled, if they exhale slowly the blow is hardly visible.


Visit our website at: www.whalestaildepoebay.com

Whales Tail @ (Dockside Charters)
270 Coast Guard Dr.
Depoe Bay, Oregon 97341

Phone: 541-765-2545
Toll Free: 1-800-733-8915

About Pilot Whales

The pilot whale is a member of the dolphin family and is second only to the orca whale in size; males are much larger than females. Adult males reach a length 20 feet and can weigh up to 3 tons, adult females grow to 16 feet and weigh 1 ½ tons. There are two species of pilot whales, long finned and short finned; they are in the suborder of the Odontoceti the same as the killer whale which means they have teeth. Pilot whales are predominantly dark grey, brown or black, but have some light areas such as a grey saddle pitch behind the dorsal fins. The dorsal fin is set forward on the back and sweeps backwards. The body shape of a pilot whale is considerably more robust than most dolphins with a distinctive large, bulbous head; male long finned pilot whales develop more bulbous heads than females. The flippers are long and sickle shaped, and the tail stock is flattened from side to side and very deep.

Pilot whales generally take several breaths before diving for a few minutes, feeding dives may last over ten minutes. They are capable of diving to depths of 2,000 feet, but most dives are to a depth of 100-200 feet. Shallow dives tend to take place during the day while deeper ones take place at night. When making deep dives, pilot whales often make fast sprints to catch fast moving prey like squid. Short finned pilot whales foraging in the same depth range as sperm whales and beaked whales perform the more energetic hunting tactics in comparison. This involves an energetic burst of high speed swimming near the deep part of the dive and is usually followed by one or two buzzes which may indicate attempts to capture prey. This is unusual considering deep diving breath holding animals would be expected to swim slowly and steadily to conserve oxygen. It is possible that if pilot whales have a higher metabolic rate than other deep diving mammals to enable sprinting, this would be a factor influencing the relatively short diving period of pilot whales compared to other similarly sized marine mammals. This apparent lower diving capability has also been observed in long-finned pilot whales.

Pilot whales are primarily squid eaters, but will feed on fish as well. They are also highly social and some studies have found that both males and females remain in their mother’s pods, an unusual trait among mammals, but this is also found in some killer whale pods. Pilot whales have one of the longest birth intervals of the cetaceans, calving once every 3-5 years. Calves are approximately 6 feet long at birth and weigh about 250 pounds. Mating and calving in long-finned pilot whales peaks in the summer, though some calving occurs throughout the year. Both species live in groups of 10-30 but some groups may number 100 or more.

Thank you for visiting our blog site, we hope to see you aboard the Whales Tail.

Visit our website at: www.whalestaildepoebay.com

Whales Tail @ (Dockside Charters)
270 Coast Guard Dr.
Depoe Bay, Oregon 97341

Phone: 541-765-2545
Toll Free: 1-800-733-8915

Oregon Whale Jigsaw Puzzle

About Blue Whales

The blue whale is the largest mammal to have lived on earth reaching lengths of 100 feet and can weigh as much as 150 tons. They have two large blowholes that have a raised shield in the front and the spouts are tall and straight of over 25 feet high. The blue whale is blue/gray in color and has darker spots along the sides of their body, with barnacles on their flukes and the tips of the flippers or dorsal fin. The dorsal fin is only about one foot and is ¾ of the way back on the body; its flippers are tapered and short.

Blue whale’s can cruise the ocean at more than 5-12 miles an hour, but can accelerate to more than 25 miles an hour when they are agitated. Blue whales are among the loudest animals on the planet. They emit a series of pulses, groans, and moans, and it’s thought that, in good conditions, blue whales can hear each other up to 1,000 miles away. Scientists think they use these vocalizations not only to communicate, but, along with their excellent hearing, to navigate the ocean waters.

During the winter blue whales travel to the warm tropical waters to breed and give birth, during the summer they travel to the cooler polar waters to feed, then migrate back to the tropics segregated by sex and age, the older and pregnant whales migrating first, with the sexually immature whales bringing arriving last. Generally, the larger, older whales migrate the furthest north, during the migration, they eat virtually nothing for at least 4 months and live on body reserves. Females give birth in warm tropical waters because the young only have a thin layer of blubber to keep them warm.

Blue whales are baleen whales which mean they have fringed plates of fingernail like material called a baleen attached to their upper jaws. Blue whales have about 250-400 fringed overlapping plates hanging from each side of the upper jaw, these plates are a finger like material called keratin and are about 20 inches long. When these whale’s feed, large volumes of water and food are taken into the mouth, as their mouth closes water is expelled through the baleen plates which trap the food inside where they then use their tongue to swallow the food.

These whales feed by gulping a mouthful of water, expanding the pleated skin on their throat (they have 55-65 ventral grooves), and then the whale uses its tongue to force the water out through the overlapping baleen plates. Blue whales feed mainly on small shrimp like creatures called krill, during the summer season the blue whale will consume about 4 tons of krill a day.

Blue whales reach sexual maturities between the ages of 6-10 years, the females have their calves every 2-3 years and the gestation period is about 12 months. Calves are born 24 to 27 feet long and weigh 3 tons; they consume 100 gallons of fat rich mother’s milk every day and gain 200 pounds a day. The average lifespan for the blue whale is estimated at around 80 to 90 years with some reaching over 100 years of age. It is thought that between 10,000 and 25,000 blue whales still swim the world’s oceans.

Resident Whales on the Oregon Coast

There are approximately 18,000 gray whales in the winter and spring migrations and a group of 200-400 whales that feed along the Oregon and Washington coast during fall and summer. In the spring, March through June most of these gray whales make the journey from their breeding lagoons in Baja California to the Arctic feeding grounds. On this northbound migration, small numbers of gray whales fall out of the migration group and stop at various locations along the Oregon coast, one of these places is Depoe Bay, these whales are called resident whales.

For whales to be known as residents, they must stay around a certain area for at least two days, exhibit feeding behavior, and return year after year. This distinguishes them from migrating whales which stop on their migration and feed then move on their way. Along the coast of Depoe Bay, our resident gray whales begin showing up in June. On any one day throughout the summer, numbers range from 1 to 20. Some arrive in early summer, leave, and then return in late summer or early fall.

Resident gray whales remain around Depoe Bay for a period of days to months, there is one whale Scarback (Picture Left) who has been around for at least 20 years. The last of the resident whales leave in October or November and return to the breeding lagoons of Baja California to rejoin the remainder of the population.


About the Whales Tail
Experience the excitement of seeing gray whales “up close and personal” and other wildlife on one of our whale watching trips aboard the Whales Tail. We depart from picturesque Depoe Bay, Oregon which is only minutes from the beautiful Pacific Ocean. This is a thrilling and exciting ride for people who enjoy being out on the ocean or first timers who just want to experience being out on the ocean and have an enjoyable ride, additionally our whale watching trips are fun and informative. If there are whales in the vicinity, the Whales Tail can get you near them.

Here you can enjoy the simplicity and intimacy of the Whale’s Tail, it’s quiet, roomy and faster than the larger boats so you get to spend more time around the whales. Unlike larger boats, an inflatable boat sits flat on the water and has a low center of gravity, which means they don’t roll like the larger boats, another feature is you won’t have to smell diesel fumes, hence, you won’t get seasick. We have all the latest safety features and have recently been inspected by the state.

One of the features the Whales Tail offers is a unique vantage point that gives you 360° viewing for observing Oregon’s resident gray whales as they feed along the coast of Depoe Bay. Don’t be surprised if you notice the whales watching you as intently as you watch them. We try to provide you with a once in a lifetime experience that is not to be missed along with some great memories. This trip is a little more personal where we can take the time to talk and get to know our customers, you can’t beat a ride on the Whales Tail.

I have been involved in the maritime industry for 40 years and recently retired from Oregon State University Research Ship “Wecoma” which included scientific research of whales to sampling the bottom of the ocean to name a few. We were the first and original zodiac style whale watching boat on the Oregon Coast. I hope you will join us on a exciting whale watching excursion aboard the Whales Tail.

Whales Tail @ (Dockside Charters)
270 Coast Guard Dr.
Depoe Bay, Oregon 97341

GPS Coordinates: Lat. 44°48.552 N, Long. 124°03.564 W

Phone: 541-765-2545
Toll Free: 1-800-733-8915

Depoe Bay Whale Watching Tours

Experience the excitement of seeing gray whales “up close and personal” and other wildlife on one of our whale watching trips aboard the Whales Tail. We depart from picturesque Depoe Bay, Oregon which is only minutes from the beautiful Pacific Ocean. This is a thrilling and exciting ride for people who enjoy being out on the ocean or first timers who just want to experience being out on the ocean and have an enjoyable ride, additionally our whale watching trips are fun and informative.

One of the features the Whales Tail offers is a unique vantage point that gives you 360° viewing for observing Oregon’s resident gray whales as they feed along the coast of Depoe Bay. Don’t be surprised if you notice the whales watching you as intently as you watch them. We try to provide you with a once in a lifetime experience that is not to be missed along with some great memories. This trip is a little more personal where we can take the time to talk and get to know our customers, find out what they like or would like to see, you can’t beat a ride on the Whales Tail.

The Whales Tail is a 26′ zodiac style boat that carries up to 6 people. It was the first and original zodiac style whale watching boat on the Oregon coast, the Whales Tail was designed specifically to give passengers the utmost in sightseeing and whale watching experiences. The Whales Tail has a smaller seating capacity and is a quieter ride than the larger boats, and they ride just a few feet above the ocean’s surface. If there are whales in the vicinity, the Whales Tail can get you near them. Here you can enjoy the simplicity and intimacy of the Whale’s Tail. It’s quiet, roomy and faster than the larger boats so you get to spend more time around the whales. We have all the safety features and have been inspected by the State of Oregon.

Whales Tail (Dockside Charters) GPS Coordinates: Lat. 44°48.552 N, Long. 124°03.564 W

270 Coast Guard Dr.

Depoe Bay, Oregon 97341

Phone: 541-765-2545

Toll Free: 1-800-733-8915

Ocean Navigation: Whale Watching Tours in Oregon

Ocean Navigation: Whale Watching Tours in Oregon

http://www.whalestaildepoebay.com