Oregon Coast Whale Report for Summer; Upcoming Volunteer Training

Published 09/21/2013

(Depoe Bay, Oregon) – It's been a busy summer at the Whale Watch Center in Depoe Bay on the central Oregon coast, even if had been shut down until early July. But there's even more on the roster, as the center has announced its training sessions for those wanting to volunteer for the Whale Watching Spoken Here sites in the winter.

The center opened back up in the first few days of July, and reports seeing a total of 40 whales that month.

In August, according to the center's Renee Fowler, they saw 53 gray whales, which was not apparently the best for a summer season.

“The first few weeks of the month were very foggy, poor visibility,” Fowler said. “We also spotted Humpbacks and Fin whales.”

By mid-September, Fowler reports 39 gray whales seen so far, although other agencies and tour boats around the Oregon coast have been reported statistically higher numbers.

Details about the state's Whale Watching Spoken Here trainings and designated whale watch week dates have been released.

There will be two whale watching weeks scheduled during the two major Gray whale migrations. The winter whale watch week will take place from Thursday, December 26 through Tuesday, December 31, while the spring whale watch week will be from Saturday, March 22 to Saturday, March 29 in 2014. (Above: Ecola State Park in Cannon Beach is a great place to try and spot whales).

“We will be offering three training sessions along our coast line,” Fowler said. “New volunteers must attend one training session before they can sign up at one of our twenty four Whale Watching Spoken Here sites.”

Dates and locations for those trainings; November 30 at Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport with Dr. Bruce Mate; January 11 at Harris Beach State Park with Carrie Newell; February 8 at Nehalem Bay State Park with Carrie Newell (near Manzanita).

The call for volunteers will be available around October 1 on the Whale Watching Spoken Here website, www.whalespoken.org.

More about Oregon coast whales and whale news here.

Above: courtesy Seaside Aquarium. Other Oregon coast photos below include Newport.

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