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Winter Whale Migration Brings Visitors To The Oregon Coast

Oregon Parks & Recreation Dept.

About 20 thousand Gray whales are expected to swim along the Oregon coast on their migration south from Alaska this winter. The week of December 27th through 31st is Whale Watching Week

Volunteers will be stationed at 24 sites along the coast to help visitors spot the giant mammals. Luke Parsons is an Oregon Park ranger in Depoe Bay. 
“There’s no other place on the planet that we have as much access to our coastline and as much opportunity to see something so special like this." Parsons says, "People always think about the great wildlife migrations maybe they happen in a far, far away land. But here in Oregon we have one of the great animal migrations on the planet right off of our front step.” 
Parsons says whale watching can be weather dependent. But on a clear day it’s possible to see up to 30 whales per hour. Gray whales migrate south each winter from Alaska to calve in warm lagoons off Baja Mexico. 
 
whalespoken.org
 

Rachael McDonald is KLCC’s host for All Things Considered on weekday afternoons. She also is the editor of the KLCC Extra, the daily digital newspaper. Rachael has a BA in English from the University of Oregon. She started out in public radio as a newsroom volunteer at KLCC in 2000.
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