A drone operator observed six grey whales off Newport Beach, California, during their annual migration, heading towards the warm lagoons in Baja California, Mexico.
Specifically, grey whales are known to have the longest migration of any mammal, travelling close to 20,000km from their feeding grounds in the Arctic to their calving grounds in Baja California. Yet, in June CBC Canada reported that dozens of grey whales were found dead along the West Coast, while some scientists believe the cause lies in the heated-up Arctic waters off Alaska.
The grey whale migration can usually be viewed in Southern California from late November into April.
Naturalist and photographer Kristin Campbell stated that
We had an awesome experience on our whale-watching boats today as six south-bound migrating grey whales appeared about five miles [8km] off the coast of Newport Harbour … We noticed some of the whales rolling around, touching bellies and one whale proceeded to breach up to seven times right in front of us!
