Shades of Gray - Tofino style
A new video has captured romance on the high seas — footage of two courting gray whales.
A video captured in February by a drone piloted by Capt. Frank Brennan less than a mile off Dana Point Harbor in Dana Point, California, features two whales swimming side-by-side, circling one another in the water and getting busy.
An estimated 20,000 grey whales make the journey each year from the Baja Peninsula’s breeding and calving lagoons in Mexico to their summer feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas near the Arctic. In total, the 16,000 to 22,500 km round trip (depending on how far north they go) is one of the longest migrations of any mammal.
The amorous couple will hopefully arrive in Tofino in time for the 29th annual Pacific Rim Whale Festival starts in March to coincide with the spring return of the gray whale to the west coast of Vancouver Island. Long Beach Lodge Resort is proud to be a sponsor of the festival which features many educational and entertainment events which focus on Tofino, Ucluelet and Pacific Rim National Park Reserve’s coastal traditions, unique environment and to create awareness of the majestic and massive gray whale.
An estimated 20,000 grey whales make the journey each year from the Baja Peninsula’s breeding and calving lagoons in Mexico to their summer feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas near the Arctic. In total, the 16,000 to 22,500 km round trip (depending on how far north they go) is one of the longest migrations of any mammal.The migrating grey whales join resident grey whales, orcas, humpbacks and the occasional minke that can be seen any time of year off of the west coast of Vancouver Island.
