Update: Young gray whale seen in Port San Luis harbor early this morning has not been seen for hours.
Update: 3:20 p.m. Saturday
The Marine Mammal Center searched for the baby gray whale this afternoon and the whale has not been sighted for several hours. They ask members of the public to contact them at 415-289-SEAL to report any sightings.
Update: 11:06 a.m. Saturday
The Marine Mammal Center team, based out of Sausalito, is at the Port San Luis Harbor monitoring the situation. “The early morning sighting of the baby gray whale is the last time it was seen, said Barbie Halaska, necropsy manager for the center. We’ll be going out into the harbor to check for the whale and will update our findings in a couple of hours.”
Update: 9:30 a.m. Saturday
The baby gray whale was spotted Saturday around 7:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. swimming around in the “mooring field” which is between Port San Luis pier and the Cal Poly research pier.
“It was beached near the boat launch in the harbor Friday evening,” according to Harbor Patrol officer Kyle Shaffer, “but this morning it was swimming around and seemed to be breathing OK.”
Original Story
A baby gray whale was spotted on Friday swimming in shallow water along the Avila Beach coastline — so close to the shore that bystanders worried it may need a rescue.
The Marine Mammal Center in San Luis Obispo received a hotline call about 10:30 a.m. after a paddleboarder spotted the whale, said Diana Kramer, operations manager.
Trained responders arrived on-scene to assess the situation and found the whale splashing and flipping in only a few feet of water near the Port San Luis Harbor boat rental dock.
At one point, Harbor Patrol officers and bystanders hopped in the water to help move the whale away from the dock and the boat landing area.
Marine Mammal Center personnel observed the whale and kept in contact with veterinarians in Sausalito as they tried to determine the whale’s age.
A younger whale, or calf, may need to be reunited with its mother, Kramer said. A slightly older yearling whale may be swimming close to the coastline to feed or avoid predators, she said.
“We’re all so compassionate and caring about this animal,” Kramer said. “Just standing and watching can be hard. But it’s actually really important to give it that space and time to see if it is a natural behavior or something else is going on.”
Gary Weyel was out kayaking with friends when he saw the whale swimming near the boat launch area. After paddling out to the Port San Luis Lighthouse and back, he spotted the whale again and captured a video.
“It’s amazing any time you have a chance to get that close to any of those magnificent animals,” Weyel said.
This story was originally published January 31, 2020 at 3:10 PM.
