A pair of gray whales are stuck in shallow water at the mouth of the San Gabriel River between Long Beach and Seal Beach on Monday, Mar 26, 2018. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
By MARTIN WISCKOL | [email protected] and JEREMIAH DOBRUCK | [email protected] | Orange County Register
Two gray whales spent much of Monday milling around the San Gabriel River channel separating Seal Beach and Long Beach, with one hightailing it for the ocean around 4 p.m. while the second continued swimming around between the river mouth and the Marine Drive bridge.
The 25-foot-long whales attracted a crowd along the river jetties as they spouted, rolled and rubbed against each other.
“They’re very tactile,” said biologist Justin Greenman of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association while both animals were still in the channel. “They look like they’re having a good time so maybe they’re not eager to leave.”
Greenman said near-shore whale sightings this time of year are common as the animals migrate north and that there was no indication that the two whales were distressed.
“They look healthy and normal,” he said. “What we’d concerned about is if they were like caged tigers, going back and forth.”
Seal Beach lifeguards manned a personal watercraft much of the day to ensure that boats didn’t come close to the whales. Lifeguard Chief Joe Bailey said they had brought the vehicle back in by 5 p.m. and would resume monitoring the situation Tuesday morning.