Whale in Santa Barbara Harbor, March 7 2009

This whale appeared a couple days ago in the Santa Barbara harbor by the pier (Stearns Wharf). It has been hanging around in the harbor not going anywhere, which is unusual for a whale to do in this area. It is a juvenile whale. There are multiple possibilities as to why it is staying here. It may be lost on the northward migration. Whales going north run right into Santa Barbara. This one may not be experienced enough to know to go around us. It may be injured and is hanging in shallow water to recover. It may be scared of a predator out in the ocean. Whatever the reason, it makes for impressive whale watching from shore.
(Note: This video uploaded more blurry than I like. If I can figure out how to upload in a better resolution, I will and add a link for that here.)

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Santa
• Barbara
• gray
• whale
• harbor
• stearns
• wharf

[singtheirelegy3]

I finally get to see the famous whale :3 I guess it had already left by the time I stopped by the harbor yesterday to try taking a peek at this beauty. So thanks a lot for this video ^_^

[sandchip]

The whale is still there, as of Monday afternoon, March 16th.

If you go out there now, it is only surfacing once or twice every 10 or 15 minutes.

When I took this video back on March 7th, it was surfacing two or three times every few minutes.

It also appears to be covering a larger area than before. It can now be seen anywhere from the harbor side of the sandspit, right by the dredging boat, to about a hundred yards out from the harbor entrance / end of the pier.

[sharkbaitdz]

Great video! Thanks!