About two years ago we visited three locations in Depoe Bay.
We saw some whales spouting from the OPRD Whale Watching Center, and we both ate at Whale Bites Cafe and explored the Whales, Sea Life, and Sharks Museum, but we did not go out on a whale watching cruise.
We were sure that we would come back and do that at some point, and we knew that we wanted to go with Carrie Newell, but we didn't have a more detailed plan than that.
Last week, we went. After viewing a short film you head down to the boat, donning life jackets on the way.
One thing I remembered from our last visit to Depoe Bay was that the fog rolled in and out very quickly. Because of that, I was not too concerned with the haze.
It was pretty foggy.
It did lift some, but we did not have clear weather. It didn't really matter. Nature being what it is, there is no certainty about what you will see. We were very satisfied.
On the way to the kelp beds, we passed a harbor seal, and then four California sea lions lounging on a buoy.
We also saw a lion's mane jelly fish.
The kelp beds are just a few miles out of the harbor and full of mysid shrimp. This makes it a good feeding ground for gray whales, full of food and shallow enough to decrease the orca threat.
While many gray whales migrate to Alaska, there is a resident population at Depoe Bay, increasing your chances of seeing whales for more of the year.
We saw two, a male and a female, spouting and surfacing every three to five minutes.
I initially thought I did not get a single picture of them, consistent with my luck for cetacean photography. On a closer look, I did catch a bit of tail as one was going back down onto the right side, leaving a little triangle showing reminiscent of a shark dorsal fin.
(Apparently Depoe Bay does get great white sharks, though only in September.)
I try not to worry too much about whether I will get good photos, lest I miss the experience. There is something thrilling about seeing whales and the crew was good about positioning the boat so that everyone got good looks.
Again, it is not completely predictable; something amazing happened that we could never have planned on.
We had seen a few birds already: Western grebes, Western gulls, pelicans, cormorants, and murres, but suddenly there were lots of birds, all over.
We could only assume that a bait ball had formed, possibly of anchovies, and all of the birds were coming to feast.
In addition to the species we had already seen, there were some unexpected rhinoceros auklets.
Just getting to observe the behavior was amazing, but there were two things I want to note.
First of all, being out on the water made a huge difference. I remember spotting cormorants and gulls from the Whale Watching center, because those are kind of distinctive shapes, but for a lot of the others, it is much harder to tell.
In addition, even though you know they look small from a distance. The scale is not clear. They are much bigger than I realized.
Then, part of being out with a marine biologist is the identification. I can recognize a cormorant; I did not know that they were specifically Brandt's and pelagic cormorants.
I never would have identified the auklets on my own, but once she identified them I looked at the profile and it kind of made sense.
In addition, I know more about each of those breeds now.
Especially for this place and this population, you could not have a better guide. Carrie's knowledge and enthusiasm is unmatched, and there are whale spotting dogs.
COVID: You are outside on the boat, but in somewhat close quarters. Then, at the beginning for the video, you are inside. Use your best judgment.
Accessibility: Normally you go down two flights of stairs and then a long ramp. There is an accessible dock available, though it is not available for three of the time slots. Make sure that you are scheduling the right one. I recommend asking, as we did find all of the staff helpful.
It is not a bad idea in general to go over the FAQs and think ahead. We had ponchos and water bottles that we did not end up using, but I don't regret being prepared.
As they say on their site, whale watching is best June through September, so it is winding down for the year, but there are still bookings available through October 13th.
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