“Record” Number of Blue Whales Spotted

The Aquarium of the Pacific is reporting multiple sightings.

Well, this is exciting.

The Aquarium of the Pacific is reporting a "record number" of blue whale sightings in recent days. In fact, Kera Mathes, the boat program manager for the Long Beach-based institution, says "since the Aquarium and Harbor Breeze Cruises began offering these trips off our coast, we've never seen anything like this."

So, what is exactly is Ms. Mathes is referring to? The fact that upwards of 15 whales have been spied on recent aquarium outings. That is indeed a lot of blowhole.

In fact, you can follow the majestic mammals via OceanWatchLB on Twitter. A tweet from yesterday reports "Today we saw 5 blue whales and 1 minke whale on the first trip (11:30am) and 5 blue whales and 1 minke whale on the second trip (3pm)." Our question, and we know this is going to be extremely landlubbery, is this: Are they the exact same whales making a repeat appearance? Maybe they grew to love the limelight so much they saw the afternoon boat and said, "hey fellow blues, and you too, minke, let's put on another show for this curious group of humans?"

We're anthropomorphizing. Yes. But whales. Loads of intelligence.

Other recent tweets report even more whaleage. If you want to get on a boat and look for blue whales (and the occasional stray minke) yourself, they're running twice-a-day through Labor Day. An adult ticket is $62.95. Get your time/price details at the Aquarium of the Pacific site.

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