23rd Annual Whale Watch Weekend at Cabrillo National Monument

Each year, an estimated 20,000 gray whales in the Eastern Pacific herd return from Alaskan feeding waters to warm, shallow lagoons in Baja California to give birth and find mates. Their round trip migration is the longest of any mammal in the world.

Cabrillo National Monument will hold its 23rd annual Whale Watch Weekend and Intertidal Life Festival this weekend, February 6 and 7, 2010, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

This educational, family-oriented event celebrates the return of migrating Pacific gray whales to Point Loma and the intertidal life found in the tide pools on the
monument’s western shore. This year’s festival will also celebrate the ribbon-cutting for the park’s new Kelp Forest and Whale Overlook and will coincide with the park’s hosting of the temporary exhibit “Sea of Cortez.”

In addition to whales and sea anemones, this weekend will feature
guest speakers, films, and a puppet show. For more information, contact Rick Jenkins at 619-523-4573 or Rick_Jenkins@nps.gov.