LAPUSH — It’s happening now.
Gray whales, which make one of the longest migrations of all mammals averaging more than 10,000 miles round trip, are headed north along the Pacific coast to feed in the plankton-rich waters of the Bering and Chukchi seas.
As they move north, LaPush is an ideal spot on the North Olympic Peninsula to catch a close-up glimpse of the magnificent beasts.
“They’re out there right now,” said Sue Payne, a LaPush resident whose residence overlooks the ocean.
“I can watch the whales from my living room.
“This is prime time for whale watching right now,” she said Thursday.
Up from Baja California
Whales that frequent the waters of LaPush are easily seen from March through June during their spring migration north from Baja California, where they breed and produce their calves.
It’s thanks to the calves, in fact, that current beaches offers so many close-up views of the whales.
“I’ve just spotted several of the mothers with their calves,” said Teresa Vazquez, an employee at Quileute Ocean Park Resort and a Quileute tribal member.
“They swim up real close, while the males swim further out and don’t get so close to the shore.
“This is my favorite time of the year.”
When the ocean waters are calm is when the mother whales move in closer to the coastline with their young.
But if the sea is rough, whales generally stay clear of the coast, Vazquez said.
