Whales this week
Whale and dolphin sightings from the last two weeks, posted by the people who saw them. Locations are where the observer was, roughly; some are blurred on purpose.
Recent sightings
Points are where the observer reported the animal, often from shore or a boat; iNaturalist blurs some locations on purpose.
Latest sightings
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Sightings and photos via iNaturalist, last 14 days, Santa Cruz to Big Sur. Photos are shown only when their owner released them under Creative Commons, with the owner's credit line.
Heard in the bay
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MBARI keeps a hydrophone on the sea floor about 890 m down on Smooth Ridge, at the edge of Monterey Canyon, listening day and night. Each night our computer listens to the newest full day MBARI has posted (they arrive about two days late) for the patterns of blue whale B calls, fin whale pulses and humpback song. These are automatic sound-pattern matches, not counts of whales: "likely" and "possible" mean what they say, one whale can make hundreds of calls, and ships, dolphins and sea lions can sound alike. Blue and fin whale calls are too low to hear on a phone, so those clips play 10× faster. Audio: MBARI Pacific Sound, CC-BY 4.0.
In season now
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From the boats and the Aquarium
Why use Cars & Coast for whales
Sightings on a map, not a rumor
Whale and dolphin observations from iNaturalist for the last 14 days, each with a date, an observer and a link to the original record.
Photos credited and licensed
We only show photos their owners released under Creative Commons, with the credit line they chose.
What's around right now
Our wildlife calendar says which animals are in season this month and where to look from shore.
Free, no account, no app
And links to the whale-watch boats' own daily logs, where the crews post what they saw.
Watching responsibly
- Federal guidelines ask boats, kayaks and paddleboards to stay at least 100 yards from whales; never chase, surround or feed them.
- Sightings here are days old by the time you read them. Whales move; nothing on this page means one will be there when you arrive.