DANA POINT – Tom Southern was just about to point out some sea lions on the rocks on the jetty at the mouth of Dana Point Harbor to a group of tourists, when a gray whale’s fluke heading into the harbor caught his eye.
Southern, a captain on a whale-watch catamaran, spun the boat around and followed the juvenile whale as it made its way through the channel, nearly to the sandbar at the Ocean Institute and not far from Baby Beach.
Southern followed the mammal to make sure it wasn’t caught in a rope or net.
“This is the first whale I’ve seen inside the harbor in almost five years,” said Southern, who has worked for Capt. Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari for more than a decade. “The last one I saw was Lily, when I was out on my day off paddleboarding. Nice to see a healthy, young gray whale.”
Lily’s story attracted national attention in 2010 after the young whale had been spotted swimming in and out of the harbor.
Unlike the gray whale seen Monday, Lily was entangled. A team of rescuers had to free her from rope and netting.
Officials were optimistic that the 30-foot creature might resume her journey to Alaska after the net was removed.
But the emaciated whale didn’t have enough strength, and biologists and others saw her slowly deteriorate. Lily’s body washed up near San Juan Creek.
The whale seen Monday was in the harbor only for about 20 minutes.
“He figured it out pretty quick and headed back out of the harbor,” Southern said. “It’s fairly early to see a juvenile heading north. They stay close to the beach when they’re learning their route.”
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