December 19, 2019 3:20 a.m.
Staff with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department are inviting visitors to the coast for the annual Winter Whale Watch Week December 27th through the 31st.
Thousands of Gray whales are migrating south through Oregon’s waters. Trained volunteers from the Whale Watching Spoken Here program will be stationed from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. each day at more than 20 of the best whale watching sites on the coast, ready to help visitors spot whales and answer questions about the animals.

A map of volunteer-staffed sites is available at: https://oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=thingstodo.dsp_whaleWatching
An estimated 25,000 Gray whales are expected to swim past Oregon’s shores over the next several weeks as part of their annual migration south to the warm calving lagoons near Baja, Mexico. The end of December is peak time for their migration, as roughly 30 whales pass by per hour.

The Whale Watching Center in Depoe Bay will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily. It has interactive whale exhibits and panoramic ocean views. Park rangers are on hand to answer questions about the whales.