Baby whale sighting draws hundreds to Seal Beach
A baby gray whale playfully swimming just a few feet from shore drew hundreds of spectators to the shoreline at Seal Beach on Sunday, Aug. 19.
Beachgoers and lifeguards first spotted the 16-foot whale south of the Seal Beach Pier between lifeguard towers 4 and 8 sometime after 2 p.m. The founder of the nonprofit Marine Animal Rescue in Torrance, Peter Wallerstein, identified the animal as a gray whale, which is a bottom-feeding species.
A baby whale described as playful swims just a few feet away from shore at #SealBeach Pier. It’s likely a gray whale, a species that prefers shallow water according to @MarineAnimalRes founder Peter Wallerstein. Footage courtesy Scott Stasoiskihttps://t.co/5sAkwP6v68 pic.twitter.com/kLDEMvGl16
— Eric Anthony Licas (@EricLicas) August 20, 2018
“They’re the only species that prefer shallow waters,” said Wallerstein. “People sometimes worry that they might get beached, but they are just doing what comes naturally them.”
The animal did not display signs of distress and was exhibiting normal behavior, said Michael Diller, a Marine Safety Officer for the city of Seal Beach. Spectators said they thought it was playing with them as it slapped at waves with its flippers and tail fins and shot jets of spray from its blowhole.
Seal Beach resident Scott Stasoiski, 36, was doing laundry when he noticed a large gathering of people on the beach, and said he was glad he came down to shore to catch a rare sighting.
“I live 100 yards from the ocean and I never see this happen,” said Stasoiski.
He said he managed to get within 10 feet of the whale and that it appeared to be trying to use the shore to scrape barnacles off of its body. There was some concern that the creature might come to close to shore and become beached. However, Stasoiski’s girlfriend, Mary Maloney, 51, said that the shore’s depth falls off rapidly at that portion of the beach and estimated that the whale was swimming in somewhere between five and eight feet of water.
The couple said hundreds of people came to catch a glimpse of Sunday’s spectacle and take photos. Diller said the massive sea mammal didn’t pose a threat to swimmers, however, Seal Beach lifeguards were out patrolling the area to make sure nobody got too close.
“There’s no immediate risk, but we are asking people to give way to it,” said Diller. “It is still a wild animal, so you can never be sure how it might react.”
