Gray Whales Display Mating Behavior In Rare Sighting Near Dana Point

DANA POINT (CBSLA.com) — Whale watchers Sunday saw a rare display of affection and mating behavior between two gray whales two miles off the coast of Dana Point.

Video captured by Captain Dave's Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari and posted on YouTube shows the mammals twirling and breaching in the presence of a tour group, a kayak, a standup paddleboarder, and even bottlenose dolphins.

"Apparently everyone was curious, especially the dolphins. We often see Pacific white-sided dolphins interacting with these whales, but to have bottlenose dolphins was extraordinary," Captain Dave Anderson said.

Every year, gray whales migrate 12,000 miles from feeding grounds in the Chukchi and Bering seas to the warm lagoons of Baja, California, to mate and have calves, according to the company.

"Sometimes they just can't wait and do it on the way down," Anderson said.

The company has had 168 whale encounters thus far this year, as opposed to 78 sightings last January.