A whale watching tour group in California reportedly ‘got more than they bargained for’ during a recent excursion.
NBC Los Angeles reports that part of the rare encounter was captured in a video posted to the tour company’s YouTube page, Captain Dave’s Dana Point Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari.
In the video, the company said its staff and guests were off the coast of Dana Strands Beach in Dana Point when they came across a gray whale who was birthing a calf.
“At first, the sighting appeared to be a typical migrating gray whale,” NBC quotes the company as saying in a social media post. “As the boat slowly approached the animal, our crew noticed it was behaving sporadically.”
“Passengers and crew saw something orange and red colored in the water that they thought might have been kelp,” the company added in its post. “Instead, a newborn calf came up to the surface.”
According to NBC and whale-watching experts, gray whales usually prefer to give birth in the warm waters off of Baja California, Mexico.
“This one appears to have been born before its mother could reach the warmer waters during her annual migration,” the company confirmed to NBC.
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