Rare Sighting of 24 Baird’s Beaked Whales Including Two Calfs

Today we had a very rare sighting of Baird’s Beaked Whales! These have not been sighted in the Bay since last year, and we have never seen such a large group! Baird’s Beaked Whales are the largest of the Beaked Whales. They usually dive more than 3,300 feet, and can hold their breath for an hour! Luckily, they have very consistent diving patterns: they were only diving 25 minutes at a time today, and staying up for close to 8 minutes every surfacing! These cetaceans average about 36 feet long, and are in groups of between 5-20 whales (have been sighted in groups of over 50). We saw a group of 24 individuals, which included two calves. One of the adults even breached! Check out this amazing footage that our drone pilot, Jason Berring, captured from today’s sighting!