Here Comes the Whale Watching Adventure (an Event to Remember) in Oxnard, California

Oxnard, Calif. – Each year while the city is still aglow from the Christmas lights festivals and lanes,  Whale Watching Season takes place off the coast of Oxnard, with a show to rival any nature can provide. One of California's finest harbors and beach vacations exists in Oxnard (the other Hollywood), and we delight in migrating to this Central Coast City to see nature in all its glory. With three months of viewing, you can book a whale watching trip during a 90-day period, thus providing for flexibility in the traveler's busy schedule. It's educational, entertaining, and refreshing to spend a morning or afternoon on a boat out in the Pacific Ocean, scouring for the "tale-tale" signs of the whale migrations.

The season officially begins the day after Christmas (December 26) with at least one of Oxnard's boating firms launching their trips.  Island Packers, Inc., Channel Islands Sportfishing and Captain Hook’s Sportfishing offer daily excursions from Oxnard to view these magnificent mammals that grace the ocean as they migrate through the Santa Barbara Channel where Oxnard is located, but Island Packers, Ventura County’s official concessionaire to the Channel Islands National Park, gets their trip kick-started before the new year, making it an ideal vacation activity for the day after Christmas, or that week between Christmas and New Year's Day.   The seasoned boat & cruise company is known for their professional, friendly service, and is a best bet for fun. They offer 3 ½ hour narrated trips from late December through early April.  Island Packers also offers regular full-day excursions to Anacapa and Santa Cruz Islands, which include whale watching along the way. islandpackers.com

14th Annual Celebration of the Whales - Whale Watching Excursions - December 26, 2009 to April 10, 2010
CELEBRATE A SEASON OF MIGRATION

See a sight you'll never forget . . . View these magnificent mammals of the deep as the Pacific Gray Whale migrates through the waters of the Santa Barbara Channel on their way to the lagoons of Mexico.
Channel Islands celebrates the migration of the Pacific Gray Whale with the "14th Annual Celebration of the Whales". Whale watching excursions to the Channel Islands National Park are offered daily from Oxnard.

WHALE WATCHING EXCURSIONS
RESERVATIONS MAY BE MADE BY CALLING:

CHANNEL ISLANDS SPORTFISHING:
(805) 382-1612

Whale Watching Aboard Ranger 85
Monday through Friday: 11:00 AM departure

Saturdays, Sundays & Holidays: 9:00 AM & 1 PM departures

ISLAND PACKERS: (805) 382-1779

Daily Excursions:
9:30 AM and 1:30 PM
3-1/2 Hour Trip

Every year, an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 Pacific Gray Whales migrate through the Santa Barbara Channel on their way to and from the warm lagoons of Baja California, Mexico. The pregnant females lead the southern migration, passing by the Channel Islands in late December and early January. The mature males and nonpregnant females follow the pregnant females. The juvenile whales are last to head south, usually in February.

The average length of a Gray Whale male is 11m (36 ft), maximum 15 m (50 ft). Females are 12m (39 ft), maximum (50 ft). Average weight for males is 26 metric tons, and females are 31 metric tons with the maximum for the species at 34 metric tons. One of the few whales that lack a dorsal fin, the Gray Whale is a dark charcoal color at birth, but eventually turns a mottled gray due to the large number of barnacles and lice on their bodies.

For more information on Whale Watching Season in Oxnard, call the Oxnard Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-269-6273. Visit the website at www.visitoxnard.com.