San Diego Whale Sightings — Updated Daily!

See what our naturalists have spotted during our last 7 trips in Mission Bay and off the coast of San Diego.

18

Whales Spotted

1,350

Dolphins Spotted

6

Different Species Spotted

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Today's Sightings Summary

Detailed Sightings Log - September 4, 2026

Tour	Species	Count	Behavior
Morning Tour	Long-beaked Common Dolphin	250	Surface ActivePlayingJumpingCow/Calf PairBow Riding
Sunset Tour	Humpback Whale	1	BreathingSurface ActivePlayingJumpingDivingChin SlappingTail SlappingJuvenileBreaching

Detailed Sightings Log - September 3, 2026

Tour	Species	Count	Behavior
Sunset Tour	Long-beaked Common Dolphin	100	HuntingSurface ActiveJumpingChin Slapping

Detailed Sightings Log - September 2, 2026

Tour	Species	Count	Behavior
Morning Tour	Orcas	5	ForagingHuntingJuvenileCow/Calf PairBow RidingBreaching
Morning Tour	Long-beaked Common Dolphin	250	SurfingStampedeDistressSurface ActiveCow/Calf PairRunning for their lives

Recent Sightings

All

Just one – killer – whale is all we need

September 4, 2026

We may not have found killer whales today but we sure did find one KILLER (humpback) whale!…

Wet and Wild

September 3, 2026

Privateer headed out at sunset tonight for a ride in pretty swelly conditions, but that didn’t stop…

Sea Panda hunting party!

September 2, 2026

KILLER WHALES LESS THAN 2 MILES FROM SHORE. We were NOT ready. We headed out thinking we’d…

We found the ETP Killer Whales!

September 1, 2026

Tuesday morning, we got a hot tip that a pod of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Killer whales…

Fin whale, Phalaropes, and flying fish!

August 31, 2026

We had a case of the “fun days” out on the Pacific Ocean on our Monday afternoon…

Killer Whales

August 30, 2026

🌊 KILLER WHALES. Do I need to say more? A pod of ~12 Eastern Tropical Pacific ORCAS…

Our Typical Route

While our route varies with sightings, we typically follow a similar course near known feeding areas.

A typical route that San Diego Whale Watch takes from Mission Bay into the Pacific Ocean to see gray whales

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This Year's Stats

Total: 20,797 dolphins and 316 whales.

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