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.

22

Whales Spotted

4,900

Dolphins Spotted

5

Different Species Spotted

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Today's Sightings Summary

Detailed Sightings Log - September 13, 2026

Tour Species Count Behavior
Mid-day TourShort-beaked Common Dolphin200BreathingFeedingBow Riding
Mid-day TourHumpback WhaleBreathingDiving

Detailed Sightings Log - September 12, 2026

Tour Species Count Behavior
Sunset TourLong-beaked Common Dolphin1000Running for their livesForagingSurfingSurface ActivePlaying
Sunset TourOrcas8HuntingMugging

Detailed Sightings Log - September 12, 2026

Tour Species Count Behavior
Mid-day TourHumpback Whale1BreathingFeeding
Mid-day TourLong-beaked Common Dolphin750ForagingBreathingSurfingStampede

Detailed Sightings Log - September 12, 2026

Tour Species Count Behavior
Morning TourLong-beaked Common Dolphin750ForagingSurfingSleepingStampedeSurface ActivePlaying
Morning TourHumpback Whale1BreathingMegapod
Morning Tour

Detailed Sightings Log - September 11, 2026

Tour Species Count Behavior
Mid-day TourLong-beaked Common Dolphin1100Surface ActiveCow/Calf PairBow Riding

Recent Sightings

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Incoming Holiday!

Kickin’ off the holiday weekend with a Minke Missile sighting! Minkes may be small, but wow are…

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Rare Risso’s Coming in HOT!

It was a slow day on the water with minimal sightings. We set out into the sunset…

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Da Babies are everywhere!

The baby parade continues! We had clear skies, blue water, and miles of visibility today. We actually…

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Dolphin Sunset

Today the dolphins could just not let us go! Every direction we went we ran into another…

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Blue IS Your Color!

The Inspiration this afternoon had an extremely rare encounter with a blue whale and her baby! This…

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Blubber nuggets!

The blubber nuggets were out in force today — and by that I mean an absolute army…

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Our Typical Route

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

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This Year's Stats

Total: 24,147 dolphins and 317 whales.

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Departing daily from Mission Bay.

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