RANCHO PALSO VERDES  Whale of a Day Celebration  Saturday, March 3, 2012, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Free admission.

Point Vicente Interpretive Center
31501 Palos Verdes Drive West

Free parking is available at the Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall located at 30940 Hawthorne Blvd. with a free shuttle bus service to PVIC.

The Rancho Palos Verdes annual Whale of a Day celebration is co-sponsored by the City and the docents of Los Serenos de Point Vicente. The celebration is held on the first Saturday of March each year.  "Whale of a Day" is a festival celebrating the migration of the Pacific Gray Whale from its summer feeding grounds in the Bering and Chuchki Seas in Alaska to the winter breeding and calving grounds in Baja California. Migration viewing takes place December through April along the California South Bay coastline. Whale of a Day is held annually on the first Saturday of March from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The event is free to the public and is  sponsored jointly by members of Los Serenos de Point Vicente and the City of Rancho Palos Verdes. 

MALIBU Leo Carrillo State Park Earth Day Whale Festival earthdaywhalefest.org

Bring beach chairs, binoculars & plenty of sunscreen!. Festival at North Beach.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Parking $12
Admission: It's FREE!
35000 W. Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA


DANA POINT Festival of Whales March 3 -4, 10-11, 2012 festivalofwhales.org

Enjoy the sun, sand and sea at California's best beach party! Celebrate the California Gray Whale and their successful return from the brink of extinction. Whale appreciation and environmental awareness are the themes of the day.

POINT CABRILLO (Near Fort Bragg)  Whale Festival pointcabrillo.org
Celebrate Whale Festival 2012
 March 3-4, 2012 & March 17-18, 2012

Plan Celebrate Whale Festival 2012 at the Point Cabrillo Light Station from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. In addition to a grandstand view of the annual Gray whale migration, visitors can see tide pool organisms without getting their feet wet by visiting the 250 gallon salt water aquarium at the Marine Science Education exhibit in the restored Blacksmith shop. Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers Association (PCLK) volunteer docents will help visitors spot whales, and illuminate Light Station history and local culture with presentations near the Lighthouse. A period museum showing how Lightkeepers and their families lived in the 1930's will be open in the restored First Assistant Lightkeeper's Residence.

Activities for children and families will include a life-size gray whale jigsaw puzzle as well as games led by PCLK's Education staff. The Mendocino Coast Audubon Society will have a photo show of local birds in their booth and offer beginning bird identification walks at 9am each day of Whale Festival. The Marine Mammal Center volunteers will be on hand with fun marine mammal biofacts and specimens to share with young and old.

The Coast Guard Auxiliary, our local lightkeepers, will offer lens tours on Saturday March 3rd and Saturday March 17.

Weather permitting, Docents will lead walks to nearby Frolic Cove and relate the story of the Boston Owned Clipper Ship "Frolic", wrecked off the cove in July 1850, bound from China to San Francisco with a valuable cargo of Chinese merchandise for the Gold Rush miners and their families.

The lighthouse gift shop will be open with original artwork, fascinating books, and unique gifts. Hot drinks and cookies will be available for sale in the lighthouse lobby. Lunch will be available for purchase each day.
About the Gray Whales

Every spring, Gray whales journey with their newborn calves from the protected lagoons of western Baja to their ancestral feeding grounds in the cold waters of the Bering and Chukchi Seas. The whales migrating past Point Cabrillo belong to the Eastern Pacific Gray Whale population of roughly 17,000 to 23,000 individuals. These figures vary year to year, but represent a recovery of the population since Grays were declared a depleted and endangered species in 1946. Though Grays are no longer on the Unites States Endangered Species list, the International Whaling Commission protects them as a "sustained management stock", allowing some annual hunting by subsistence and indigenous peoples. The Eastern Pacific Gray whales pass by Point Cabrillo twice, first on their southward journey from December to February, and again going north between February and May. Newly pregnant females usually lead the northward migration, followed by males, and the last to leave Baja are usually females with new born calves.

New research on the Eastern Pacific Gray whale shows that climate change is affecting the timing of the southward migration, the distance Gray whales travel, their diet and feeding areas and calf survival rate. Some scientists are concerned that the population is once again in decline. Point Cabrillo Lighthouse, 707 937-6122, or email info@pointcabrillo.org


MENDOCINO Whale Festival  mendowhale.com

Mendocino March 3 & 4, 2012
Wine Tasting - Chowder Tasting - Wildlife Art Exhibit - Plein-air Artist Display - Pt Cabrillo Light station Activities - Live Music. Wine tasting and whale watching will be the featured attractions of the 30th Annual Mendocino Whale Festival. Plein-air Artists in the Village Weather permitting! See local artists painting on the Mendocino Headlands. Marine Wildlife Exhibit at the Mendocino Art Center, 10-4pm, Little Lake St., Mendocino. Call 937-5818

Little River March 10 & 11, 2012
Food and Wine Tasting - Open Art Studios - Whale Watching Walks - Sea Cave Kayak Tours - Photography Workshop - VanDamm State Park - Live Music.

Fort Bragg March 17 & 18, 2012

Microbrew tasting and whale watching will be the featured attractions of the 30th Annual Fort Bragg Whale Festival March 17 and 18. With some 20,000 gray whales migrating north from birthing grounds in Mexico to their winter home in Alaska, there will be plenty of whales to view from the Pomo Bluffs Park in Fort Bragg and miles of beaches in MacKerricher State Park just north of the city. Chowder Tasting (Saturday,) Microbrew Beer Tasting - Taste a variety of Micro-Brews from all over! Fort Bragg Whale Festival Hand-Craft Fair
March 19 - 20 The Fair is being held at the Fort Bragg Masonic Center located at 428 North Main St, Fort Bragg. Doors will open to the public at 9:00 AM and remain open until 5:00 PM on Saturday, reopening at 9:00 AM on Sunday and closing at 5 PM

OXNARD Celebration of the Whales Festival March 18, 2012 channelislandsharbor.org
16th Annual Celebration of the Whales Festival

SUNDAY March 18, 2012
10:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M.
at the Farmers' Market, 3350 S. Harbor Blvd.
adjacent to Marine Emporium Landing

Channel Islands Harbor Farmers & Fishermen's Market in conjunction with the Channel Islands Harbor celebrates the migration of the Pacific Grey Whales. The event features live entertainment, whale and marine education exhibits, whale watching excursions, an arts & crafts market, children's activities, BBQ and seafood booths, and a certified Farmers & Fishermen's Market.


2012 MacKerricher State Park Whale Festival
MacKerricher State Park: three miles north of Fort Bragg on Highway
1) MacKerricher State Park's 2012  March 16, 17 and 18.

Call (707) 961-0471, parks.ca.gov

An ideal location for watching migrating whales, MacKerricher provides a wheelchair accessible boardwalk, allowing an easy traverse across the headlands to a deck situated on Laguna Point near the whale route. Docents will present public whale talks on the dates below, and will provide binoculars and a spotting scope to help visitors study whales and other fascinating marine and bird wildlife near MacKerricher's shores. A rare, reconstructed Gray Whale Skeleton is on permanent display near the visitor center and Entry Kiosk. The skeleton is a composite of two whales that beached on the Mendocino Coast, two years apart. Humpback Whale bones are also on display giving a visual size perspective between the grays and humpbacks.
Schedule of Events at MacKerricher State Park

Friday, March 16: 7 p.m.
Close Encounters of the Marine Mammal Kind - Stories of personal
encounters with marine mammals, including whales, told by people who  experienced them. The public is invited to attend and share their stories  of marine mammal encounters. Meet at the MacKerricher Visitor Center,  near the entry kiosk and Whale Skeleton.
March 17 and 18: 11 a.m.
Whale Walks –Docents present an informative overview of whales. The talk/walk starts at the MacKerricher Visitor Center and then proceeds to the whale skeleton before driving to Laguna Point for whale watching.
March 18: 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Whale Fact Scavenger Hunt for children.
At MacKerricher State Park start out at the visitor center and then go
through the park to find clues. Answer questions about gray whales.
Then get a prize.
Sunday, March 29, 1:00 p.m. to 3p.m.
Help us paint the whale skeletons at MacKerricher State Park.
Whale skeleton bones need to be painted to help protect them. Paint and  some brushes will be provided. Bring paint brushes and wear old clothes. Rain or fog will cancel painting the whale skeleton

San Diego, Monterey and San Pedro have had their whale festivals.