A gray whale off San Diego. Courtesy Birch Aquarium at Scripps
A gray whale off San Diego. Courtesy Birch Aquarium at Scripps

Winter whale-watching tours led by Birch Aquarium naturalists are underway again off San Diego.

It is the 16th year that the world-famous aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography has offered the tours in partnership with Flagship Cruises and Events.

Each year some 20,000 gray whales make the longest mammal migration in the world, passing San Diego on their 10,000-mile round-trip journey from the Bering Sea to Baja California’s lagoons.

Daily tours leave from San Diego Bay and last from 9:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The price is $40 on weekdays and $45 on weekends with discounts for seniors, military, youth 12 and under, and aquarium members

Chris Jennewein is Editor & Publisher of Times of San Diego.