Whale watching is the perfect activity for gathering up with friends and family and catching a glimpse of nature, up close and personal!  Island Packers, Ventura County's official concessionaire to the Channel Islands National Park, is now offering half-day whale watching excursions to view these magnificent mammals. Visit http://islandpackers.com/ for current marine mammal sightings recorded daily from their boat captains.

The 3-3.5-hour non-landing, narrated trips are offered from both Ventura Harbor and Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard.  Trips depart almost daily at 9:30 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. All-day trips with landings on Anacapa or Santa Cruz Islands are available.  The rates for the half-day trips are $37 for adults, $33 for seniors and $27 for children 12 and under. Full-day trips to Anacapa and Santa Cruz Islands are $59 per adult. Camping is also available on all five islands. Boat transportation costs range from $79 per adult. Advance reservations are advised and can be made online at www.islandpackers.com or by calling (805) 642-1393. 

About Pacific Gray Whales

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.  Typically the pregnant females are the first to leave the feeding grounds in Alaska and head south, needing to get to the lagoons to birth their calves.  Following them are the mature adults, sometimes displaying mating behavior as they migrate through the Channel.  The last to leave the productive waters of Alaska are the juveniles, who are more interested in feeding than anything else.  They are sometimes more playful than the adults, breaching and spy hopping for lucky whale watchers.

About Island Packers