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What We See

When you board the America at Next Level Sailing, you will expect to see several whale species, along with countless other beautiful marine life. Explore below and learn about the miraculous whales you may come across on your next adventure.

Baleen Whales

Toothed Whales

Rare Species

Other Species

Your Whale Watching Excursion

Five Baleen whales to be spotted during our whale watching excursions include Gray whales, Blue whales, Humpback whales, Fin whales, and Minke whales. Grays are seen during their winter migration while Blue Whales travel by the San Diego cost during the summer months. Baleen whales differ from other types of whales because they have plates of whalebone in the mouth for straining plankton from the water.

Oppositely, toothed whales are often seen during the year in the Pacific when it comes to San Diego whale watching. The toothed whales that inhabit this area consist of Common dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins, Pacific White Sided Dolphins and Risso dolphins. Toothed whales can be any whale with teeth, but it also includes dolphins and porpoises. These mammals have teeth and a single blowhole.

With prevalent marine life buzzing in the bay area, it begs the question, what time of year is best for whale watching in San Diego? Whale watching season in San Diego is year around! In the winter, you will most likely see migrating gray whales. The spring months are popular as gray whale females migrate with their calves north to Alaska. In the spring, we also see breaching humpback whales and fin whales as well as blue whales. The warm summer months bring an abundance of food, including krill, which bring the blue whales to San Diego to feed. The blue whales stay in San Diego and Southern California all summer long. In the fall, we see humpback whales and fin whales again. Sometimes we find rare whales in the likes the minke whale or even the Dall’s porpoise. No matter when you decide to take a trip on our world-famous Yacht America, you will not be disappointed with the amount of thriving marvelous marine animals seen throughout your memorable journey.