Community Corner
Record Number of Gray Whale Sightings
400th leviathan spotted Tuesday by Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching tops last year's 277 sightings.
It's a banner year for whale watchers. On Tuesday, reported its 400th gray whale sighting of the 2011-12 season.
And the record-breaking year isn't over. officially runs from November through the end of April, so the number could climb higher, according to Dana Wharf General Manager .
Founder Don Hansen said he was amazed by the numbers of California gray whales. By way of comparison, during the 2010-2011 season, Dana Wharf spotted 277 gray whales, roughly the same as 2009-2010's 272 sightings.
Find out what's happening in San Juan Capistranowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Earlier this season, Dana Wharf launched a Facebook contest in which fans could predict the date of the 400th gray whale sighting, Kalez said.
Ariel Lange guessed correctly and won four whale-watching tickets, a whale-watching video and a Dana Wharf sweatshirt.