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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.

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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.

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