Whale Watch Week Event Dates
- Winter Whale Watch 2026: December 27-31
- Spring Whale Watch 2027: March 20-28
What do Oregon Whale Watch Volunteers do?
Volunteering with the Oregon Whale Watch Program can be an incredibly rewarding experience. Each day during Whale Watch Weeks our volunteers interact with hundreds of visitors and share amazing memories. Our Volunteers educate and assist in viewing whales and other marine animals along the scenic Oregon coastline.
Whale Watch Volunteer site hours are from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. counting whales and talking with visitors. Volunteers are asked to participate in the program at least 2 days per whale watch week.
Oregon Whale Watch Volunteers are responsible for setting up site materials at their approved Whale Watch location. The materials consist of a Whale Watch location sign, and small tote with interpretive materials including: whale models, a rope that represents the length of a gray whale and various flyers, stickers and information for our visitors. Most days there will be 2-8 volunteers per site, depending on location.
After 1:00 p.m. a report will be completed by the volunteers with your daily tally of whales, visitors and other information.
Oh, and most importantly, have fun!!!
How to Become a Volunteer
If you’d like to join the Oregon Whale Watch team and help educate the public about these gentle giants of the sea, please complete the registration process at https://orwhalewatch.org/volunteer/ .
Twice a year we offer training for our Whale Watch Volunteers. You’ll learn from local researchers and Oregon State Parks interpretive rangers how to locate and identify common marine mammals of the Oregon coast. It is required for all new Whale Watch Volunteer to either attend a volunteer training or watch a previously recorded one at https://orwhalewatch.org/volunteer-video-resources-2/ .
We encourage seasoned volunteers to participate in a training every three or four years as a refresher, but it is not required.
History
In 1978 Don Giles of the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport headed out to Yaquina Head Lighthouse with his binoculars and a great idea. Colleagues Bruce Mate and Denise Herzing were counting gray whales migrating past Yaquina Head. They confirmed what Don and others intuitively knew: Gray whale migrations along the Oregon coast peak during two special times of the year. The southbound migration happens during the winter holiday season, and the northbound has one of its two peaks near the end of March.
This knowledge motivated Don to create the Whale Watching Spoken Here® program. Since 1978, it has grown to become one of the most organized onshore whale watching programs in the United States.
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department began organizing this program in the early 1980’s and has been the caretaker for the last 40 or so years. The original program name has been changed to “Oregon Whale Watch” but the mission stays the same. We help tens of thousands of people visiting the Oregon Coast learn about gray whales and other cetaceans visible from the shore and most importantly, help people see them!
Reasons for Success:
Location: Thanks to the 1967 Beach Bill, public access is protected along virtually the entire Oregon coastline. In addition, most of the whale watching locations are located in or near state parks.
Abundant whales: Researchers estimate that 13,000-plus gray whales now live in the eastern north Pacific area. About 30 whales per hour migrate past the Oregon coast during the peak southbound migration. By comparison, six per hour pass by on the northbound trip, but that return trip is spread over four months. Some 200-plus of these whales drop off the migration route and feed along the Oregon coast all summer.
Timing: The migrations peaks coincide nicely with times when many visitors are able to visit the coast. Since the main emphasis is on volunteers meeting and greeting visitors interested in whale watching, Don Giles and another colleague, Bev Lund, coined the phrase, “Whale Watching Spoken Here.”
Volunteers: We have had the joy to work with thousands of volunteers since the programs inception. Today we are thankful to have over 150 active volunteers that make this effort possible.