This gray whale came in very close to the beach sometimes down to 10 feet of water. This whale is on its Northbound migration from Mexico to Alaska which is one of the longest migrations of any mammal. It is thought that they come in close to shore here sometimes to roll around and scratch barnacles off them as well as possibly trying to feed a little bit, they feed from the mud and typically don't eat anything during their whole migration until they get back up to Alaska so it is rare to see this behavior here. I captured this footage with my drone while aboard a whale watching vessel called Newport Coastal Adventure. During this month and next month, we'll be seeing more of these "beach whales" rolling around in this same spot as they for some reason like to come in close here between the jetty and Balboa Pier.