On February 12, employees at the Roundhouse Aquarium at the end of the Manhattan Beach Pier—in my hometown of Manhattan Beach, California—captured a pretty amazing scene: a 33- to 34-foot juvenile grey whale playing just off the beach for nearly an hour. Employees Eric Martin and Daniel Genuth managed to get the aquarium’s drones into the air to document the animal, and the footage is beautiful. (I can’t say the same about the music they chose, so watch it with the mute button on ?.) Check it out above!
I’m fortunate to live near the pier and I visit it often. Though I’ve never personally seen a grey whale at Manhattan Beach Pier, I’ve seen one from the beach multiple times (usually while playing beach volleyball).
More on Manhattan Beach
Manhattan Beach is just a 15-minute drive from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), so if you have a long layover, I highly recommend visiting. In fact, I created a guide on what to do and where to eat and shop in MB, which is here. If you want to get up close to the whales (and you don’t see a grey whale at Manhattan Beach Pier), there are whale-watching boats in nearby Redondo Beach. If you don’t like boats there’s a good chance you’ll spot them from the Point Vicente Lighthouse in Rancho Palos Verdes this time of year (usually November-April).
More whale and animal footage
- Orca Near Cape Cod
- Whale Surprises Boaters in Canada
- Paddle Boarder’s Close Encounter With Killer Whales
- Drone Footage of Dolphins and Whales
- Man Surfs With Dolphins
- Woman Wakeboarding with Dolphins
- Travel Webcam of the Week: Monterey Bay Aquarium Shark Cam
- Thousands of Horses Gallop Through Snow
- Deer Jumps Over Motorcyclist
- Man Punches a Kangaroo in the Face to Rescue His Dog
- 70 Tiger Sharks from a Drone
- British Airways Flies a Heroic Secret Service Dog to London in Style
