Ocean Wildlife in Long Beach

You may not think a large urban area like Long Beach would be an amazing place to see wildlife, but with our location on the Southern California coast, there is actually an abundant amount of animals in our local waters. From the largest animal that’s ever existed–the blue whale–to fascinating sea jellies and friendly sea lions, you can encounter many species just by boarding a whale watching cruise at our downtown waterfront.

Credit: Harbor Breeze Cruises

WHALE WATCHING

Long Beach is one of Southern California’s best locations for whale watching. Local operator Harbor Breeze Cruises (100 Aquarium Way, Dock 2) offers two daily whale watching cruises, and each boat is staffed with a naturalist from the Aquarium of the Pacific (100 Aquarium Way) to help passengers learn about the ocean animals they encounter on the cruise. Check out our page on whale watching with Harbor Breeze, and read on to learn more about the whales and other wildlife you can see when you go whale watching in Long Beach.

WHALE SPECIES

Whale watching is a year-round activity in Long Beach, with what amounts to a whale superhighway in the Catalina Channel. Gray whales pass through between November and March on their annual migration to Baja, and blue whales visit the area in the summer months to feast on krill. Other species spotted off our coast include fin whales, minke whales, humpbacks, and even orcas, which have been seen in December and January in recent years. In 2024, Harbor Breeze Cruises logged 224 blue whale sightings, 229 grays, 57 orcas, 438 fin whales, 109 humpbacks, one sperm whale sighting, and 4 sightings of Bryde’s whales.

CREDIT: Aquarium of the Pacific

DOLPHINS

Several species of dolphins live off our coast year round, including common dolphins, bottlenose, Pacific white-sided, and Risso’s dolphins. These beloved creatures travel in massive pods numbering in the hundreds in the Catalina Channel, delighting whale watchers with their athletic leaps from the water and their friendly practice of swimming alongside boats and playing in the wake. It is also common to see adult dolphins swimming with their young calves in the winter and spring.

SEALS AND SEA LIONS

If you’ve visited a coastal California town, you probably have heard the sound–the loud barking that lets you know that some California sea lions are hanging out on the local dock, jetty, or buoys. Sea lions are the large, brown animals with long flippers that haul out of the water to sunbathe and rest. They also sometimes swim up to boats out of curiosity or to be ready in case someone accidentally drops a fish into the water. Their cousins, the adorable spotted harbor seals, can also be spotted on rocky jetties around the Long Beach Harbor.

CREDIT: Robin Riggs

BIRDS

As you set sail out of Long Beach on a whale watching cruise, look for some of our local seabird species–it’s much more than seagulls. California brown pelicans make dramatic dives into the water as they hunt for fish, cormorants perch on buoys and jetties spreading their black wings in the sun, and flocks of terns huddle on the sandy beach before they make their daily flight across the water to Catalina.

AND MORE

Beyond whales and dolphins, a cruise out of Long Beach is an opportunity to spot all kinds of interesting ocean wildlife. Large schools of flying fish inhabit the Catalina Channel and often leap out of the water alongside the boat, a phenomenon that has attracted sightseers for more than 100 years. You can also spot sea jellies and salps, a type of gelatinous animal that forms long clusters and live in a colony. An especially rare and fascinating sight is the ocean sunfish, one of the largest bony fish species. These large fish, resembling a flattened fish head without a tail, are named after their habit of coming to the surface to sunbathe.

CREDIT: Robin Riggs

About the Author

Claire Atkinson

Claire Atkinson is a Southern California native who has lived in Long Beach for 20 years. She spends her free time visiting local parks, farmers markets, and museums, and loves learning about Long Beach history and culture.