2023 Festival of Whales Event Guide

OFFICIAL EVENT GUIDE

WELCOME TO THE 52 ND ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF WHALES

Mayor’s Message

BYMAYOR MIKE FROST

IT IS

TO

OUR FESTIVAL OF WHALES, which commemorates Dana Point’s pride in its distinctive role in the migration of thousands of whales that pass along our city’s beautiful coastline.

Throughout that March weekend, there will be many opportunities for residents and visitors to experience whale watching, learn more about these great creatures at special presentations, and share in arts festivals, live music, classic car shows and so much more.

Over the years, many individuals have played an important role in ensuring we not only celebrate the whale migration but also honor our responsibility in caring for the beaches and ocean waters that are home to these great creatures.

There are many city leaders who have devoted much of their life to increase

awareness of this critical environmental legacy.

In 2022, we lost one of those iconic individuals, Wayne Rayfield.

He served on the Dana Point City Council from 1998 to 2006, was named Dana Point Citizen of the Year in 2004, and served as Mayor of the City of Dana Point in 2005.

He went on to serve as Director of the South Coast Water District from 2008 to 2022. During that time, he worked diligently on water conservation and protecting this important natural resource.

Ongoing efforts to care for the environment, our ocean, and beaches are vital.

That is why I am excited to share that on Sunday, March 5, at 9 a.m. during the Festival of Whales, volunteers can join one of two beach cleanups.

These are great ways to reduce litter, protect marine life, and raise awareness about the harmful effects of trash and plastic pollution. Later that day, everyone is invited to join in the “OC Streams of Hope” presentation. This is a countywide public arts and community cleanup campaign that will help to inspire people across Orange County and beyond to become even better stewards of our coasts and waterways.

Let’s all get inspired during this year’s Festival of Whales to do our part to ensure Dana Point and its coastline remain a safe destination for all marine life—especially our magnificent whales.

Festival of Whales Partners with Laguna Cliffs Marriott, Launches Concerts on the Cliff

Musical artists Sheena Easton and Taylor Dayne will headline the Festival of Whales Foundation’s inaugural Concerts on the Cliff at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa on March 4.

The special “Ladies Night” event will be held on the resort’s Vue Lawn, where Easton, a two-time Grammy Award-winning artist, and American pop artist Dayne will perform.

And back in early January, the Foundation also announced that it has partnered with the Laguna Cliffs Marriott for the 52nd annual Festival of Whales, making the resort the preferred lodging partner.

“We look forward to introducing our own signature event as part of the festival and supporting the Festival of Whales

Foundation for many years to come,” Laguna Cliffs Marriott General Manager Jeff Perkins said in a media release.

“We are so fortunate to have a direct view of the festival happenings and beautiful Dana Point Harbor, the gateway to these extraordinary whale-watching experiences,” Perkins continued.

Donna Kalez, Festival of Whales Foundation chair and daughter of the festival’s founder, Don Hansen, added that the resort’s vision and values “align perfectly with the festival, as they promote ocean-friendly practices and are passionate about keeping our beaches clean and preserved for generations to come.”

—Breeana Greenberg

MEET THIS YEAR ’ S LOGO ARTIST

BY BREEANA GREENBERG

Gearing up for the 52nd annual Festival of Whales, taking place in Dana Point from March 3-5, the event’s Foundation Board selected Rancho Santa Margarita resident Suzanne Maynard as this year’s logo artist.

The Festival of Whales Foundation previously held an annual logo design contest, accepting public submissions for that prior year’s logo. Before that, the foundation selected student designs for the logo.

The board chose this year’s designer from among its favorites of past entries. Maynard had submitted a logo to the design contest in 2017.

“It felt good, because at the time I was like, ‘I think this is a really good logo,’ and then I kind of forgot about it,” Maynard said. “It feels good to have the recognition that people like it.”

Maynard moved to California 10 years ago, after studying advertising at the Pratt Institute of Art and Design.

“I was in New York my whole life and just wanted a little change of pace,” Maynard said.

Maynard now lives in Rancho Santa Margarita and is a creative director at PRECISIONeffect.

When she first moved to South Orange County, Maynard especially enjoyed walking around the Dana Point Harbor. She even had her baby shower in the harbor.

Submitting the Festival of Whales logo design was a fun side gig, Maynard said. When drawing up the logo design, Maynard merged the warm, colorful aesthetic of the ’70s with beachy, coastal California vibes.

“I’m not a California native, and whenever I thought of California, I thought of this very vintagey, beachy vibe,” Maynard said. “It felt very nostalgic. I knew I wanted to create something with that kind of ’70s feel to it, that texture, the color.”

Suzanne Maynard, the Rancho Santa Margarita artist behind this year’s Festival of Whales logo, shows off her design that has been used to promote the 2023 event.

Photo: Courtesy of Suzanne Maynard

AN HONOR THIS TIME OF YEAR

CELEBRATE

ISLAND

Schedule of Events

FRIDAY, MARCH 4

OCEAN INSTITUTE

WELCOMING OF THE WHALES

Purple

4:45-9 p.m. The Festival of Whales and Ocean Institute invite the community to a sunset welcoming ceremony by members of the local Acjachemen Nation, along with a Dana Point Surf Club paddle-out at the Marine Protected Area beach behind the Ocean Institute. Following the beach ceremony, a reception will be held inside the Ocean Institute. The event will include food truck cuisine and beverages for purchase, a screening of the Humpback Whales movie, Ocean Institute’s free interactive educational activities and displays, live music and Festival merchandise for sale. 5

SATURDAY, MARCH 4

WAY/DP HARBOR

DRIVE

FESTIVAL OF WHALES PARADE

10 a.m. The parade route starts at the Richard Henry Dana statue on the Island Way Bridge and proceeds over the bridge, then right on Dana Point Harbor Drive and continues until it ends at Golden Lantern. The parade can be viewed from sections of the Island Way Bridge and along Dana Point Harbor Drive. The parade features giant helium parade balloons, marching bands, school groups, nonprofit organizations and floats. For more information, email recreation@danapoint.org. 1, 8, 2

DANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL YOUNG ARTISTS SHOW AND SALE

10 a.m.-4 p.m. High school students from DHHS/SOCSA present artworks in various mediums for purchase. See pottery, photography, drawing, painting and more. 8

JUST HAVIN’ FUN CAR CLUB SHOW

Noon-4 p.m. On the east side of the Island Way bridge, there will be the Just Havin’ Fun Car Club Show, which will feature a large selection of classic cars, from muscle cars to hotrods to trucks and American family cruisers. 9

GOLDEN LANTERN/DP HARBOR DRIVE WHALES, TAILS & ALES (STREET FAIR)

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Join Pet Project Foundation for a day of outdoor fun for the whole family—both the two-legged and four-legged members! Enjoy craft beer, delicious eats, live music, kid-friendly fun with our friends from Dave & Buster’s, dog costume contests, local artisans, dog-friendly vendors and much more. Find out more at peprojectfoundation.org. 2

BABY BEACH

CARDBOARD CLASSIC & DINGHY DASH

8 a.m.-1 p.m. Westwind Sailing hosts their 6th Annual Cardboard Classic & Dinghy Dash. This event is a fun-filled, family-oriented day that includes a cardboard boat building contest and race (the Dinghy Dash), business boat exhibition and public vote, food, event celebrity emcee Jim Taylor, music and awards. For more information or to register a team, visit

SUNDAY, MARCH 5

westwindsailing.com/cardboard-classic-dinghy-dash or call 949.492.3035. 15

CLAM CHOWDER COOK-OFF

11 a.m.-3 p.m. Join the fun of the 10th annual Fish for Life Clam Chowder Cook-Off, featuring delicious bites form all your local favorite restaurants! The cost to taste all chowders is $10. Guests will receive two voting tickets: one to cast your vote for the People’s Choice Award, and one for the Best Booth Decoration. Find out more at fishforlife.org. 15

LAGUNA CLIFFS MARRIOTT RESORT & SPA

CONCERTS ON THE CLIFF

3-8 p.m. As the official hospitality partner of Dana Point Festival of the Whales, join Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa for this special Ladies Night event featuring artists Sheena Easton and Taylor Dayne in conjunction with Bobby Dee Presents. Tickets are available at ticketmaster.com. 17

DANA WHARF

WYLAND ‘ART LESSONS IN THE WILD’

9-9:45 a.m. Marine muralist Wyland continues the Landmark Whale and Dolphin Adventure “Art Lessons in the Wild,” facilitating the most creative experience on the water. Each participant will receive a free gift and create their own work of art aboard a Dana Wharf vessel. All of the artwork will be judged by Wyland himself, with multiple winners and a grand prize winner who will receive a special framed and signed art creation by Wyland, valued up to $3,000. 3

HARPOON HENRY’S

MARINE MAMMAL LECTURE SERIES:

ALISA SCHULMAN-JANIGER

9:30-10:30 a.m. Enjoy a continental breakfast while listening to a fascinating talk by Alisa Schulman-Janiger on the California Orca and Gray Whale Census. Admission is $10 for adults; children are free. 13

ANTIQUE & CLASSIC BOAT SOCIETY SHOW

10 a.m.-4 p.m. See antique and classic boats on display, including vintage mahogany and fiberglass models. Boats will be in the parking lot directly east of Harpoon Henry’s. 6

BABY BEACH

DIAMOND DIG

9 a.m.-noon. Join Monarch Beach Rotary Club for the annual Diamond Dig at Baby Beach, which raises money for children’s charities. Buy a shovel for $10, dress like a pirate, and start digging at 11 a.m. Find out more at danapointrotary.org. 15

STAND-UP PADDLING CLINICS

10 a.m.-1 p.m. Join the SUP craze and learn firsthand why it’s the fastest growing water sport today. These 45-minute water clinics will be held each hour on the hour—weather and conditions permitting. The cost to join is $10. Lifejackets are provided. Head to the booth at the OC Sailing & Event Center. More information can be found at westwindsailing.com. 7

INTERACTIVE SAILING RIDES

10 a.m.-1 p.m. Take a sailing ride and learn how to steer and sail a Capri 14! For $10, anyone 5 and older can enjoy 20-minute rides (with three participants maximum per boat)—weather and conditions permitting. Lifejackets will be provided. Find the Westwind Sailing booth at the OC Sailing & Event Center. All proceeds are donated to the Dana Point Aquatic Foundation for educational boating scholarships benefiting at-risk youth and adaptive boating programs. Check out westwindsailing.com for details. 7

CONCERT ON THE WATER AND BBQ

Noon-5 p.m. Bring your beach chairs and blankets to enjoy an afternoon of music, food and spirits. This free concert is held at Baby Beach, in the Dana Point Harbor with the bands playing on a floating dock. 15 Noon-12:30 p.m. Andrea Sheva (singer/ guitarist)

12:30-2:30 p.m. The Moondog Miller Band

3-5 p.m. The Reflexx

HARPOON HENRY’S

MARINE MAMMAL LECTURE SERIES:

KIRSTEN DONALD

9:30-10:30 a.m. Enjoy a continental breakfast accompanied by a talk with Pacific Marine Mammal Center’s Kirsten Donald on sea lion entanglement, rehabil-

itation and research. Admission is for $10 adults; children are free. 13

DANA WHARF

STORY TIME

10-11 a.m. Join Nona the Naturalist inside the belly of a whale for story time and learn some fun facts about cetaceans. What’s a cetacean? Find out as you sit inside a 25-foot blow-up whale. 3

KIDS’ FISHING CLINIC AND TRIP

Noon-12:30 p.m. & 12:45-5:15 p.m. Dana Wharf Sportfishing invites all children to join this dockside fishing clinic and learn hands-on techniques on fishing from the experts. Prizes will be raffled off at the end of the clinic, which will be followed by a fishing trip. Adult admission is $61, plus license and equipment; children 12 and under are $10 with a purchase of a full price adult ticket. 3

DOHENY STATE BEACH

WHALE OF A CLEANUP

9 a.m.-noon. Celebrate the majestic migratory Gray Whale and the Festival by getting that debris off the beach before it washes out to sea and poses a threat to marine life. Those interested in participating should plan on meeting by the picnic tables along the boardwalk adjacent to the San Juan Creek river mouth. Volunteers are encouraged to bring work gloves and drinking water. 14

OCEAN INSTITUTE

STAND UP TO TRASH BEACH CLEANUP

9-11 a.m. Check in at the front of the Ocean Institute to sign up and get supplies (bags, buckets and grabbers). Stand Up to Trash encourages the “BYOB” philosophy (bring your own bucket or reusable bag, reusable gloves, water bottle or coffee cup) to help reduce any additional waste, but collection supplies will be available at check-in; then you’re free to roam the beach, ocean or surrounding areas to clean on your own, or make it a fun group project with friends and family. Pre-registration at standuptotrash.com is encouraged. 5

correspondnumbers with map on the following pages.

!

DANA POINT HARBOR

FESTIVAL MERCHANDISE

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Logo merchandise will be available for purchase at booths near Dana Wharf Whale Watching on both days, as well as at the Whales, Tails & Ales Street Fair on Saturday, and at Baby Beach on Sunday. 2, 3, 15

HARBOR MUSIC SERIES

Noon-3 p.m. Enjoy a variety of musical styles and sounds presented by Dana Point Harbor Partners, and in conjunction with Community Outreach Alliance. Musical performances will take place in the Dana Wharf Courtyard area in front of El Torito, and along the Harbor Walkway in front of Coffee Importers. 3, 13

ISLAND WAY/DP HARBOR DRIVE

ART IN THE PARK

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Browse through booths of local artisans presenting artwork in a variety of mediums, including painting, photography, gems and fossils, art glass and sea glass, wood, pottery, jewelry, textiles and much more. Art in the park will be held on the west side of Island Way, on the corner of Dana Point Harbor Drive. 8

GOLDEN LANTERN/DP HARBOR DRIVE

WYLAND CLEAN WATER EXHIBIT LEARNING EXPERIENCE

10 a.m.-4 p.m. The popular Wyland Clean Water Mobile Learning Experience is a 1,000-square-foot science exhibit on wheels dedicated to inspiring and educating people everywhere about the state and future of our lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands. The exhibit includes a 40-person onboard theater, an exhibit room with a running river, computer modeling simulations, interactive touch exhibits, and actual rain falling over an urban landscape. 2

BOTH DAYS OF FESTIVAL

HARBOR WALKWAY

DANA POINT FINE ARTS ASSOCIATION

SHOW & SALE

9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Art will be on display at the Harbor Boardwalk along the boat docks in Mariner’s Village on the east side of the Coffee Importers Espresso Bar and Harpoon Henry’s restaurant. Watercolor, oil, acrylic, colored pencil, woodworking and photography by many award-winning local artists will be available for purchase. 10

All Month Long

LANTERN DISTRICT

DANA POINT HISTORICAL SOCIETY WALKING TOUR

2 p.m. Join historians on the Dana Point Historical Society’s annual historic town center Walking Tour. See and hear the stories of historic landmarks, view home exteriors of S.H. Woodruff’s original 1920s planned community, as well as bluff top harbor views that represent the area’s early history. The tour meets at the corner of PCH and Blue Lantern, in front of the historic building now home to Coastal Kitchen. 16

OCEAN INSTITUTE

OCEAN INSTITUTE

WHALE TAIL SCAVENGER HUNT

March 5- 27. Eight decorative wooden whale tails will be hidden throughout the Dana Point Harbor area from March 4-19. To enter for a chance to win a whale watching trip for a family of four, and $300 in gift cards to local Dana Point businesses, find all eight whale tails, take a photo standing by each, and email all eight photos to recreation@danapoint.org by March 28. And don’t forget to post on social media with #DPRecWhaleTailSighting and #festivalofwhales. Please don’t remove any of the whale tails once you have found them. For additional information, contact the City of Dana Point Recreation Division at 949.248.3536.

CLASSIC CAR DISPLAYS

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Pacific Coast Corvettes

Club Car Show will display dozens of classic Corvettes both Saturday and Sunday, west of the Island Way bridge. On Saturday, also on the west side of the bridge, the SoCal Woodies Club Car Show will display the best example of iconic Woodie wagons—the classic vehicle of early Southern California surf culture—and on Sunday, the Austin Healy Association of SoCal and the Jaguar Owners Club of LA will display fine British motorcars for the British Invasion Car Show. 11, 12

DOHENY STATE BEACH

DOHENY STATE BEACH VISITOR’S CENTER OPEN HOUSE TOUR

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Visit Dana Point’s hidden gem—the Doheny State Beach Visitor’s Center—for an open house tour and Q&A session focused on the center’s whale collection displays. 14

The Ocean Institute will be open to feature several general admission activities such as a Gray Whale Pop-up Museum, Whaling History, Jr. Whale Researcher, Senses of the Sea and much more. Admission for adults is $15; $10 for seniors; and $7.50 for kids. Head to oceaninstitute.org for more details and to purchase tickets. 5

ECO HEROES:

DREAM TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Capt. Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari will premiere virtual experiences for guests to enjoy on the business’s YouTube channel. These virtual experiences will include Doug Perrine, an award-winning photographer and researcher; Rick Erkeneff of Surfrider Foundation; and Tom Mustill, an author, photographer and researcher.

Whale Watching

OCEAN INSTITUTE

BOTH DAYS OF FESTIVAL AND BEYOND

DANA WHARF WHALE WATCHING

8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Use Dana Wharf’s promo code FOW23 to save $10 off all tickets, excluding special (already discounted) 8 a.m. or 4:30 p.m. trips. For reservations, call 1.888.224.0603 or visit danawharf.com.

CAPT. DAVE’S DOLPHIN & WHALE WATCHING SAFARI

8 a.m.-4 p.m. For a limited time, save 20% instantly when you book a 2½hour Signature Safari or two-hour Zodiac Safari. For reservations, schedule and information: 949.488.2828 or visit dolphinsafari.com.

10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. These Marine Mammal Cruises depart twice each day. Join the crew for an experience you will never forget. This 2½-hour adventure aboard the RV Sea Explorer, Ocean Institute’s 65-foot research vessel, takes you miles beyond the Dana Point Harbor jetty in search of marine mammals such as migrating Blue whales, large schools of playful dolphin, the impressive sunfish known as Mola, and more. For more information or reservations, please visit oceaninstitute.org or call 949.496.2274.

WHALE WATCHING FROM LAND

8 a.m.-4 p.m. During this peak season, 40-50 whales pass by Dana Point each day, using the Dana Point Headlands’ 200-foot cliffs near the harbor as a landmark to check their migration path. Enjoy blufftop viewing from the Headlands Nature Interpretive Center.

MERCHANDISE FESTIVAL OF WHALES

EVENT MAP

Purple numbers correspond with event schedule.

The 2023 Dana Point Festival of Whales merchandise offerings include a colorful array of adult- and children-sized long-sleeve and short-sleeve T-shirts, zip-front and pullover hoodies, lapel pins and posters. There’s something for everyone!

MERCHANDISE BOOTH LOCATIONS

FRIDAY, MARCH 3

4:45-7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, MARCH 4 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

SUNDAY, MARCH 5

10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Welcoming of the Whales at Ocean Institute

Dana Wharf (in front of Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching, in the Wharf parking lot) Whales, Tails & Ales Street Fair

Dana Wharf (in front of Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching, in the Wharf parking lot) Near the Concert on the Water at Baby Beach

* Merchandise quantities are limited. Booths may close early if items sell out.

GETTING TO THE FESTIVAL

BY BREEANA GREENBERG

ATTENDEES CAN HOP ON ONE OF SEVERAL TROLLEYS OPERATING through the harbor to get to each event. Trolleys will make stops along Dana Point Harbor Drive, stopping in most Harbor area parking lots and event locations from Baby Beach to Puerto Place.

The Festival of Whales will offer off-site parking and trolley service throughout the weekend from Dana Hills High School. The festival trolley will make stops throughout town, and will shuttle guests from the Harbor and back. Festival organizers strongly encourage visitors to avoid Harbor traffic and take advantage of the parking at Dana Hills.

For the first time in the Festival of Whales’ 52-year history, a bike corral will be available for cyclists to store their bikes and e-bikes during the Festival weekend from March 4-5.

On Saturday, March 4, the bike corral will be located on the corner of Golden Lantern and Dana Point Harbor Drive, in the main harbor parking lot. On Sunday, March 5, the corral will be located at Baby Beach.

Doheny Bike will provide staffing for the corrals, with Rosen Law Offices sponsoring the new service.

For more information, visit festivalofwhales.com.

GETTING AROUND

TROLLEY and Parking Information

FREE trolleys will run on Saturday (Parade Day) from 7 AM to 6 PM and Sunday from 10 AM to 6:30 PM. This special Festival trolley service will begin at Dana Hills High School and include a few downtown stops, the Community Center, most Harbor area parking lots and event locations, except for a short period of time on Saturday, when a special Parade time route will run from 7 AM to approximately 11:30 AM. Avoid traffic and plan to park at the high school and trolley down to the celebration!

EBike Corrals

Bike corrals will be located in the main Harbor parking lot (on the corner of Golden Lantern & Dana Point Harbor Dr.) on Saturday, March 4 and will be located at Baby Beach on Sunday, March 5. Riders must provide their own bike locks.

PARADE TIME SHUTTLE ROUTE

Hourly parking ($3/hour, $6 minimum/$15 max for all day) is available at Doheny State Beach at the automated payment kiosks. You may also use the Passport Parking app at https://ppprk.com/ park/.

In addition to making the initial payment via the app, time can also be added remotely from your cell phone or tablet. Free parking is available in and around the Harbor, along with some paid lots. Most of the Harbor’s FREE lots are limited to four hours maximum. Keep track of time or better yet, opt for all-day parking at Doheny.

DANA HILLS STUDENTS GET UNIQUE EXPERIENCE WITH DANA WHARF TRIP

BY COLLIN BREAUX

You Never Know What You Will See

BY CAPT. DAVE ANDERSON

I AM A BLESSED MAN WITH AN UNUSUAL OCCUPATION.

I, we, have seen a lot off the coast of Dana Point over the past 28 years. I have witnessed a pod of more than 10,000 common dolphins, so large it stretched out over five miles. I’ve watched pacific white-sided dolphins and bottlenose dolphins bow riding and frolicking in front of blue whales and humpbacks and gray whales and make themselves just as vulnerable in front of our boats.

In separate incidents, we had a bottlenose dolphin and a pilot whale pushing their dead calf around unable to let go, grieving. One day, I was surprised by a gray whale mom with twins, because they normally have only one calf.

I have filmed so many amazing things with my drone within a few miles of our harbor, such as dolphin stampedes or a blue whale calf nursing from her mother or a group of eight gray whales swimming together like dolphins.

I couldn’t believe my joy at seeing a humpback whale free itself from a prawn trap, just outside Dana Point Harbor, with violent thrashes and breeches twisting and turning because they have no hands or arms to untangle themselves.

I have seen countless balloons in the water, day after day. Balloons that should be illegal to release, like any other littering on land or in the ocean.

We’ve seen hundreds, maybe thousands, of gray whales pass by our whistle buoy, jetty and harbor entrance, a few mistakenly even coming inside our harbor. I have seen gray whales breach and reach for the sky, and I’ve seen them die, taking their last breath on the shore after being entangled for over a year.

I have been towed by a blue whale

and then thought about him for days after he escaped our attempt to free him of 200 pounds of crab traps. I’ve seen way more failures than successes, as many here in Dana Point have answered their silent calls for help over the years. I’ve made my living from whales, and so I was willing when they needed my help.

One day, I had to make the call to leave and give up on the rescue of an entangled gray whale calf, because her mom wouldn’t let us get close enough to her offspring to remove the fishing gear. It was heartbreaking.

So, in January, when a gray whale actually gave birth in front of three of our whale-watching boats, I was moved to tears.

She could have easily moved away from us. Why would she give birth next to our whale-watching boats and then bring her weak, flopping progeny over to our boats, as she did that day? As if to say, “Hey, look at my beautiful calf,” as gray whales often do in the birthing grounds in Baja.

Why, when our own dogs wouldn’t even do that and might not even let you near their pups? Why did she trust us? Why do they trust us when we hunted them almost to extinction and fill the ocean with plastic and accidentally catch them in fishing gear or run them over?

We have the first and longest-running Festival of the Whales. And it is fitting. We should have a festival; we should celebrate the gray whale migration. We should celebrate all their courage—to not run away, far away from us.

And, instead, let us carefully watch them. And even trust us with their newborn. We can do better with what has been given to us to care for and protect. And we will.

Instead of taking a test or turning in homework, Dana Hills High School student Maddie Keene spent part of her school morning out on the water.

Keene, 16, was onboard a Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching boat on Thursday, Feb. 2, for a class trip visual arts students took in conjunction with the upcoming Festival of Whales.

The boat ride out of Dana Point Harbor is an annual tradition intended to foster ecological curiosity in students and so they can explore different environments in their own backyard.

Some students, including Keene, took photos of the water and sea lions they saw for a class project. Other students will draw what they witnessed or artistically convey the trip in other ways.

“I think it’s really cool that our school is able to experience these types of things, especially because we live in this area,” Keene said. “I’m really grateful that we get to have this experience when there are a lot of other kids who don’t get to see the ocean in their lifetime. I just always feel super grateful.”

Keene has gone on previous whale watching excursions, but Thursday’s outing was her first time with classmates. She has previously participated in the Festival of Whales, which will happen at around the Dana Point Harbor this year from March 3-5.

“Last year, what we did is we took whales and made a logo for the Festival of Whales,” Keene said.

This school year marks the first time Keene is studying photography, though she has taken other art classes in the past.

“Being able to take pictures of the cool stuff of the area that we live in,” Keene said of what she likes about photography. “Dana Point is a very photographic area to live in.”

Visual arts instructors Jon Ginnaty, Chau Tran and Natalie Hribar-Kelly accompanied their students on the trip. Ginnaty—who teaches ceramics—said his students might translate their trip into ceramic work if possible but, if not, will still

appreciate the life experience of going out in the Pacific Ocean.

“Festival of Whales will have a booth that displays some of our student artwork,” Ginnaty said. “We’re gaining inspiration to turn around and make objects we’ll present at the booth.”

Getting outside the classroom is a wonderful experience for the kids, he said.

“A lot of these kids might not have the resources to go on a boat like this,” Ginnaty said. “To offer this opportunity is once in a lifetime for some of these kids. To just take a break from the classroom and be out in the sun and out in the nature, what you see and learn out here is more important than what you can pick up in one day in class.”

Nona Reimer, an educational consultant for Dana Wharf, said the trip can be a starting point for students to get motivated about helping conserve the ocean environment for whales and other marine life.

“That’s how it started for me. I was a marine ecology student at San Clemente High School,” Reimer said. “I was coming out on this boat, learning about gray whales, and here I am 50-some years later still concerned about these whales.”

Talking to students and seeing their love of art come together with concern for the whales is exciting, Reimer said.

“Putting that together is going to be an amazing door opening for their future,” she said. “It’s so important to have this partnership where we can bring these kids out here.”

Reimer also addressed the legacy of the Festival of Whales for the community.

“It goes back 52 years now,” Reimer said. “Our company, Dana Wharf, was instrumental in the founding of that program because it was so important to educate the community about these amazing gray whales that were migrating up and down the coast.”

“Going back 52 years is just about when the ecotourism business began of bringing the public out to see the whales,” she added.

For those interested in booking a whale watching trip of their own, please visit festivalofwhales.com.

Dana Hills High School photography student Maddie Keene, 16, takes photos during a boat trip with Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching on Thursday, Feb. 2. Photo: Collin Breaux

A gray whale mom and her new calf swim around a Capt. Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari vessel. Photo: Courtesy of Matt Stumpf