Coast gets set for whales' annual show.

Byline: LARRY BACON The Register-Guard

Sunny skies, warm-water lagoons and amorous encounters in Mexico. Does that sound tempting enough to make you want to head south and leave the cold December rain of the Pacific Northwest?

Well, it definitely sent about 26,000 Pacific gray whales on a southbound course from summer feeding grounds in Arctic waters. In Mexico, the whales will mate and give birth to their calves in the warm waters along the Baja Peninsula.

And if the weather clears up enough, holiday visitors to the Oregon Coast can spot some of the whales, which pass by at a rate of about 30 an hour this time of year. Organized whale watching begins Thursday at vista points all along the Oregon Coast during the annual winter whale-watching program. The sites will operate until Jan. 2.

Volunteers will be available at 29 "Whale Watching Spoken Here" locations each day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The sites are located at the best lookout spots from Ilwaco, Wash., to Crescent City, Calif.

This year is the 25th anniversary of the whale-watching program sponsored by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and the Oregon State University Hatfield Marine Science Center. More than 200 trained volunteers will be on hand to tell visitors all about gray whales and their 10,000-mile round-trip migration - the longest of any mammal - and provide tips on how to spot offshore spouts.

"We can never guarantee how many whales will be seen, but we can assure people they will learn a lot about gray whales and their migrations," said Mike Rivers, the state parks official who coordinates the whale watching. "If the weather cooperates, the count could easily go up this year. We've already heard about migrants showing up regularly at several locations."

Would-be whale watchers are advised to bring binoculars and dress for winter weather. Volunteers last year helped 16,615 Whale Watch Week visitors spot 1,471 whales.

A record 19,414 watchers saw 1,566 whales in the 2000-01 event.

The largest number of winter sightings ever recorded was 3,152 in the 1994-95 whale watch.

During Whale Watch Week, visitors to the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport can take in presentations on marine mammals, and youngsters can take part in children's "whale story times."

Whale-watching tips are offered in "Call for Volunteers," a publication available at the whale-watching sites.

Information about how to order "Whale Watching Spoken Here" T-shirts and other merchandise is in the booklet. Proceeds help fund the whale-watching program.