THAR SHE BLOWS; GRAY WHALES SPOUT OFF AT MUGU FESTIVAL.Byline: Kevin F. Sherry Daily News Staff Writer Dozens of visitors stood scanning the sparkling waters of the Pacific on Sunday, all of them hoping to catch a glimpse Verb 1. catch a glimpse - see something for a brief time catch sight, get a look see - perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight; "You have to be a good observer to see all the details"; "Can you see the bird in that tree?"; "He is blind--he of the guests of honor. Sure enough, around 2 p.m., a few jets of mist broke the surface and all eyes at Point Mugu State Park Point Mugu State Park is a large park located in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in Southern California. It is in the Western Santa Monica Mountains. The park can be accessed from the north in the Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center and from the south turned to see. Dozens more people lined the beach, grabbed binoculars or shielded their eyes from the sun. The gray whales had arrived. The whales made their presence known during the state park's second annual Whale Festival, which drew hundreds to the beach to watch the ocean giants in their annual migration from Baja California Baja California, state, Mexico Baja California (Span.: bä`hä kälēfōr`nyä), state (1990 pop. 1,660,855), 27,628 sq mi (71,576 sq km), NW Mexico, on the Baja California peninsula. Mexicali is the capital. to their feeding grounds in the Bering Strait Bering Strait, c.55 mi (90 km) wide, between extreme NE Asia and extreme NW North America, connecting the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea. It is usually completely frozen over from October to June. The Diomede Islands are in the strait. . Booths at the festival featured whale and marine artwork and information, as children played around an inflatable whale near the surf. The daylong event also had a series of historical and musical presentations about whales and their history. Gray whales were twice almost hunted to extinction, but have been off the endangered species endangered species, any plant or animal species whose ability to survive and reproduce has been jeopardized by human activities. In 1999 the U.S. government, in accordance with the U.S. list since the 1970s, said Cara O'Brien, a state park interpreter. ``Every booth, all the music, all the entertainment is about protecting the marine environment,'' O'Brien said. In preparation for the festival, volunteers raked the driftwood brought by the recent storms into piles, said volunteer Barbara Nixon. Park docents like Nixon were on hand with telescopes to help visitors scan the horizon to look for the telltale spouting spout·ing n. Chiefly Pennsylvania & New Jersey See gutter. See Regional Note at gutter. spouting Noun NZ a. that signaled the passing of whales. ``It's better to find it with the naked eye first,'' Nixon said. ``Then you know where to point the telescope.'' March is the best month for seeing whales pass by the coast, O'Brien said. But some of the creatures are passing farther out farther out Of or relating to an option contract with a later expiration date than a contract that is currently owned or being considered. For example, a contract with a May expiration date is farther out than a contract with a February expiration date of than they normally do because February's El Nino rains muddied the waters along the coastline, Nixon said. CAPTION(S): 3 Photos PHOTO (1-2) (1--Color in Conejo and Simi Editions only) (2--Color in Conejo Edition only) Ranger Connie Breakfield, right, helps Brody Stevens, 3, of Malibu try a fencing mask and foil at the festival while a youngster trots by an inflatable whale, above, on the beach. Michael Owen Baker/Daily News (3--Color) (Ran in Conejo Edition only) People watch for whales Sunday at the 1998 Whale Festival at Point Mugu State Park |
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