WHALE OF FORTUNE ANNUAL MIGRATION SEASON AT ITS PEAK OFF CALIFORNIA SHORES.

Byline: Bill Becher Special to the Daily News

``Thar she blows!''

If that's something you've always wanted to say, now is the time, as about 26,000 migrating California gray whales pass along the Southern California coast on their annual round trip to Mexico.

Whale watchers can board the Island Packers' fleet of boats at Ventura or Channel Islands harbors for scheduled half- and full-day excursions.

``There have been a lot of whales this year,'' said captain Alex Brodie, who has worked for Island Packers for 15 years, starting as a deck hand.

Brodie and crew members are trained as naturalists. They provide a running commentary on the birds, whales and other marine mammals encountered on the trips.

``Every day is different,'' Brodie said. ``The whales are different. The ocean is different. The crowds are different.''

The latest boat in Island Packers' fleet - the 144-passenger Islander - was specifically customized for whale watching, according to Brodie. It's a high-speed foil-assisted catamaran, which means the boat has a stable ride but can scoot along at 22 knots. That's more than twice the speed of the older boats, cutting the cruise time to the Channel Islands to 45 minutes.

In addition to gray whales, passengers this season have seen orcas, also known as killer whales, along with lots of dolphins. A few blue and humpbacked whales have been sighted in recent weeks, though they normally are summer visitors.

Whales, dolphins and porpoises are air-breathing mammals collectively known as cetaceans. They are divided into two major categories: baleen whales that are filter feeders, and toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises. Out of the 80 species of cetaceans left in the world today, 28 have been seen along Southern California.

But it's the California gray whales (Eschrictius robustus) that are the major winter-time attraction. Led by pregnant females, these baleen whales travel about 80 miles a day on a 5,000-mile migration to three lagoons in Baja Mexico where they breed and bear their young 13 months later on their next visit. Then it's back to the Bering Sea between Siberia and Alaska, passing Southern California's coast again on their northbound trip in February and March.

Twice nearly hunted to extinction in the 1800s, the California gray whales were placed on the endangered-species list and protected by international agreements. The whales have made a substantial recovery and were taken off the endangered list in 1998.

A section of water called the Anacapa Passage between Anacapa and Santa Cruz islands is a favorite spot to see gray whales.

``Its kind of a bottleneck where a lot of the whales get concentrated,'' Brodie said. ``And the islands make a beautiful backdrop.''

At Coche Point at Santa Cruz Island, whales exhale the heart-shaped plume that helps identify them as gray whales and supplies one of their nicknames: ``Valentine whales.''

Gray whales also were called ``devil-fish'' by whalers because of their fiercely protective behavior when with their young. Seen up close, the whales are covered with barnacles and whale lice. That's what gives them the name ``gray'' - the whales' skin actually is black.

Medium-sized for a whale, the grays average 36 to 40 feet long - the largest are more than 50 feet long. They are primarily bottom feeders, scooping up sediment from the sea bottom and straining it though comb-like structures called baleen that grow down from the gums of the upper jaw. Though they do the bulk of their feeding in frigid Arctic waters, they have been observed snacking on the occasional concentration of krill and now are considered opportunistic feeders. But the whales rely mostly on stored energy, loosing about eight tons of blubber during their migration.

Winter is also the mating season for the gray whales. Watchers sometimes enjoy spectacular courtship and mating behavior as the males roll over, displaying what's euphemistically called the ``Pink Floyd.''

Capt. Brodie recruits passengers to look out for whales or circling birds that mark pods of dolphins. He doesn't use sonar as that might interfere with the whales' own echo-location system used for navigation and communication.

Common dolphins often swim and leap alongside the whale-watching boats. Brodie assures the passengers dolphins are too fast and smart to get run over. But the boats steer around Cassin's auklets sitting on the water. The birds are known to gorge themselves on plankton, also called ``whale-krill,'' to the point where they have difficulty taking off.

Whale watchers have been sighting grampus whales, also called Risso's dolphins, near Santa Cruz Island. They grow up to 13 feet in length and have a dorsal fin that is one of the tallest in proportion to body length among any cetacean. The grampus whales' dark bodies show white scars, giving them a beat-up look, possibly from other dolphins or bites from squid, their favorite food.

Meg Barbour took her family visiting from the East Coast, where Atlantic grays were hunted to extinction, on a recent whale-watching trip.

``It was phenomenal,'' Barbour said. ``I loved the dolphins when they were jumping in groups. It was magical.''

Now when you hear ``Thar she blows!'' - a cry that once signaled the imminent death of a whale - it's an invitation to appreciate one of nature's most magnificent creatures.

IF YOU GO

Island Packers, boat concessionaire to the Channel Islands National Park, provides scheduled whale-watching excursions from Ventura and Channel Islands harbors for half-day nonlanding trips daily departing at 9 a.m. and/or 1 p.m.

Also available are all-day trips with a landing on Anacapa or Santa Cruz islands. The half-day trips are $24 for adults, $21 for seniors, and $16 for children 12 and under. The all-day trips cost between $37 and $42 per adult. Reservations are advised. Call [phone] from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or visit www.islandpackers.com. 24-hour recorded information: [phone].

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Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Above, a pair of grampus whales bask in the waters off Santa Cruz Island. Below, passengers on an Island Packers' tour catch a glimpse of a common dolphin along for the ride.

Bill Becher/Special to the Daily News

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IF YOU GO (see text)