Explore the coast of Southern California, from the striking cliffs of Palos Verdes to the picturesque and lively Dana Point. This populous area also has abundant natural beauty. In addition to the mammals you’ll be officially observing, you may spot seals, a variety of seabirds, and tide-pool creatures like sea stars and sea urchins.
Visitors often stop at Dana Point Harbor, where you’ll be based, to shop, fish, bicycle, and, of course, whale watch. The town is also well known for its surfing history—the film Endless Summer was produced here.
The team will spend some days about 35 miles (55 kilometers) offshore on Santa Catalina Island. This quiet (outside of the tourist town of Avalon, at least) spot is home to, among many other species, a herd of bison, descendants of 14 animals brought over for a movie shoot in 1924. Your time there will give you a glimpse into Southern California’s distant, wilder, past.