'Notcho' The Blue Whale Returns To South Orange County Waters

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — Dana Point Whale Watchers spotted two blue whales, Monday. One of the not-so-frequent visitors is known affectionately as "Notcho," according to a spokesperson from Captain Dave's Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari.

"During one of our whale watching cruises aboard Manute’a, we had an amazing sighting of two blue whales off of Laguna Beach," a spokesperson for the whale watching tours told Patch.

"Notcho," a female blue whale, earned her nickname due to her small, notched dorsal fin, they say.

She is well known to blue whale researchers at Cascadia Research Collective, Patch was told.

"They’ve been tracking her since 1985!" according to Denielle Conley of the Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari tours. "We’ve been encountering Notcho for at least eight years. Our most recent sighting of her was in June 2018."

Dana Wharf Whale Watching also shared photos of the beloved blue whales.

"It's been a tough Blue Whale season last Blue Whale was seen on Aug 15th off our coast," Dona Kalez of Dana Wharf Whale Watching tells Patch. "This chance encounter was exactly what we needed to remind everyone to go Whale Watching."

Tuesday was the first day that Dana Wharf reinitiated their half-price whale watching Tuesdays.

Only 1 percent of the world or less have ever seen a Blue Whale, according to Kalez.

"If you are onboard a Dana Wharf Whale Watching trip and see a blue whale, passengers get a free button that says they have joined the 1 percent club!" she says.

"We had no idea that we would see Blue Whales , the largest animals on the planet and instead we saw two!" Kalez says. "Passengers along with Captain and crew were all amazed and so happy it was a whale of a day in Dana Point."