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Stunning Drone Video Captures Gray Whales Swimming Through Monterey Bay

MONTEREY BAY (CBS SF) -- A drone flying overhead captured a spectacular view of a pod of a dozen gray whales swimming through Monterey Bay this past weekend.

The video, shot Sunday by Jason Berring, Jr. for the whale-watching tour company Monterey Bay Whale Watch, shows the group of whales as they cruised through the bay on their way to spawn in warmer southern waters.

According to marine biologist and owner of Monterey Bay Whale Watch Nancy Black, gray whales are in the midst of their southbound migration, traveling from Alaska to Mexico where they will have their calves and mate in the warm, shallow lagoons on the west coast of Baja California.

Black said the pod recorded with the drone was the largest group of whales she had seen this season. The number of gray whales swimming through Monterey Bay tends to peak between mid-January and early February, according to Black.

Black's company Monterey Bay Whale Watch offers daily trips to view these whales and other marine life during the southern migration. At the end of January, Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey will be hosting Whalefest to celebrate the gray whale migration with activities and events at a peak time to view the sea mammals.

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