(Press Release, San Diego, CA) It's an incredible sight! Blue Whales, some as long as 100 feet in length and weighing up to 190 tons (380,000 pounds) are being sighted off the San Diego coast at nine to thirty miles. H&M Landing, in partnership with the San Diego Natural History Museum, has created a series of Blue Whale Cruises from San Diego Bay. The opportunity to view these offshore giants is available for a limited time.

Blue Whales are the largest animals ever to have existed. They can be compared to the largest known dinosaur, the Argentinosaurus, which is estimated to have weighed up to 100 tons. Blue Whales are rorquals, a family that includes the Humpback Whale, the Fin Whale, Bryde's Whale, the Sei Whale and the Minke Whale. Approximately 2,000 individual whales make up the population that ranges from Alaska to Costa Rica, and are frequently seen from California in summer.

When surfacing to breathe, the Blue Whale raises its shoulders and blowhole out of the water to a greater degree than other whales. Its breathing produces a spectacular spout of vertical spray up to 40 feet high. While they can reach speeds of up 30 miles an hour, they typically travel around 10 miles per hour and 5 miles per hour when feeding. Blue whales are typically seen alone or with one other animal. In areas of large food concentrations, which there is presently off the San Diego coastline, as many as 50 whales have been spotted over a small area.

H&M Landing's Blue Whale Cruises will run each Sunday through August. The eight-hour cruise departs at 9 AM and returns at 5 PM. The full schedule is July 19, 26, Aug 2, August 9, August 16, August 23, and August 30. Ticket price is $100 for adults and $80 for children. Dolphins, sea lions, sea birds and other marine life are experienced on every cruise.

Cruises include commentary and interpretation by the San Diego Natural History Museum's trained volunteer staff of shipboard naturalists. H&M Landing has been operating whale watching and sea going nature expeditions since 1954. For more information and the full schedule, visit H&M Landing's website at www.hmlanding.com

For reservations, call H&M Landing at 619-222-1144. H&M Landing is located at 2803 Emerson Street, San Diego, 92106.

Contact: Catherine Miller 619-889-4322