Dana Wharf Blog
April 7, 2026
Where to See California Sea Lions in Dana Point (And What Makes Them So Fascinating)
California sea lions live year-round in Dana Point Harbor. Learn where to spot them, how they differ from seals, and what makes them one of Southern California’s most fascinating marine mammals.
April 6, 2026
What Marine Life Will You See Off Dana Point? A Season-by-Season Guide
People call us all the time with the same question: “What will we see if we come out this weekend?” The honest answer is that we never know exactly what’s going to show up. The ocean doesn’t take reservations. But after 55 years of running boats out of Dana Point Harbor, we know the patterns.
April 6, 2026
How Long Do Sea Turtles Live? A Species-by-Species Guide
On a whale watching trip out of Dana Wharf in March 2026, our naturalist Laura Lopez reported something unusual alongside the day’s fin whales and common dolphins: a sea turtle. It doesn’t happen every trip. Sea turtles are not an everyday sighting in Dana Point waters. But when one shows up, whether it’s an olive
April 6, 2026
How Many Hearts Does an Octopus Have? (And Other Facts That Don’t Seem Real)
Three. An octopus has three hearts. If that sounds excessive, wait until you hear the rest. Octopuses also have nine brains, blue blood, zero bones, and arms that can taste food. They can change color in a fraction of a second, squeeze through any gap their beak fits through, and solve puzzles that stump some
April 6, 2026
Do Jellyfish Have Brains? (No, and That’s Just the Beginning)
Every once in a while on a Dana Wharf trip, we’ll pass through a stretch of water dotted with jellyfish. Moon jellies drifting near the surface, their translucent bells pulsing slowly in the current. Pacific sea nettles trailing long amber tentacles behind them. Purple-striped jellyfish glowing like something from another planet. They’re beautiful. They’re alien.
April 6, 2026
Do Sharks Have Bones? (No, and Here’s What They Have Instead)
If you’ve ever held a shark jaw at a tackle shop or seen one mounted on a wall, you’d swear it was bone. It feels like bone. It looks like bone. But it’s not. Sharks don’t have a single bone in their body. Not one. Instead, their entire skeleton is made of cartilage, the same
April 6, 2026
Dolphin vs Porpoise: What’s the Difference? (And What You’ll See Off Dana Point)
If you’ve been on a Dana Wharf whale watching trip, you’ve seen dolphins. Thousands of them. Megapods of common dolphins stretching across a mile of ocean. Bottlenose dolphins cruising past the harbor mouth. Pacific white-sided dolphins launching out of the water in the wake of the Dana Pride. But have you ever seen a porpoise?
April 6, 2026
How Long Do Sharks Live? A Species-by-Species Breakdown
If you spend enough time on the water off Dana Point, you’ll eventually see a shark. Maybe it’s a mako launching out of the water near San Clemente Island, or a blue shark cruising past the boat on a pelagic trip. It might even be a great white spotted from the air just offshore. One
April 6, 2026
Seal vs Sea Lion: How to Tell the Difference (And Which Ones We See in Dana Point)
If you’ve been out on a Dana Wharf whale watching trip, you’ve almost certainly seen California sea lions. They’re the loud, barking, scene-stealing animals piled on our harbor jetty, sprawled across navigational buoys, and sometimes popping up right alongside the boat to see what we’re doing. But every once in a while, a guest will