Rare Video Shows Humpback Whale Playing In Kelp Off OC Coast

DANA POINT, CA — Travelers aboard a Dana Wharf Whale Watching boat were treated to a spectacular sight this week: a humpback whale frolicking in kelp.

The whale was spotted off the coast of Dana Point earlier this week, COO of Dana Wharf Donna Kalez told Patch.

"As this whale was heading north, it passed a kelp patty — Capt. Chase mentioned that he hoped this whale would stop to play in the kelp, and as if the whale heard our Captain, it turned completely around and headed straight for the kelp patty," Kalez said.

According to Kalez, the act is known officially as "kelping."

The act transcends humpback whales, according to ScienceAlert.com, and is commonly seen among gray whales, as well as southern and northern right whales.

According to ScienceAlert.com, whales engage in kelping not for the entertainment, but for a more useful component. Seaweed is commonly used by whales to scratch an itch, brush off baby barnacles or flick away whale lice.

"We watched this juvenile humpback spy hop like it was getting a kelp facial," Kalez said. "While it rolled around, displaying its pectoral fins and flukes, it would surface — blow — and go back to the kelp for more play."

Kalez said the whale stuck around in the kelp for about ten minutes.

For more information about whale watching tours with Dana Wharf, visit its website.