Sanford Edward figures it out: Whales get amorous off the Headlands in Dana Point

Sanford Edward figures it out: Whales get amorous off the Headlands in Dana Point.

by Mick Pattinson 

            Even Sanford Edward did not know what was going on: Tons and tons of people were lined up with binoculars at the Headlands Conservation Park trail system in Dana Point.

            As the owner and developer of the Strand at Headlands, Sanford Edward built the Headlands Nature Interpretive Center and the 12 ocean view lookouts and the three-mile public trail system. All part of his project: The Strand at Headlands. So he was happy they were all there. But did not know why.

            It couldn’t be celebrities: Famous people are always stopping by Dana Point and the Headlands for one reason or another. Over the last few months that included Jackson Browne, Sara McLachlan, William Shatner, and just about every world class surfer you can imagine.

            But they don’t attract crowds. People let them carry on with their business. Whether that is enjoying a cup of coffee at JC Beans or the lunch special at Tutor and Spunky’s Deli, an appreciative nod is about the extent of the attention most receive.

            This crowd was looking at the ocean anyway – not Jackson Browne’s tour bus. The mystery deepened.

            Whatever else his job is at the Strand at Headlands office nearby, Sanford Edward has to know what is going on in and around his project.

            That began almost ten years ago when he took his plans for 118 luxury beach view lots, five public parks, a boutique hotel and 62 acres of public open space  to the Dana Point City Council for approval. There were lots of questions about everything.

            Sanford Edward had the answers. If not, the five parks would still be private property fenced with razor wire. Also still there would be the abandoned trailer park with no spectacular ocean views for the public to enjoy their (Spoiler Alert) views of the whales.

            After the city council, Sanford Edward then had to answer the same kinds of questions -- times 10 -- at the California Coastal Commission. He did. It took two years -- and some thought it would take ten times longer.

            But on this day in January, if someone had asked Sanford Edward why all the people where ‘oohing and ahhing,’ he would have had to say “I don’t know.” They did not cover that when he was studying for a Masters in architecture and design at Harvard.

            Then a little girl figured it out for him: “Daddy look, the whales. They are spouting.”

            And sometimes doing more than that.

            “For reasons no one knows, the whales and dolphins are having some kind of banner year in the waters off of the Dana Point Headlands,” said Sanford Edward. “And people from all over the world are coming to Dana Point and the Headlands to enjoy it. We are happy to have them.”

            It even has a name now: Eco-tourism.

            “I came up from Encinitas to see this,” said Jerome Stocks, the former of that coastal town down the road. “I heard about it from a boater who said the whales and dolphin are out in record numbers at the Headlands. So here I am. And I don’t know what it more amazing, the whales, or all the people who are on some kind of pilgrimage to see them.”

            “The only thing I can compare it to are the whales gathering  off the West Coast of Maui in February,” Stocks said. “And that is also incomparable.”

            Some watch from the Strand Beach parking lot and promenade above Strand Beach. Others park and take  the public trail system that culminates at The Headlands Nature Interpretive Center, with its overlooks and benches along the way to get even closer to the whales.

            Some go in boats. The local guides splash some fantastic video all over the Internet.  One boat even has a miniature helicopter -- I’m trying not to call it a drone, but that is what it is -- that captures video from above the whales.

            That is a great way to see how big they really are.

            At Captain Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari, eco-tourists are seeing things in Dana Point they usually only see in Baja California, 1000 miles to the south. “A pair of amorous gray whales engaged in a rare and incredible display of courtship and mating behavior that is usually seen only in the lagoons of Baja,” observed the Captain in a video of the aquatic and romantic episode.

         And it is not even Valentine’s day.

         The parking lot is full of cars from all over: Arizona. New Mexico. Even New Hampshire.

         Some of the eco-tourists come from the neighboring Ritz-Carlton. This world-renowned resort offers eco-tourism for their guests to check out Strand Beach and local tide pools. Guests investigate the native foliage and wildlife of the Dana Point Headlands, take docent-led tours and learn how they adapt to the ever-changing coast.

            And of course the whales are a big attraction.

            It is not just tourists. Far from it. Lots of locals are having fun discovering this relatively new vantage point and this definitely new attitude from the whales. 

            Only they don’t call it eco-tourism. They just call it another day in Dana Point. At the Headlands. Where Sanford Edward enjoys the whales every day, and does not admit anything other than spectacular live whale shows are what he had planned all along.