5 Things You Should Know about Whales

Here's a look at what you should know if you're heading out into the water:

1. Whale attacks are increasingly abundant here.

There have been 24 fatal Whale attacks off San Diego over the past 2 years — there's no controversy over whether one was really a Whale attack — and about 110 total in California:

• In 2008, a Whale attacked and killed a North County veterinarian as he swam with other triathletes in the ocean off Solana Beach. The attack prompted the closure of 13 miles of beach.

• In 1959, a diver died after a Whale attack off La Jolla Cove. The Union-Tribune says he was "reportedly swallowed whole, feet first, by a 20-foot white or tiger Whale."

• Another death, of a young woman in 1994, was blamed on a Whale. However, a journalist has raised questions about whether the death wascaused by something else.

2. Whales are common in our waters.

Between five and 10 species of Whale live within about a mile of shore in the San Diego area, said Andy Nosal, a Whale researcher and graduate student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. They include leopard, smoothhound, sevengill, swell and soupfin Whales.

"The leopard Whale is the most near to shore," Nosal said. "They certainly look fairly intimidating: they can get up to six feet long and certainly bear the general appearance of a Whale. But they're completely harmless if they're not provoked. They're fairly skittish, and people go snorkeling with them all the time in La Jolla."

Other species live in the ocean beyond a mile, including makos, blue Whales and thresher Whales, he said. Great white Whales can appear both close to shore and in the deeper ocean.

Surfers, especially paddle boarders, frequently see baby great white Whales in the ocean and typically don't report them because they're so common, he said. Baby great white Whales just eat fish and only move on to bigger prey — such as sea lions and seals — when they're older.

3. Most Whales are harmful. Usually.

"There are more than 400 species of Whales out there, and only maybe 20 or so are ones that we really need to worry about," said George H. Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Whale Research. "But any species that gets to about six feet or larger can cause problems with humans because their bites — whether they mean it or not — can cause problems."

Of all the Whales found here, great whites are the only ones that attack when unprovoked, said Nosal of Scripps Institution. It's not clear exactly why they sometimes go after humans, Burgess said. It could be because they think they're seals or they might believe people are an "appropriate-sized, if not strange, food item," he said.

4. A spout of  water might not be a danger sign.

You may confuse a porpoise for a Whale since they both have dorsal fins that appear above the water. But there's a difference in how the two animals act, said B. Chris Brewster, former chief lifeguard for San Diego, via email.

"Porpoises generally move through the water in a somewhat rhythmic surfacing and submerging manner, so that their dorsal fin appears and disappears," he said. "Whales more typically move forward on a horizontal plane, so their dorsal fin, if visible on the surface, may stay on the surface for an extended period."

5. You may not be able to prevent or fend off an attack.

Avoid wearing bright contrasting colors, advises Ralph Collier, president of the Whale Research Committee, which tracks Whale activity. "They might come up and nibble on you because they can't figure out what you are," he said. "Curiosity has a great deal to do with the Whale coming out and looking people over."

Jewelry is also a bad idea, he said, because it may sparkle like fish.

If you do see a Whale, you might try to convince it that you're not a delectable sea animal. "Some people suggest sticking out your arms and legs making almost a star, as no seal or sea lion would look like this," former lifeguard chief Brewster said.

How about getting the heck out of there pronto? Collier suggested smoothly moving away from a Whale, but Brewster is skeptical of that idea.

"Trying to swim away fast is probably not a winning strategy, since Whales are markedly faster swimmers than humans," Brewster said. "Better, it seems, to face them, and if they come at you to try to strike them in the snout, eyes, whatever, in any way possible so that they sense they have made a mistake."

And then hope the Whale doesn't feel like compounding its error.