Domenic Biagini

The largest chomp in the world, slowed down for dramatic effect! It’s still hard for me to believe how fortunate I’ve been to spend so many days in the presence of the largest animal in the world. When I first began using drones to film cetaceans on whale watching tours, I let my imagination run wild with the type of imagery that would be possible to witness. Southern California is home to some of the most diverse cetacean populations of anywhere on earth, making the possibilities truly endless! Even something as impossible as a Beluga Whale(normally an arctic species) once showed up off the coast of San Diego on one of our tours with @gonewhalewatching a few years ago! As amazing as that was to document, nothing captured my imagination more than the possibility of one day witnessing a Blue Whale feeding from above. In 2014, the BBC released a series called “The Hunt”. The Blue Whale feeding sequence in that episode remains one of my favorite set pieces of any nature series ever. Back then, drones weren’t quite ready for prime time, so the only way to film a Blue Whale from above was via helicopter or airplane! Since that series was filmed, there was very little surface feeding by Blue Whales witnessed anywhere along the west coast of North America over the next decade, and footage of this behavior captured with modern drone technology was almost nonexistent. It’s been an unbelievable privilege to have had the opportunity to witness this jaw-dropping behavior on multiple occasions these past two years. The ability to share these scenes with so many of you gives me hope for the future of these special animals. I’m glad the ocean and nature “sides” of social media continue to grow in popularity. The natural world is a vital part of our humanity. In this ever-more developing world, we must not let ourselves lose that call from the wild.

Say hello to our not-so-little friend! An absolutely gigantic blue whale surfaced right next to us this morning! For weeks we’ve been spending time with dozens of fin whales on our tours, and now it appears the blue whales have arrived! We had 4+ blue whales feeding on krill this morning mixed in with more than 20 combined fin and humpback whales! This is 3 days in a row with blue whales, and they seem settled in and hungry! Here’s what that means for whale watching right now: If you book a trip this week/weekend it is a near guarantee to see whales on every style of tour we offer, with an exceptionally good chance at encountering a blue whale specifically! We also have a few spots on our 5 hour tours this weekend, which would be very likely to encounter blue, fin, humpback, and minke whales all on one trip! P.s. Hana Hou tickets are currently listed at 50% off on Saturday! Get your tickets and come see these giants with @gonewhalewatching

There’s few places on earth with the potential to see so many different whale species, and San Diego is one of them! With @gonewhalewatching You can watch all my long form videos in 4k on YouTube!

Just another example of how remarkably resilient whales can be 💙 Viewed aboard @gonewhalewatching

A blue whale in a green ocean! Aboard @gonewhalewatching

For my mom, and all the moms, happy Mother’s Day! “Babysitting a Blue Whale” is now live on YouTube!

For Mother’s Day we wanted to revisit one of our most touching moments with a blue whale calf! Every once in a while we’re lucky enough to encounter a mom/calf pair of blue whales. When approached respectfully, the moms often become very comfortable with our boat…even leaving their calves with us for extended periods of time while she dives deep to feed! This is sometimes referred to as “parking”, or as we call it: babysitting! Captain @dolphindronedom is releasing a special narrated recap of this encounter for Mother’s Day tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that! Footage captured by himself and @bluelifewild ! P. S. We had our first 2026 encounter with a mom/calf pair of blue whales yesterday with captain @jess_whales !

The last breath from a blue whale before diving is always the most impressive! Viewed last weekend aboard @gonewhalewatching

The first blue whales of 2026 have already been encountered, but the true season will pick up steam over the coming weeks. Our extended blue whale search tours with @gonewhalewatching are your best chance at encountering this living giant, and we’ve already sold out 60% of our summer dates! If you’re thinking about coming to see blues this summer, we recommend grabbing those spots while you still can! Does that mean the extended tours are the only way to see blue whales? Of course not! It’s true the longer duration and extended range help a lot, but of the blues we’ve seen so far this year, the 2.5 hour trips have seen them too! The coastal waters have had a lot of krill this spring, and that bodes well for blue whale sightings on the 2.5 hour trips throughout the season as well. But if you’re down for an adventure, the extended tours are the best odds you’ll get!

Multiple blue whales again today with @gonewhalewatching ! If you are local or are in San Diego, the month of May would be an excellent time to book before the summer crowds arrive. We have a couple more 5 hour trips on the schedule before we switch our extended trips over to the more expensive “Extended Blue Whale” search trips, but all of our 2.5 hour trips the last three days have seen blue whales as well. It’s shaping up to be an excellent season!

This is what I would consider the “signature view” of a blue whale in a vertical crop format. It really does make them look like a living submarine, and I love that the smallest variation in light and surface conditions can make each shot feel unique…even when they’re from almost identical angles! That’s multiple days in a row with multiple blue whales for @gonewhalewatching !

Blue Whale Season is almost upon us with @gonewhalewatching in San Diego! Krill stocks are positively bursting at the moment, and that’s the number one factor in determining how strong our blue whale season will be. Most years we start seeing Blues consistently sometime around Memorial Day, but this year is feeling a lot like 2024 when the Blues showed up in big numbers in early to mid-May! The only question that remains is if you’ll be on our boats to search for them!