Rare Gray Whale Spotted off Malaga Cove

In a rare end-of-summer event, an adult gray whale was spotted off Malaga Cove in Palos Verdes Estates at about noon Friday, according to a post on the American Cetacean Society - Los Angeles Chapter Facebook page.

A volunteer observer with the ACS/LA Gray Whale Census saw the marine mammal at the northern part of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, according to Census Project Director Alisa Schulman-Janiger.

"Gray whales are rarely sighted during the summer months here," Schulman-Janiger wrote on the Facebook page. "They typically feed at this time off of British Columbia and Alaska."

The whale-watching season for gray whales in the South Bay usually runs in the winter and spring while the creatures are on their way to and from Mexico. The Gray Whale Census, which has taken place annually since 1979, runs from Dec. 1 through May 15.