Advertising Disclosure

SoCal Whales is a free resource for anyone planning a whale watching trip in Southern California. This page explains how the site earns revenue, as required by the Federal Trade Commission's guidelines on endorsements and testimonials (16 CFR Part 255).

This site is not currently affiliated with any booking platform or operator. The "Book Now" buttons link directly to each operator's own website or booking system — no commission is earned, this site adds no tracking parameters of its own, and the price is exactly what you'd see going there directly. One exception: San Diego Whale Watch's button links to a FareHarbor booking embed that includes a flow parameter, set by FareHarbor's own booking platform rather than by this site, which selects which booking configuration to display.

If affiliate links are added in the future to help cover platform costs, they will be clearly labelled as such so you always know when a link earns a commission.

SoCal Whales currently has no advertising provider and does not display paid advertisements. Before advertising is introduced, this disclosure and the Privacy Policy will be updated and any required consent controls will be implemented.

All sighting data on this site is sourced from publicly available trip reports published by whale watching operators on their own websites. The automated scraper collects this data daily without any manual selection or editorial override. Operators are not contacted, paid, or otherwise involved in the data collection process.

The species guide, whale watching tips, and ocean conditions information are written to help visitors make informed decisions about when to book a trip — not to promote any particular operator or booking platform. No advertiser or affiliate partner has reviewed or approved any of this content. No operator has paid to be featured on this site.

The Good Day to Go score is a 0-10 scale estimate of comfort for offshore whale-watching boat trips. It starts at 10, subtracts forecast penalties for wind, waves, visibility, thunderstorms, and rain, and then clamps the result to 0-10. Sighting counts and rare-species observations are shown separately and do not affect it. It does not predict whether whales will be seen. The algorithm does not factor in affiliate commission rates, advertising relationships, or any commercial consideration.

If you believe any content on this site is inaccurate or misleading, please reach out through the About page. We will investigate and correct errors promptly.