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Blue Whales Spotted In Santa Monica Bay

REDONDO BEACH (CBS)— A pod of blue whales – a rarity worldwide – was spotted in Santa Monica Bay Monday about a mile offshore.

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Several of the behemoths were seen breaching the surface of the water near King Harbor.

A Long Beach-based captain of a whale-watching vessel has reported seeing as many as a dozen blue whales recently, but not inside the bay.

Hunting blue whales was banned worldwide in 1966, and they are now believed to number about 12,000 or more globally.

Blue whales, which grow up to about 90 feet and can live for as long as 80 years, sift krill and other plankton from the ocean with sieve-like structures in their mouths called baleen.

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