A whale watching company in San Francisco is getting a lot more attention this year thanks to a dog helping the crew find whales.
“Bear” is a sailor with four legs. He is a 120-pound German Shepherd who has become a favorite on the tours.
“He discovered life at sea and excelled. He boosts our morale,” said Capt. Joe Nazar of San Francisco Whale Tours. He pilots the company’s 65-foot catamaran, ironically named the “Kitty Kat.”
“He pulls in the wet lines, which none of us want to do. But he loves it,” says naturalist Sophie Belair of San Francisco Whale Tours.
Belair set up an Instagram and Tik Tok for Bear this summer and started posting videos of Bear putting lines in the boat at Pier 39.
“He has almost 10 million views on a video. So he went mega viral. Bear exploded!” Belair said.
Curious onlookers at Pier 39 line up to admire the 6-year-old bear as he eagerly helps the crew.
Nazar entered whale season not knowing if it would be his last. Hotel bookings in San Francisco are down significantly in 2024 as tourism numbers have been a major disappointment.
“We decided we were going to give it everything we got this year, and this was going to be a make or break year,” Nazar said.
Ticket sales have plummeted since COVID. But the combination of Bear’s growing popularity and the large numbers of playful humpback whales this season appear to have boosted ticket sales.
Nazar says this has been the best year for his company. Whale watchers, tourists and locals have experienced a little magic on the water.
“To be so close to the whales, I felt like I could touch them. It feels like a real gift,” says Carolyn Bauer.
On this day, whale watchers experienced several up-close encounters with a humpback whale mother and a calf with an injured tail, but surviving and apparently thriving.
Darrin Allen volunteers for the Marine Mammal Center and documents whale sightings.
“It appeared to be swimming around and healthy, other than the scars from early on in its life,” Allen said.
Nazar worked seven days a week. The past four years have been a struggle. But he now plans to hire another captain to meet the demand.
“I love San Francisco and I want my community where I was born and raised [in] to be better than ever before,” said Nazar.
He never gave up on his city. That includes Bear, who does his part to keep the mystery, magic, and momentum going.
Now Bear has a German Shepherd friend named Sam who is working on the Kitty Kat, although Sam isn’t pulling the strings yet.
San Francisco Whale Tours does not operate on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to give their crew some time off until the end of the season on December 31st.
Kenny Choi
