About

Mount Whitney

Why create Orange County Outdoors?

I wanted to create a place where people can learn about Orange County's outdoors with its wildlife, events, beaches, parks, and other outdoor features all in one place. I found it almost impossible to gather information specifically pertaining to the wildlife in Orange County online which this website is mainly targeted to do. Created in 2016 with an Instagram account, this website was created soon after and was inspired by my father who passed away from brain cancer in 2014. I'm not affiliated with any organization like the county or state parks, therefore I can provide information about ALL of Orange County and not limit the info to a specific area within the county. Also I LOVE sharing my photos and videos with people and doing my part to educate others about taking care of what we are so fortunate to have here. This is not a profit monetarily for me but a profit of feeling accomplished about helping others. All photos/videos on this website were taken by Mark Girardeau who owns all copyrights unless otherwise stated. In recent years due to increasing popularity, there have been several imitators calling themselves Orange County Outdoors in an attempt to gain traction online by seeming relevant to this page but I can assure you they are just imitators and in no way affiliated with this website. Thanks for sticking to the original!

Organizations I support

The following organizations are who I choose to support monetarily due to great intentions and well deserving of all the support they can get:

Happy Whale - Citizen science which researches and monitors whale movements. This website has changed the way we understand whales with its citizen science that allows everyone to help, the founder is passionate about the environment and welcomes funding to help support the costs associated with this site.

Pacific Marine Mammal Center - Non-profit that rescues and rehabilitates primarily seals and sea lions that need help, also they rescue other animals like sea turtles and dolphins and they help disentangle whales caught in ropes/nets. They rely solely on donations

eBird - Website that most birders use to record and document all bird species which enables the ability to track migration patterns and changes in climate.

Bird Banding Lab - Report birds with tags/bands to monitor individual movements and lifespans

CA Mountain Lions - Helps monitor the local mountain lion population including keeping them safe, headed by biologist Dr. Vickers at UC Davis

Shark Lab at C.S.U.L.B. - Monitors and researches great whites along our coast

California Killer Whale Project - Researches and identifies killer whale populations off the coast of California and beyond

Marine Ecology and Telemetry Research - Researches and identifies fin whales and beaked whales off the coast of California and beyond

So Cal Sea Turtles - Researchers and documents sea turtle sightings in Southern California

Media Features

National Geographic:

Whale swims under beachgoers

Gray Whale Ménage à Trois

Huffington Post:

Magical Whale Spouts Rainbow

Orange County Register:

Bioluminescence tours for 2024

Bioluminescence in Long Beach 2023

Sperm whales off Newport Beach

Mountain lion encounter

Sperm whale 2021

Bioluminescence 2021.2

Rare dolphin sighting

Dolphin Stampede

Whale plays with trash

Bioluminescence 2021

Yosemite Firefall

Russian whale shows up off So Cal

Ghost Net Removal

Neowise Comet

Bioluminescence 3

Bioluminescence 2

Bioluminescence

Orcas hunting dolphins 2019

Fur seal in Newport Beach

Whale swims under surfer

Dana Point Waterfall

Whales mug boats

Gray whale season 2018/19

Striped dolphin washes ashore

Rare booby birds

Entangled Whale

Holy Fire

7 sea lions released

Fin whale mugs boat

Sea Stars returning

6 Way To Watch Gray Whales

Festival of Whales

Snow on Saddleback

Santiago Peak time-lapse

Orca predation

Entangled gray whale

Rare bird: Nazca booby

Orcas show up off OC Coast

Man killed in boating accident

Whale swims under beachgoers

Weather moves into Orange County

Rose Fire near Lake Elsinore

Killer Whales show up in June

Shark watching goes high tech

Gray whale rolls around at the beach

More whales getting entangled

Tangled Whales

Quadruple sea lion release

Beautiful Sunsets

Sea Lion Release

Gray Whale Ménage à trois

Waterfalls

Bald Eagles At Irvine Lake

Mom And Baby Gray Whales Visit Boat

Magical Whale Turns Up Dead

Whale Watching Gets Dangerous

Entangled Whale Disentangles Itself

Christianitos Fire in San Clemente

Small brush fire breaks out near 241 toll road

Blue whales return for 2022

CNN:

Bioluminescence

ABC Los Angeles:

Dolphin Stampede

Bioluminescence

Curious blue whale calf

Sharks return to Dana Point

Rare Baird's beaked whales sighting

Mountain lion causes concern to residents

Mom And Baby Gray Whales Visit Boat

Bald Eagles

Instagram: Bald Eagle

Instagram: Mom And Baby Gray Whales

Mom and baby humpback whales

ABC National:

Mom and baby humpback whales

USA Today:

Swimming with sunfish

Bioluminescence 2024

Mountain lion encounter

Whales mug boat

Cookie the mountain lion

The Washington Post:

Wally the whale dies

ETP Orcas December 2023

IFL Science:

Whale swims under beachgoers

Killer Whale Rainbows

ABC Chicago:

Mom And Baby Gray Whales Visit Boat

ABC Houston:

Magical Rainbow Whale Turns Up Dead

Laguna Beach Independent:

Great White Sharks

NBC Los Angeles:

Bioluminescent dolphin

Mountain lion incident

Sharks re-appear off OC Coast

Scarlet the whale dies

Rescued sea lions released

Mom And Baby Gray Whales Visit Boat

Instagram: Mom And Baby Gray Whales

Tuna Crabs Wash Up On OC Beaches

CBS:

Blue Whale Dwarfs Ship

CBS Los Angeles:

Mountain lion encounter

Scarlet the whale shows up dead

The Weather Channel:

Magical Whale Spouts Rainbow

Instagram: Lightning

KTLA Los Angeles:

Killer whales hunting dolphin

Magical Whale Spouts Rainbow

Sperm whales off Newport Beach

The Dodo:

Magical Whale Spouts Rainbow

Fox News:

Magical Whale Spouts Rainbow

Ric O' Barry's Dolphin Project:

Magical Whale Spouts Rainbow

Los Angeles Times:

Scarlet the whale shows up dead

Petal Pixel:

Mountain Lion encounter

The Patch:

Magical Whale Spouts Rainbow

New York Daily News:

Magical Whale Spouts Rainbow

Univision:

Gray Whale Washes Up On Beach

Fox San Diego:

Bioluminescence 2024

Killer whales 2023

Magical Whale Spouts Rainbow

Fox 11 Los Angeles:

Bioluminescence 2024

LAist:

Magical Whale Turns Up Dead

Accuweather:

Gray Whales Visit Paddle Boarders

Daily Breeze:

Magical Whale Turns Up Dead

The Telegraph - UK:

Blue Whale Dwarfs Ship

MSN:

Mountain lion encounter

Friendly gray whales

Fin whale mugs boat

Blue Whale Dwarfs Ship

Massive Pod Of Killer Whales Off Orange County

Yahoo:

Gray whale calf

Bioluminescence

Blue Whale Dwarfs Ship

Rare Bryde's Whale

Magical Whale Spouts Rainbow

Seattle Pi:

Rare ETP Killer Whales

Awesome Ocean:

Massive Pod Of Killer Whales Off Orange County

Daily Mail - UK:

Whale Spouts Rainbow

Univision:

Dead Whale washes ashore

ABC New York:

Cow/calf gray whales visit boat

Magic Seaweed:

Great white sharks appear off OC Coast

ABC Houston:

Mom and baby humpback whales

NBC 7 San Diego:

Bioluminescent dolphin

International Business Times:

Whale swims under beachgoers

Press Telegram:

7 sea lions released

BNQT:

Minke whale mugs boat

Moscow Times:

Russian whale shows up off So Cal

KGET:

False Killer Whales

Indian Express:

Mountain lion encounter

Sacramento Bee:

Bioluminescent dolphin

Peta Pixel:

Giant sunfish

Contact

If you need to get ahold of me for media questions, please email mark@orangecountyoutdoors.com. Please note, this email is not for soliciting.