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SEAL BEACH, Calif. (FOX 11) - Two adult gray whales were spotted off Seal Beach Monday afternoon.

The whales were in shallow water at one point, but then moved out farther from shore.

In the San Gabriel River in Seal Beach a pair of gray whales frolic in the water. They're about 20 feet long each and weigh, maybe, 40 tons. And, both are heading north-bound on he longest trip of any mammals.

Hundreds of people showed up throughout the day to see the big mammals that first showed up Sunday morning. They watched from the beach. They took video and still photos on their cell phones from the side of the river? Mainly because unless you go out in a whale-watching boat you don't see them like this.

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One dad bringing his daughter because "She loves whales!" Another young girl tells us, ""It was pretty cool. I've never really seen a whale up close before." A local, who was thrilled to see the pair said her concern was if they got stuck in the river.

Tammy Lang is a naturalist who works at Davey's Locker… a local whale watching outfit in Newport Beach. She tells FOX 11, "These are gray whales we're looking at. They have a migration that will take them between Mexico and Alaska… they'll do that every single year. That's 12,000 miles round trip. There's about over 23000 on this half of the pacific to for gray whales."

Lifeguards say by late in the day Tuesday one had gone out to see and the other was bathing in the river. They add they are monitoring the situation and to protect the whales, keeping swimmers and surfers at least 100 feet away. They're also not allowing boats in the river.