The gray whales of the eastern North Pacific Ocean began their 5,000-mile spring commute from Mexico to the Chukchi Sea about a month ago. And some have probably already entered the Bering Sea.

But Saturday was the first confirmed sighting off Alaska's coast this year, according to a spokeswoman for Kenai Fjords Tours in Seward.

The crew of the tour vessel Alaskan Explorer spotted a cow and its second-year calf just south of Barwell Island off Cape Resurrection near Seward, said Leslie Hines, an education coordinator with the tour company.

The sighting occurred right on time, on the first day of the company's Gray Whale Watch tours, Hines said.

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