An IPA to save whales: Pure Project teams up with WILDCOAST for gray whales

San Diego's Pure Project released Baja Breach, a West Coast IPA made with ocean conservation group WILDCOAST. The beer supports WILDCOAST's gray whale work in Laguna San Ignacio, in Baja California Sur, Mexico.

That lagoon is described as the last undeveloped gray whale nursery on Earth. And the numbers are scary: researchers have seen mother-calf pairs drop from more than 100 per season to fewer than 20 in recent years, with only four documented in 2026. Serge Dedina, WILDCOAST's executive director and co-founder, said the future of gray whales is far from secure.

WILDCOAST works to protect the lagoon from industrial development, conserve the shoreline, and support mangrove restoration and community-led ecotourism. Pure Project co-founder Mat Robar said beer can be a force for good and a way to inspire real change. Baja Breach is on draft and in four-packs to go at all five Pure Project taprooms in San Diego County, plus select retailers.

What about us? We live surrounded by ocean too, and we know coastlines and mangroves don't take care of themselves. One beer won't save anything on its own, but it can put the issue on the table. When you see a local brewery raising money for an ocean cause, that's the round worth ordering.

Source: Brewbound / Pure Project