Boca de Soledad
Blows, backs, flukes, rolls, spyhops, and breaches! We saw everything and Gray whales were everywhere! There were so many action photos taken today that it was very challenging to select a photo! Groups of adults as well as female/calf pairs were distributed throughout the Boca de Soledad, one of the nursery habitats of the Gray whale. It was amazing to see calves that were just a few days old or a few weeks old, lifting their heads high out of the water as if to say “hi” to us and riding up onto the Mom’s back.
Our adventure started off with thick fog at 07:00 but by 07:30 the fog magically lifted like a giant curtain and we were treated to stunning views of the Boca with whales cruising past the National Geographic Sea Bird while we were at anchor having our breakfast. We just knew we were off to a great day. Not only did we have whales on our Zodiac tours, but also around our anchored National Geographic Sea Bird! No one was ever without whales. The grand finale to our morning adventure was a breaching whale near the ship as our Zodiacs were returning to the ship. Another amazing sighting occurred right before lunch. We had a female/calf pair about 10 ft. from the ship just hanging out and this gave us an opportunity to get some amazing views looking down on the backs of the whales as we peered over the ship’s railings.
We were in a pristine and peaceful whale wilderness that has been so preserved and protected over the years that there have been literally no changes in the area except for the natural shoaling in the Boca. Our human footprint is just not here.
By the end of the day, everyone on the ship had a smile on their face from ear to ear. Our smiles were also an extension of what we had experienced the night before – we had an extraordinary opportunity to attend the annual Gray Whale Festival at Puerto Lopez Mateos and we all felt that we were still continuing to celebrate being in the company of whales throughout the day today. Our unbelievable adventures with the whales ended with some live music from local Mexicans and a Mexican feast!
We all feel so much more connected to the natural world and the gray whales as well as the bottlenose dolphins that were swimming with some of the groups of whales. What a way to be totally immersed in nature!
Blows, backs, flukes, rolls, spyhops, and breaches! We saw everything and Gray whales were everywhere! There were so many action photos taken today that it was very challenging to select a photo! Groups of adults as well as female/calf pairs were distributed throughout the Boca de Soledad, one of the nursery habitats of the Gray whale. It was amazing to see calves that were just a few days old or a few weeks old, lifting their heads high out of the water as if to say “hi” to us and riding up onto the Mom’s back.
Our adventure started off with thick fog at 07:00 but by 07:30 the fog magically lifted like a giant curtain and we were treated to stunning views of the Boca with whales cruising past the National Geographic Sea Bird while we were at anchor having our breakfast. We just knew we were off to a great day. Not only did we have whales on our Zodiac tours, but also around our anchored National Geographic Sea Bird! No one was ever without whales. The grand finale to our morning adventure was a breaching whale near the ship as our Zodiacs were returning to the ship. Another amazing sighting occurred right before lunch. We had a female/calf pair about 10 ft. from the ship just hanging out and this gave us an opportunity to get some amazing views looking down on the backs of the whales as we peered over the ship’s railings.
We were in a pristine and peaceful whale wilderness that has been so preserved and protected over the years that there have been literally no changes in the area except for the natural shoaling in the Boca. Our human footprint is just not here.
By the end of the day, everyone on the ship had a smile on their face from ear to ear. Our smiles were also an extension of what we had experienced the night before – we had an extraordinary opportunity to attend the annual Gray Whale Festival at Puerto Lopez Mateos and we all felt that we were still continuing to celebrate being in the company of whales throughout the day today. Our unbelievable adventures with the whales ended with some live music from local Mexicans and a Mexican feast!
We all feel so much more connected to the natural world and the gray whales as well as the bottlenose dolphins that were swimming with some of the groups of whales. What a way to be totally immersed in nature!
