La Entrada, Magdalena Bay
The quiet waters of Magdalena Bay, at its southernmost portion, gave everyone a good sleep aboard the National Geographic Sea Bird last night, so we woke up enthusiastic for a whole journey of whale watching awaiting for us today. Right after breakfast we filled the Zodiac boats and commenced the gray whale seeking, with a magnificent mantle of dense fog, covering the entire lagoon. Solitary pelicans and cormorants, moving from here to there, seemed like silent flying ghosts across the fog illuminated by shy sunrays that filtered from the east.
Under these circumstances we found our first gray whales, several adult females traveling alone or escorted by one or two excited males. The blows, scattered all over the foggy surface of the sea, looked more like little volcanoes expelling steam than exhalations from an aquatic creature. Some of the Zodiac boats were able to make approaches to the whales when they stopped or slowed down to consummate mating. At those moments, the animals rolled over their own bodies to present belly against belly, and showed pectoral fins and parts of the flukes out of the water. The fog then dissipated and we continued the observations of mating whales over a wider area.
A very “tame” or “friendly” female was found and she demonstrated her diving capabilities going under our boats several times and at a safe distance for both humans and herself! We appreciated her enormous body, her dotted pattern, her gentle movements and perceived her good disposition!
The afternoon was also devoted to more whale watching. Under very contrasting weather conditions (almost no breeze and a hot sun), our brave guests and naturalists went out and followed the elusive giants. More friendly whales were found, including a cow and a calf that approached our teams and made a memorable afternoon with their gentle and agile movements under and above the surface, allowing us to see their faces and eyes.
We all participated in a hard-to-describe scene where the powerful giant aquatic mammals interacted with fragile observers on boats, forgetting (and maybe, forgiving) how bad the humans have been to them in the past.
