San Ignacio lagoon
This morning everything started a bit earlier than usual; excitement could be felt in the air as we all had an early breakfast as the National Geographic Sea Bird entered the protected harbor at Santa Rosalía. Shortly after, we boarded several vehicles and traveled north on Mexico’s Highway One towards the town of San Ignacio. Still a quiet and peaceful town, San Ignacio was founded by the Jesuit missionaries in the middle 1700’s, although the Franciscans were the ones that completed the construction of the mission after the former were expelled in 1767 from all of Spain’s territories by King Carlos III. After a refreshing stop in town we continued our way to San Ignacio lagoon, which is one of the three main coastal lagoons where the gray whales congregate to mate and give birth to their young. The desert around us was unusually green due to last week’s rainfall and pretty violet, yellow and orange flowers were seen everywhere.
San Ignacio lagoon is part of the huge El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, which also includes Ojo de Liebre (also know as Scammon’s) lagoon, but more importantly, is a place of near mythical qualities. We boarded several pangas, the local fiberglass craft, and soon spotted our first gray whale, while several blows in the distance revealed the presence of many more around.
Single adults and females with their calves eventually made their way toward us and we enjoyed the privilege of experiencing their majesty and charm at close range. Several baby whales practiced that favorite pastime of young mammals of all species, climbing on top of their mothers, whereas some other whales raised their heads above the surface and, in general, let us marvel at their beauty and grace.
After a wonderful time in the lagoon we eventually made our way back to the ship, where tonight many among us are going to dream of playful baby whales.
