Boca de Soledad, Bahia Magdalena
As an early morning mist lifted off the lagoon, our whale watching was delayed as a curious mother gray whale and her calf came to visit the anchored M/S Sea Bird. For over half an hour the pair lolled and rolled just off our stern. The calf nudged the Sea Bird several times as if urging us to come out and play with it. The mother repeatedly lifted its two month-old ten foot-long calf on her broad back allowing the calf to slide and splash back into the water. Both would then roll onto their sides and scan us with large mysterious eyes.
When Zodiacs were finally loaded with excited watchers the mother and calf continue to interact . The cow would spiral slowly beneath while the calf poked its head clear out of the water. Tentative hands reached down to pat the calf on its rubbery head, allowing a unique contact that extended beyond the merely tactile. Each whale blow created a misty rainbow. Throughout the morning each Zodiac group was greeted by the cow-calf pair with the same uninhibited cavorting. Tiny bristles of hair stuck out of dimples on the calf’s head. Mottled grays splotches and black skin looked like marble beneath the greenish waters of the lagoon.
In any direction one could readily spot attentive mother whales with frisky calves. Distant explosive splashes resulted when adults would breach clear of the water. Young whales would silently spyhop by sticking their pointed heads out of the water then slip back. Over fifty cow-calf pairs were observed during the day.
The afternoon also allowed a respite of long beach walks along a mangrove fringed shoreline. Behind stretched tawny colored sand dunes that added a startling contrast of whales surrounded by desert.
The marvels of the day were capped by a fiesta of locally prepared seafood and the harmonizing guitar music of a group from the nearby fishing village of Lopez Mateos.
In the body of water called “ the mouth of loneliness” we found new experiences and friendships.
As an early morning mist lifted off the lagoon, our whale watching was delayed as a curious mother gray whale and her calf came to visit the anchored M/S Sea Bird. For over half an hour the pair lolled and rolled just off our stern. The calf nudged the Sea Bird several times as if urging us to come out and play with it. The mother repeatedly lifted its two month-old ten foot-long calf on her broad back allowing the calf to slide and splash back into the water. Both would then roll onto their sides and scan us with large mysterious eyes.
When Zodiacs were finally loaded with excited watchers the mother and calf continue to interact . The cow would spiral slowly beneath while the calf poked its head clear out of the water. Tentative hands reached down to pat the calf on its rubbery head, allowing a unique contact that extended beyond the merely tactile. Each whale blow created a misty rainbow. Throughout the morning each Zodiac group was greeted by the cow-calf pair with the same uninhibited cavorting. Tiny bristles of hair stuck out of dimples on the calf’s head. Mottled grays splotches and black skin looked like marble beneath the greenish waters of the lagoon.
In any direction one could readily spot attentive mother whales with frisky calves. Distant explosive splashes resulted when adults would breach clear of the water. Young whales would silently spyhop by sticking their pointed heads out of the water then slip back. Over fifty cow-calf pairs were observed during the day.
The afternoon also allowed a respite of long beach walks along a mangrove fringed shoreline. Behind stretched tawny colored sand dunes that added a startling contrast of whales surrounded by desert.
The marvels of the day were capped by a fiesta of locally prepared seafood and the harmonizing guitar music of a group from the nearby fishing village of Lopez Mateos.
In the body of water called “ the mouth of loneliness” we found new experiences and friendships.
