Gorda Banks and Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur
We rounded the tip of the cape as the first light of morning gilded the horizon. The sea was so calm it appeared flat and shiny. These are the kinds of days we love, especially for looking for whales. Not long after sunrise we encountered our first humpbacks.
There are numerous reasons why humpback whales have caught our imagination. They are easy to observe and are relatively common. Their behaviors are fascinating. They are active at the surface performing aerial displays and throwing their flukes into the air on their last dive as the one is doing pictured above. They possess unique foraging methods that include the use of sound, signaling between each other, group cooperation, and complex bubble blowing. Individuals are relatively easy to recognize by unique pigmentation patterns on the underside of their flukes. Knowing individuals has added another dimension in understanding their fascinating life history. Males compete aggressively for females and even sing complex songs.
Today we not only had the opportunity to watch humpbacks but also to listen to them. We dropped a hydrophone into the water near three active whales. The sounds that floated through the P.A. system were mesmerizing, not because of pure tones or melodies but because of the strange set of growls, groans, creaks, whines, and screams. These sounds are very different from anything most people have ever heard. Humpbacks dicker with a single song, while humans write different songs.
About an hour after our humpback experience one of the naturalists yelled “Kogia”, the genus of dwarf and pygmy sperm whales. The calm waters had given us a chance to find a dwarf sperm whale. These odd, odontocetes are everything a humpback is not, but they are special. They are hard to see because of their small 8-foot length, a lack of a discernable blow, and no forward motion on rising or diving. They look and act like a log with a dorsal fin.
Our afternoon was spent snorkeling, birding, or shopping and wandering through the crowded streets of Cabo San Lucas. Buses carried us through the thriving city to wilder haunts. As the day drew to a close, we were all again aboard. While nosing the ship around in the high pinnacles of Land’s End or Friar Rocks, one of the naturalists spotted a peregrine falcon high up on a rock ledge. Later we passed a cow/calf pair of humpback whales as we headed into the sunset. One day of travel sometimes has as many memories as more than a week at home.
We rounded the tip of the cape as the first light of morning gilded the horizon. The sea was so calm it appeared flat and shiny. These are the kinds of days we love, especially for looking for whales. Not long after sunrise we encountered our first humpbacks.
There are numerous reasons why humpback whales have caught our imagination. They are easy to observe and are relatively common. Their behaviors are fascinating. They are active at the surface performing aerial displays and throwing their flukes into the air on their last dive as the one is doing pictured above. They possess unique foraging methods that include the use of sound, signaling between each other, group cooperation, and complex bubble blowing. Individuals are relatively easy to recognize by unique pigmentation patterns on the underside of their flukes. Knowing individuals has added another dimension in understanding their fascinating life history. Males compete aggressively for females and even sing complex songs.
Today we not only had the opportunity to watch humpbacks but also to listen to them. We dropped a hydrophone into the water near three active whales. The sounds that floated through the P.A. system were mesmerizing, not because of pure tones or melodies but because of the strange set of growls, groans, creaks, whines, and screams. These sounds are very different from anything most people have ever heard. Humpbacks dicker with a single song, while humans write different songs.
About an hour after our humpback experience one of the naturalists yelled “Kogia”, the genus of dwarf and pygmy sperm whales. The calm waters had given us a chance to find a dwarf sperm whale. These odd, odontocetes are everything a humpback is not, but they are special. They are hard to see because of their small 8-foot length, a lack of a discernable blow, and no forward motion on rising or diving. They look and act like a log with a dorsal fin.
Our afternoon was spent snorkeling, birding, or shopping and wandering through the crowded streets of Cabo San Lucas. Buses carried us through the thriving city to wilder haunts. As the day drew to a close, we were all again aboard. While nosing the ship around in the high pinnacles of Land’s End or Friar Rocks, one of the naturalists spotted a peregrine falcon high up on a rock ledge. Later we passed a cow/calf pair of humpback whales as we headed into the sunset. One day of travel sometimes has as many memories as more than a week at home.
