Boca de Soledad
We awoke this morning to the still and quiet of Boca de Soledad, one of the northern mouths of Bahia Magdalena. We came here to find gray whales and this morning at first light they were surfacing and blowing gently all around the Sea Bird as we lay at anchor. After breakfast, we were off by Zodiac to take a closer look at these gentle coastal whales who travel slowly for weeks all the way from Alaska to breed and calve in these lagoons of Baja California. We followed breeding groups of a single female pursued by several hopeful males and even saw their attentions rewarded a couple of times. We followed mother and calf pairs as they took their morning exercise swims up and down the Bay to strengthen the new calves’ muscles for next month’s long migration north. Occasionally these lap swims are interrupted by a short rest period when the mothers allow the calves to investigate our Zodiacs, which in turn gives us a close look at them. One curious thing about whale babies is that their mothers seldom allow them to play with other baby whales in the way, say, that puppies might play together. I have seen whale mother firmly call her calf back to its side when they tried to engage another calf. Perhaps we are their surrogate playthings, seen as somehow safe by these attentive and nurturing mothers. Many have remarked that this view of us is pretty remarkable given the history of our ancestors’ interactions with their ancestors less than half a century ago.
All of this mellow and friendly interaction fits perfectly into the setting of Baja California where the sheer beauty of the landscape, the richness of its life and the warmth of its people instill in us all, every day, a new sense of peace and hope. Perhaps things are not so bad on the planet after all.
We awoke this morning to the still and quiet of Boca de Soledad, one of the northern mouths of Bahia Magdalena. We came here to find gray whales and this morning at first light they were surfacing and blowing gently all around the Sea Bird as we lay at anchor. After breakfast, we were off by Zodiac to take a closer look at these gentle coastal whales who travel slowly for weeks all the way from Alaska to breed and calve in these lagoons of Baja California. We followed breeding groups of a single female pursued by several hopeful males and even saw their attentions rewarded a couple of times. We followed mother and calf pairs as they took their morning exercise swims up and down the Bay to strengthen the new calves’ muscles for next month’s long migration north. Occasionally these lap swims are interrupted by a short rest period when the mothers allow the calves to investigate our Zodiacs, which in turn gives us a close look at them. One curious thing about whale babies is that their mothers seldom allow them to play with other baby whales in the way, say, that puppies might play together. I have seen whale mother firmly call her calf back to its side when they tried to engage another calf. Perhaps we are their surrogate playthings, seen as somehow safe by these attentive and nurturing mothers. Many have remarked that this view of us is pretty remarkable given the history of our ancestors’ interactions with their ancestors less than half a century ago.
All of this mellow and friendly interaction fits perfectly into the setting of Baja California where the sheer beauty of the landscape, the richness of its life and the warmth of its people instill in us all, every day, a new sense of peace and hope. Perhaps things are not so bad on the planet after all.
