Gorda Banks and Cabo San Lucas
A setting full moon counterpoised the rising sun over humpback whale waters at the bottom of the Baja California peninsula. The lunar glitter trail sank off our starboard quarter as a solar streak burned the water to us from port. Between the orbs humpback whale mothers tended their small leviathans.
No connection between lunar cycles and whale reproduction has been demonstrated, nor has anyone witnessed humpback whale mating or births; however, we do have a few clues about these animals’ reproductive behavior. Notably these baleen whales migrate thousands of miles to low latitudes in winter where babies are tended and mating is believed to occur. Mexico is the second most important breeding area for North Pacific humpback whales after Hawaii.
Male humpbacks will temporarily accompany females hoping to mate with them, even if the female is a mother with a calf of the year. In some cases other interested suitors challenge a male escort’s place beside a female; this is when it gets interesting.
This morning we watched one male escort, determined to keep his position beside a mom and calf, who would repeatedly lunge his head out of the water, arch his body and wave his enormous tail back and forth in the air. He performed these dominant fluke displays over and over again, forcibly stirring up the water in intimidation of an encroaching challenger. Posturing and fighting of males to gain access to females is about as much as we understand how mate selection works in this endangered species.
At the bottom of the Californias, we explored the town of Cabo San Lucas and went out on snorkeling, diving and hiking excursions. A perfect orange sphere disappeared into the Pacific off Land’s End as a pair of peregrines flitted about dozens of frigate birds hanging in the wind. As the Sea Lion made her way towards the gray whale lagoons, an amber moon rose full behind us bringing the day full circle.
A setting full moon counterpoised the rising sun over humpback whale waters at the bottom of the Baja California peninsula. The lunar glitter trail sank off our starboard quarter as a solar streak burned the water to us from port. Between the orbs humpback whale mothers tended their small leviathans.
No connection between lunar cycles and whale reproduction has been demonstrated, nor has anyone witnessed humpback whale mating or births; however, we do have a few clues about these animals’ reproductive behavior. Notably these baleen whales migrate thousands of miles to low latitudes in winter where babies are tended and mating is believed to occur. Mexico is the second most important breeding area for North Pacific humpback whales after Hawaii.
Male humpbacks will temporarily accompany females hoping to mate with them, even if the female is a mother with a calf of the year. In some cases other interested suitors challenge a male escort’s place beside a female; this is when it gets interesting.
This morning we watched one male escort, determined to keep his position beside a mom and calf, who would repeatedly lunge his head out of the water, arch his body and wave his enormous tail back and forth in the air. He performed these dominant fluke displays over and over again, forcibly stirring up the water in intimidation of an encroaching challenger. Posturing and fighting of males to gain access to females is about as much as we understand how mate selection works in this endangered species.
At the bottom of the Californias, we explored the town of Cabo San Lucas and went out on snorkeling, diving and hiking excursions. A perfect orange sphere disappeared into the Pacific off Land’s End as a pair of peregrines flitted about dozens of frigate birds hanging in the wind. As the Sea Lion made her way towards the gray whale lagoons, an amber moon rose full behind us bringing the day full circle.
