Whale watching at Magdalena Bay
No fog, few clouds and a cool breeze were the frame this morning for our first day of whale watching at Boca de la Soledad, the northernmost entrance to Magdalena Bay. With a lot of enthusiasm in everyone, we loaded Zodiacs in the company of our friends the “pangueros”, a local name given to the drivers of the fiberglass outboard boats called “pangas”, and also the holders of the permits for whale watching. After a short ride towards Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, we began to see many blows and each expedition team approached different whale groups.
Among those scattered groups were several pairs of cows and calves surfacing or diving with the current, and eventually almost all animals were cooperative in staying close and around our Zodiacs. They showed a variety of postures and activities; for example, very effusive calves rolled over their mothers’ backs, while others actively fed on fat-rich and nutritious milk. Also, some lessons of how to scoop up the bottom sediments of the lagoon were taken, as indicated by the mud coming out from the babies’ mouths while breeching! Always protective and alert, certain females trespassed the official distance we must keep in relation to them, and came closer. Blow holes, eyes, baleen plates, tongues, and some other details of their anatomy, including their parasites (barnacles and whale lice) were observed right next to our boats. Those of us with the longer arms or the best position were able to touch one or two of the calves. Also, gentle screams of enthusiasm were proffered by some of us every time a female spy-hopped, giving us the real dimensions of their size and enormous heads and necks. In several occasions, two pairs of cows and calves traveling in opposite directions met, giving the babies a chance to socialize while mothers maybe passed on some valuable information about conditions in the lagoon.
Interspersed with the above episodes, couples, trios and single individuals were observed displaying courtship behavior and even mating. Competitive males were chasing anxious females while fluking and breeching, and those who had intercourse showed their enormous “pink floyds,” as we politely call the male’s reproductive device. Belly to belly, and showing one side of their bodies above the water, the mating couples traveled long distances in the lagoon, always followed by indiscrete eyes. Every time their goal was reached, the couples separated, each individual making its own way. By the late afternoon, at the end of our profound insight of the gray whales’ private lives, something had changed in our eyes. Only time will allow us to realize what has changed in us after this great experience.
No fog, few clouds and a cool breeze were the frame this morning for our first day of whale watching at Boca de la Soledad, the northernmost entrance to Magdalena Bay. With a lot of enthusiasm in everyone, we loaded Zodiacs in the company of our friends the “pangueros”, a local name given to the drivers of the fiberglass outboard boats called “pangas”, and also the holders of the permits for whale watching. After a short ride towards Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, we began to see many blows and each expedition team approached different whale groups.
Among those scattered groups were several pairs of cows and calves surfacing or diving with the current, and eventually almost all animals were cooperative in staying close and around our Zodiacs. They showed a variety of postures and activities; for example, very effusive calves rolled over their mothers’ backs, while others actively fed on fat-rich and nutritious milk. Also, some lessons of how to scoop up the bottom sediments of the lagoon were taken, as indicated by the mud coming out from the babies’ mouths while breeching! Always protective and alert, certain females trespassed the official distance we must keep in relation to them, and came closer. Blow holes, eyes, baleen plates, tongues, and some other details of their anatomy, including their parasites (barnacles and whale lice) were observed right next to our boats. Those of us with the longer arms or the best position were able to touch one or two of the calves. Also, gentle screams of enthusiasm were proffered by some of us every time a female spy-hopped, giving us the real dimensions of their size and enormous heads and necks. In several occasions, two pairs of cows and calves traveling in opposite directions met, giving the babies a chance to socialize while mothers maybe passed on some valuable information about conditions in the lagoon.
Interspersed with the above episodes, couples, trios and single individuals were observed displaying courtship behavior and even mating. Competitive males were chasing anxious females while fluking and breeching, and those who had intercourse showed their enormous “pink floyds,” as we politely call the male’s reproductive device. Belly to belly, and showing one side of their bodies above the water, the mating couples traveled long distances in the lagoon, always followed by indiscrete eyes. Every time their goal was reached, the couples separated, each individual making its own way. By the late afternoon, at the end of our profound insight of the gray whales’ private lives, something had changed in our eyes. Only time will allow us to realize what has changed in us after this great experience.
