Field Notes
2011 March 1: More gray whales than usual have stopped into Magdalena Bay this season, reported Captain Pat Rains. It has been windier and colder than usual along the Pacific coast of Baja California, and it seems that more gray whales decided to hang out within the bay’s shallow and sheltered waters in order for mother whales to give birth and nurse their new calves, and for other pairs to court and mate. Oceangoing boaters who come here to anchor and trailerboaters who launch from shore have been treated to an extraordinarily high number of gray whale sightings. They've been thrilled to see breaching, spy hopping, fluke flying and other antics. Magdalena Bay is not an official whale preserve, but gray whales have been coming here for centuries. Surprisingly, some of the whales that have spent time inside Laguna San Ignacio (the whale preserve 150 miles north) got used to being petted on the head and expect the same treatment here! They have been known to swim up to quiet skiffs, expecting friendly tourists to reach out to touch them. February 14: How exciting to finally hear news from this nursery lagoon! Whale tour guide Keith "Baja" Jones included Magdalena Bay on his first-ever three-lagoon tour. He reports: "We do not have a census for Magdalena Bay, but it seems there are maybe 250 gray whales there right now." Are more whales now visiting this southernmost nursery lagoon?
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