Field Notes 2012 See last-minute discounts on lagoon tours for February with BajaEcotours! Guide Christopher Match from BajaEcotours reports: March 9: With a total of 323 whales (91 cow/calf pairs), the official census for March 9 reports "an incredible number of Gray Whales in the lagoon this time of year..." See the season's census record:
We had five researchers from NOAA join us at the camp. They wanted to place satellite tags on 20 of the gray whales before the whales start the journey north back to Alaska. The researchers were able to accomplish this in two full days of work. They hope the tags will stay on for a full migration but they often fall off in a month. You can follow the tracking at this website. March 4: This group had the best first day of whale watching that I have ever seen. We had a beautiful morning cruise in the ponga to the observation area and found some splashing about off on the horizon. It was three whales involved in a mating ritual. We observed a couple of other males and another female moved in on the action as well. Spring has been sprung! We moved on to find an extremely happy mother and calf nearby. We played with them as the whales would gently glide from one side of the boat to another. They gave everyone an equal amount of time to pet and scratch as they would spyhop next to the boat and submerge. Feb. 29: This group had some extreme whale watching days where winds reached around 26 mph while we were in the observation area. We all still had a great time playing with the whales. I had the chance to introduce this group to a male whale with the name of "Barni" —short for barnacle. Barni had only acorn barnacles on his left side of his face. We joked that he must have been a left- side eater only feeding on the left and picking up the hitchhiking barnacles along the way. Barni is always happy to play with us. He must be around the age from four to six. He still has time to always play with our boats (most males do not), sometimes pacing back and forth to make sure everyone has a chance to touch him. We first met Barni a couple trips ago. He has been a great friend to have around. Even when the swells were building and most whales were only spy-hopping, he still came over to play! At the right you can see a picture of Barni with no barnacles on his right side of his face. There's also a photo of whale we named "Bam-bam." Since this calf could not control itself in the strong winds and current it would collide with the side of the ponga from time to time. Feb. 25: This was the first time that I've viewed whales mating in the observation area with still having a chance to play with a mother and calf! Usually all the mothers and calves are far away working on swimming lessons and controlled movements of the flukes (tails). This group really lucked out!! We had plenty of friendlies to play with on this trip. We watched nursing take place while the bottlenose dolphin circled around trying to get a sweet taste of the whale mother's milk. We had fantastic weather with barely a breeze on the laguna at times (which never really happens this time of the year). February 19, 2012: We had success with friendlies! Once again we found our dear friend "Valentine" and the mother "Valentina." We played all morning with them. You could see the excitement on Valentine's face when he approached the boat with great anticipation. He began spy hopping immediately to see which ponga he would go to visit first! The rules and regulations at Laguna San Ignacio allow only two pongas per set of friendly whales. This keeps down the presence of boats while we view the beautiful whales up close. Valentine could barely hold back his excitement. Valentine would cruise right up to the boat, then return to Valentina and roll over his mom's fluke (tail) and back. A few days ago Valentina had Valentine in the "kiddie pool" (my name for the area on the southwest side of the laguna behind a sand bar, where lighter current makes a good place for newborns to take swimming lessons with their mothers). Then, when the calves are ready, the mothers will bring them out to stronger current. A calf that grows tired will get a ride on mom's back. However, this day ( the 19th), Valentine was swimming quite well next to Mother in strong currents out towards the mouth of the laguna! February 18, 2012: There seemed to be a high count of males in the observation area ( 4 miles in length for viewing out of the 20 miles that make up the Laguna). The males were very interested in the females. Two males will pursue one female all over the laguna until it is time to mate. It seemed that most of the mothers and calves were not present that whole day. On occasion a mother/calf pair would glide closely by our panga. However, they did not want to play that day. February 17, 2012: We had an amazing time during this trip! We had made friends with a baby we called Valentine and his mom Valentina (whom we found February 9, 2012: We have over 125 gray whales in the laguna right now and more every day. At times the panga (the small motor boats we use for whale watching) have been surrounded by whales, with the moms and babies circling around and bottle-nose dolphin swimming close to the boat. A mom and baby circled around the panga for quite a while as we waited with excitement for a chance to maybe touch this beautiful creature of the sea. We splashed the water and sang at the top of our lungs, hoping to convince the whales to come closer. The baby brushed beside the boat as everyone that was close enough reached out their hands. Finally!!! We were able to touch the baby whale as the mother swam close by the panga. As we looked into the eye of the baby whale, such joy and tranquility passed through everyone on the boat. We will never forget!
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