Laguna San Ignacio
After travelling over 153 miles north from Magdalena Bay, the National Geographic Sea Bird arrived and anchored this morning at the entrance to San Ignacio Lagoon. This lagoon is part of the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site, and also one of three lagoons in Baja California where gray whales migrate to reproduce and give birth. Cow/calf pairs remain in the lagoons for several months to grow big and strong enough for the migration north to nutrient-rich waters for feeding. Since the cows arrived sometime in December or January, many of the calves are now two or more months old, and quite active and playful. Our mission for the day: Zodiac cruises to observe and perhaps interact with these curious and gentle giants in their winter home.
We could not have asked for better conditions this morning… the sun rose into clear skies, a slightly cool 58 degrees F, with a mild breeze blowing. Gentle swells rocked the ship as we loaded into Zodiacs for our hopeful excursions. A short ride through the shallows over the mouth of the lagoon rewarded us with sightings of many whale blows. What followed defies description (but I’ll try since it’s my assignment!)… we were honored with the privilege of watching these babies with their mothers, at times merely travelling and breathing together, with the sound of Ppppffffttt….ppffft… ; at other times baby rolling on mom; going under and poking rostrum up into the air in a “spyhop”; at times approaching the boats to engage with us humans.
How to explain the feeling of sharing special moments with these creatures? Bursting hearts, ear-splitting smiles, shouts and murmurs of baby-talk abounded. Die-hard photographers had a tough choice: get the perfect photo, or put down the camera and perhaps touch a whale? Compromises were made… hold the camera behind the back with one hand and stretch out as far as you can with the other. Whether for five minutes or an hour, the connection made with the whales was palpable and surprising for many. Equally thrilling was watching the whales engaging with the other boats.
Back at the ship afterwards, many needed naps to replenish from the adrenaline surge! We had another round go out after lunch and then the winds picked up preventing the final round. Thankfully there’s tomorrow. Yippee – more whales! Tonight perhaps the memories of Pfffftttt… pffftt will lull us into dulce suenos.
