Hola amigos y amigas:

Another gray whale migration is underway and whale watchers everywhere are beginning their plans. Business other than gray whales has kept me from writing a newsletter for a while, but now that the whales are on the move I am compelled to do so. Updates will come with more frequency as the season progresses.

The New Year started with a few early arrivals in the lagoon. I didn’t have the opportunity this year to be at Laguna Ojo de Liebre (formerly Scammon’s Lagoon) for the celebration, but an internet connection reported they had a fine trip out onto the lagoon.

My first small group of the season saw their first gray whales up close and personal on January 20^th. We spent three days of great whale watching. The weather was possibly as cold as it has ever been in the mornings. Thermometer reading 38 degrees at 6:30 A.M., but rapidly climbing to 68 following sunrise. We practically had the entire lagoon to ourselves.

I estimate that there were 400 to 500 whales present in the lagoon. One trip we watched several mating trios. Then the next trip onto the lagoon we spent viewing mother and baby pairs. A third trip onto the water was best characterized as La Brinka! That is the word our Mexican pangeras use to describe a breaching whale. She Jumps! A juvenile of either one or two years kept jumping and jumping. He was so exhilarating to watch.

Then on our final run, on our final day of whale watching the wind picked up significantly. We had one very wet boatload of gray whale enthusiasts. We motored around for about an hour. Slowly traversing the observation area, but not seeing hardly a whale because of the chop and wind. It seemed as if our final trip might be an anti-climax. I had cautioned our group that weather might seem to affect the whales. However my experience has been that regardless of the conditions, the whales are there, we just sometimes have difficulty seeing them. Because the choppy wind driven waves and the wind blowing the spout spray away before we can see it make locating them difficult. Also, the whales will generally sink slightly below the surface, instead of laying on top. Maybe the splashing of the waves irritates them, I don’t really know.

Anyway, after an hour or so without warning a gnarly barnacle scarred female poked her head above the waves about 150 yards off our starboard side. Herieberto, our pangera that trip is highly experienced, with over 12 years as a whale watching guide. He spotted her at the same moment I did and he gently placed the motor into idle.

Keeping the motor idling, we drifted to a stop. Then we bobbed in the water as the friendly female approached our side. Everyone got very excited, or course. As usual, when a close encounter takes place, all of my clients rushed to the side. The panga dipped toward the water. I hooked a foot under a fiberglass seat plank and hung out over the opposite rail to keep the panga balanced.

This friendly whale stayed by our side for maybe five minutes, maybe more. Time enters a warp zone when we encounter a whale so close. I can never say for certain if it was five or twenty five minutes. My grand daughter, Chelsea, was on this trip, but alas her arms were just a few inches too short. She leaned over the rail, but missed touching our friend.

It was a great ending to an interesting and action packed week.

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After three years of construction, the visitors building and new restaurant at the inner lagoon embarkation point are now finished. The restaurant is a bit pricey, but the food is excellent and the kitchen is as clean and neat as a kitchen can be. This is a great addition to the inner lagoon. Campers will certainly appreciate this.

Tourist activity has fallen way off in Baja. Estimates by my friends in Guerrero Negro vary, but seem to point to a 50% drop in business. For the first time in memory European visitors are a significant percentage of the total, rather than a small portion. Canadians are everywhere and very numerous.

A word of warning to those of you thinking about driving down. The highway has now been resurfaced from the border to Guerrero Negro with the exception of about 75 miles in the vicinity of Catavina. This makes for a great trip. However, this has also increased the speed at which many drivers operate. Accidents have increased over quadruple what they were three years ago. In one day there were three accidents in the area around Guerrero Negro. Three or four years ago, three accidents might not occur in an entire month. DRIVE SLOWLY and be careful please.

That’s all for now.

Keith (baja) Jones

Baja Jones Adventure Travel

and coming soon:

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www.whales4kids.org

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