Whales
Magdalena Bay, Baja California
February 21, 2023
The passengers were divided into two groups for whale watching. We were in the second group, by which time the sun had emerged from the clouds. While we were waiting our turn, we got a great lesson in photography including some tips for using an iPhone camera (there were no android users on board!).
Mid-morning we were transferred to a panga (a local craft originally used for fishing) via the ship’s zodiac. We were taken into the Bahia las Almejas to watch adult gray whales. They called this the “singles bar”—no babies here. We spent over an hour with adult whales who did spy hopping, flipper flopping and some came right up to our panga. We got lots water vapor from the whale blow holes. Some on our boat petted the whales this time, but we were reluctant to put our arms in the water up to our elbows.
The small “panga” boats used for whale watching.
Good view of a blow hole, above, and spy hopping below.
They get really close to the boat, even under it.
We saw a colony of magnificent frigate birds on the way to the whale watching area, but the photos were not good. This was taken on our return to the ship.
We went back to the ship for lunch and a rest and returned for more whale watching late in the afternoon. It was very windy outbound, but the wind stopped when we got back to the whale area. This time we had an even closer encounter with the whales, who put their heads up above the water this time to be petted. We had four whales who stayed with us for at least 20 minutes.
Above is what happens when everyone goes to one side to pet the whale.
They kept getting closer and closer!
Petting the whale, Lauren on the left.
After petting them three or four times,
we started just taking photos of
the others on our boat with the whales.
Everyone got to touch a whale, including our boat driver. Our naturalists said it was a rare trip that had a 100% touch rate, and they also said hearing the guests squeal like children is always a highlight for them. It was really an amazing experience. Here’s one last photo as we say goodbye to these whales.
