Boca de Soledad, Bahia Magdalena
We awoke in our quiet anchorage surrounded by California gray whales… whales swimming with their babies against the strong currents, whales spy-hopping around the ship, or breaching in the distance. As we sipped our first cups of steaming coffee and contemplated our previous days' close encounters with these remarkable animals, we happily anticipated once again being near these great and mysterious creatures.
The desert dunes and Pacific breakers surrounding Boca de Soledad were wrapped in beautiful swirling shapes of steel-blue clouds and curtains of rain squalls. Fresh water in its most longed-for, locally unusual and appreciated form, namely rain in the desert, blessed us all this day. It was soon evident in the morning Zodiac cruises that we were also blessed with the presence of whales. A variety of memorable behaviors were observed in all the boats throughout the morning. Do spy-hops beget spy-hops? It seemed so today, as the huge pointed heads of California gray whales rose up again and again, close to the boats and off in the distance. One Zodiac was followed by a cow-calf pair who seemed rather disinterested until the boat tried to leave the area; both of the whales sped up and began to surface next to the boat (the calf is pictured above). Could they be copying the bow-riding techniques of the local bottlenose dolphins?
The morning's finale came when expedition leader Jim Kelly announced a "tea party in the Boca" and several of our boats gathered near a very affectionate female gray whale and her curious young one. This amazing animal offered her barnacled head to be touched and gave each Zodiac a little ride across the waves on her broad back. As she and her calf moved from boat to boat and solicited our attention and accepted our out stretched hands, we can stop for a moment and marvel at one of our little planet's sweetest mysteries…this mystical interaction between humans and the California gray whale.
We awoke in our quiet anchorage surrounded by California gray whales… whales swimming with their babies against the strong currents, whales spy-hopping around the ship, or breaching in the distance. As we sipped our first cups of steaming coffee and contemplated our previous days' close encounters with these remarkable animals, we happily anticipated once again being near these great and mysterious creatures.
The desert dunes and Pacific breakers surrounding Boca de Soledad were wrapped in beautiful swirling shapes of steel-blue clouds and curtains of rain squalls. Fresh water in its most longed-for, locally unusual and appreciated form, namely rain in the desert, blessed us all this day. It was soon evident in the morning Zodiac cruises that we were also blessed with the presence of whales. A variety of memorable behaviors were observed in all the boats throughout the morning. Do spy-hops beget spy-hops? It seemed so today, as the huge pointed heads of California gray whales rose up again and again, close to the boats and off in the distance. One Zodiac was followed by a cow-calf pair who seemed rather disinterested until the boat tried to leave the area; both of the whales sped up and began to surface next to the boat (the calf is pictured above). Could they be copying the bow-riding techniques of the local bottlenose dolphins?
The morning's finale came when expedition leader Jim Kelly announced a "tea party in the Boca" and several of our boats gathered near a very affectionate female gray whale and her curious young one. This amazing animal offered her barnacled head to be touched and gave each Zodiac a little ride across the waves on her broad back. As she and her calf moved from boat to boat and solicited our attention and accepted our out stretched hands, we can stop for a moment and marvel at one of our little planet's sweetest mysteries…this mystical interaction between humans and the California gray whale.
