After navigating the always changing bathymetry of Hull Canal, we anchored the National Geographic Sea Bird in Magdalena Bay. A short expedition landing craft ride south of the ship, we found ourselves surrounded by spyhopping whales and mother-calf pairs surfacing in the glass-calm conditions. The gray whales take refuge from the open Pacific in these lagoons on the Baja California Peninsula to breed, give birth, and prepare their calves for the 5,000-mile journey north to their feeding grounds in the Bering and Chuckchi Seas. Not every day do we have the opportunity to experience a gray whale’s gentle disposition and immense size on such a personal level.