February 25 Whale Watching in Scammon´s Lagoon

Mario’s Whale Watching Tours took us to Scammon’s Lagoon just west of Guerrero Negro for our boat trip of a life time. They say this is among the greatest “eco-tourism” adventures found anywhere and this particular location is the busiest calving lagoon with more than half of the pregnant females giving birth here. Only boats with government permits may enter these lagoons and you cannot watch from shore so a tour is the only way to go.

We were about 12 people to a shallow bottomed wooden power boat. Our guide spoke little English but goes out several times a day and is well experienced, knowing where to locate the whales and the appropriate protocol for approaching them. It was particularly impressed upon us that we must keep the boat balanced and therefore could not rush to one side of the boat all at one time. Instead we must wait for the whale to approach our side of the boat and trust that it will happen.

As my pictures will show, getting our share of up close and personal contact with the whales was not a problem.

We started out the trip spotting whales at a distance like we do at home. Then we soon found they were all around us and putting on quite a show. Several pairs or rather sets of three adult whales were mating. It was no secret what was going on as the male genital is quite prominent during this delicate ballet. They churned and turned in the water as they positioned their enormous bodies to accomplish the impregnation that 13 months later will yield a new calf when the female returns to this same bay to give birth.

The mothers with new calves surprised us as they (as promised) brought their young one up to our boats to show them off. I was prepared for the sight of the calves…clean and smooth with distinct features. Despite Gary’s demonstration of the length of the full size female (45 feet) I was in awe as I realized she was bigger than the boat we were in. Her girth/width was a surprise and the realization we could easily be in the water if she decided we were intruding.

The adult whales have massive barnacles on their surface which they like to rub off…by rubbing up under the boat no less. Wow, what a feeling as they literally push the boat around “having their way with us” so to speak. They also have great fun “playing” with us….when they surface and exhale out their blow holes it sprays a smelly mist filled breath all over us. We squeal as it descends upon us and they just do it more. What a fun time we had!