Up close and natural

By now, anyone who gives a damn about cetaceans has already heard of the great gray whale story and their birthing grounds in Baja California and the recent scene that has developed around those Mexican lagoons. I just did a bit of eyewitness research on this subject (file under “It's a bitch, but somebody's gotta do it!”) and here's some info that will be helpful should you ever decide to cross this one off your bucket list.

First off, what's going on is something that I don't think has any parallel anywhere on Earth. I just can't think of another situation where you can interact with baby whales with the permission of their mothers. Yet, that's precisely what is taking place every March in Mexico. People are going out in small boats called pongas to observe and hang with maternal gray whales and their brand new offspring. It sounds extraordinary and it is.

There are three areas/lagoons where the action is—Magdalena Bay, Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos and San Ignacio. The first two are the most easily accessible. All you gotta do is fly (Alaska Air) from L.A. to a very cool town on the Sea of Cortez called Loreto. There at the airport, you rent a car, and off you go. Two hours later, you're on the Pacific side of Baja, and it's on. We went out one day at Mag Bay and the next at Lopez Mateos, and it's this latter spot that's where it's at. LM is a funky Baja town, make no mistake. Nobody's gonna confuse it with Mazatlan or Cabo. But it's certainly cool enough and has the services you need, namely food and lodging. And they certainly know how to take care of gringo ballenistas (in Spanish, gray whales are ballenas grises).

It cost 1600 pesos for four of us to go out for 2 hours. Expensive, right? No way, José. 1600 pesos is about 120 dollars US, or 30 bucks apiece. Quite a fair price for a wildlife experience that is unique on our planet! Our boatman Carlos wandered about until he spied some spouting, which gave away the presence of 10-15 grays. Shortly, we were floating along with a 35 foot momma gray and her 12-foot youngster, with these whales coming within 20 feet of the boat. That's pretty fantastic right there, but then, what happens frequently, and what happened with us, is that the baby came over to the boat, as in right next to the ponga, at which time we could literally lean over and pet the friendly little fella. I mean, just to be within 10 feet of these mighty mammals is awesome enough, but then to have junior slide up next to the boat and say “Howdy! Wanna touch me?” is some pretty serious frosting on the mammalian interaction cake. Indeed, we were close enough to receive the blessings of the much desired gray whale “blow hole job.” This is where the spray from baby's blow hole drifts into your face, and trust me, the experience of it is pretty doggone hilarious.