With the Whales

Last week I posted that I had something really fun to blog about but didn't have the time or energy to do it then.  That was because we'd just returned from the most amazing whale watching tour and I was just recovering!  It was fully time consuming for nearly a week, and worth every minute.

Starting from San Diego, we took a bus south into a couple of states in Baja, Mexico, staying each night in a hotel.  We stopped in Ensenada, though, and several smaller towns.  During the day, we got to observe the Baja landscape, which was largely desert and mostly uninhabited.

One day we also drove through an amazing, large bird sanctuary--osprey nesting on tops of poles, cormorants, herons, egrets and more.  Loved that.

But the expedition was all about the whales!  We had three tours of approximately two hours each, plus time on the water getting into the inlets, on small pangas in the water--open boats that seat about ten people.  Of course we all wore life vests. Two tours were out of San Ignacio, and one off Guerrera Negro.  We saw whales most near San Ignacio. They were gray whales who'd migrated to that area for the winter; summers they spend off northern areas like Alaska.  But in the winter, they mate and have babies, which we sometimes saw--although baby whales are huge, too.

And guess what! The whales were also people watching.  They came over to the pangas to meet us--and let us pet them.  Some people also kissed them.  Gray whales have barnacles all over their back--and lice within them, too.  But feeling the soft, rubbery skin of these huge and friendly animals?  Amazing!

Of course I took lots of pictures.  Notes, too.  The tour guide was incredibly good, as was the naturalist from Scripps who was with us--and I remain in touch with both. 

Writing research?  Of course!