Whale Tales

Nothing like getting sprayed by whale breath!

By Peter Brueggeman  

San Diego, CA.

I went during February 16-20, 2001 and stayed four nights with Baja Ecotours. Ken Corben flew Kathy, Leo, and I down in a Cessna 182 Fairlane. The dirt airstrip at San Ignacio Lagoon was much improved since our trip six years earlier. After an exciting flight at low altitude, we landed on a dirt airstrip and caught a ride in the back of a pickup truck to our accommodations at Baja Ecotours: a canvas "cabin" in an expedition camp run by Maldo Fischer and Johnny Friday. Food was heavenly, three Mexican-cooked meals a day with fresh tortillas, salsa, guacamole, and lots of scallops and other seafood fresh from the lagoon.

Whale-watching from the small open boats was superb -- lots of spyhopping going on! We even got to touch a few of the more curious youngsters who would sidle up to the boat, seeking attention, mother whales hovering a few feet away. Nothing like getting sprayed by whale breath! This is a photo I took of Leo petting a baby gray whale, while Kathy looks on. Other activities included kayaking in the lagoon (I managed to capsize twice, much to Kathy and Leo's amusement!), estuarine mudflat walking in wader boots to look at seahares, moon snails, and other sea critters, and examining the numerous whalebones washed up on the beach. Leo had fun playing with some of the locals, and his Gameboy was an enormous draw each evening in the palapa. He even learned a few key Spanish phrases for Gameboy coaching, e.g. "Pone sobre el monstro! Jump on the monster!" Leo also picked up on some local nature lore, and perfected a pee-in-the- tidepool-hole technique for flushing out octopi! Leo and Kathy had a great time as did I.

Visit Peter Brueggeman’s website:
http://www.peterbrueggeman.com/travel/graywhales.pdf

Or jump straight to:

Dick Russel
James Dorsey
Rick Harbo
Steve Schwartz
Heather Somers
Emily Celino
Rick Armon
Paula Walker
Sharon Anderson
Marie Dalcourt
Peter Brueggeman
Steve Macial