Whale Watching

Before the whale expedition.

A not so lucky whale specimen

Mr. Grey spy hopping.

Momma whale and her calf spent quite a bit of time with the boat that had children in it.

Thar she blows!

Baby whale - 500 kilos or there abouts

At this point JD was wondering if it would take a fly. 

When in San Ignacio do as the San Ignacians do – go whale watching. Reconnecting with cousins Terry and Gary put smiles on all our faces. When Terry was able to fit us in with one of the groups at their bed and breakfast going whale watching we jumped at the chance. The ride to and from the Laguna San Ignacio is 1½ - 2 hours over a very, very rough gravel logging type road. However, the whole whale watching experience far out-shadowed the ride to get there. Although whale watching to some may seem rather cliché it was one of our highlights of this trip. After man has almost hunted these Grey whales to extinction twice it is hard to imagine these gentle giants of the sea are as curious of us as we are of them.

It was so incredibly unique to come along side the whales and have the mom’s push the calves up to the boats. It’s unnerving as you peer over the side of the boat to realize that with a quick flick of her tail the momma whale could toss you into Davey Jones locker. But she didn’t. It was especially interesting to watch the whales spy hop—stand on their tales with a third or more of their bodies exposed to the air. It was like a giant submarine periscope popping up to take a look around. One of the watching boats had two small children in it and we surmised that the momma whale knew there were children in there as her and her calf spent most of their time circling and observing that boat.

It is humorous to watch a bunch of grown adults behave like giddy school kids at recess when around the whales. One of the fellows in our boat actually got to stroke the calf under its chin, it came that close. All in all it was a very memorable experience and we would recommend it to anyone that is in the neighbourhood.