I know, this post is out of order but then what can I say – It’s Baja.
“The whole Baja California peninsula is an energetic place, and it’s incredibly alive.” Gael Garcia Bernal
It’s late February and that means it’s time once again for our annual trips down to Baja to commune with the whales and to share this awesome place with other travelers. This will be the 8th year that Jerry and I (Journey’s with Loomis & Jones) have led groups down to this amazing place to experience some of the great things that are available in this very safe and beautiful part of Mexico. Baja is truly a world of peace and tranquility.
You are probably saying “but what happened to the remainder of January and most of February?” and yes I still have to write about some awesome Arizona places as I returned again to Lost Dutchman and Tucson; and I can’t forget Joshua Tree National Park as this time I was lucky enough to take a great night photography class – so more about those places very soon……
For now I want to revisit our Baja 2018 trips.
This year was exceptionally fun for me as my family decided after years of hearing my excited descriptions decided to join me in Baja after our two groups left.
I was a bit nervous – would it meet all of their expectations? But I needed have worried as Baja seems to always deliver.
Grey whales and their calves, Blue Whales surfacing as close as we could ask for to our tiny panga, Humpback Whales breaching over and over just enjoying the day and the sea as well as lots of birds, dolphins, sandy beach and great food. I think I have made Baja lovers out of the entire bunch!
But back to reflections on Baja – You might recognize much of the text in this post as it seemed appropriate to not only revisit the place but the thoughts and history. The photos, however, are totally new this year as I get more familiar with my camera and using Lightroom to process the images. So here goes:
“Whatever it is that makes one aware that men are about is not there. Thus, in spite of the noises of waves and fishes, one has a feeling of… quietness.” John Steinbeck – The Log from the Sea of Cortez
The Baja California is part of the Sonoran desert ecologically covering about 100,000 square miles and including most of the southern half of Arizona, southeastern California, most of the Baja California peninsula, the islands of the Gulf of California, and much of the state of Sonora, Mexico. This desert environment supports many life forms encompassing some 2,000 species of plants and is the home of a very diverse bird population.
Many of the folks that accompany us on our trips are avid birders and will literally jump out of the vans for the right flying species.
Although I am not a birder as such, when visiting each year I often am excited to see the Magnificent Frigatebirds, red-billed oystercatchers, osprey, pelicans, blue-footed boobies and many other seabirds. If any place could make a birder out of this traveler it is certainly Baja!
I would have to say that my favorite are the Frigatebirds – soaring overhead they look like pterodactyl, those prehistoric flying dinosaurs and the Blue Footed Boobies lining the rocks flashing their colorful blue feet in an effort to attract the best mate.
Not to mention the Pelicans, hitting the water at mach 10 speeds and still avoiding a concussion in the search for a meal of tasty fish.
Watching dolphins play in the bow wake of the boat is a great experience. These playful creatures seem to enjoy racing in the bow wake of our pangas, jumping and frolicking in giant pods that seem to stretch in front and behind our boat across the horizon.
Snorkeling in the Sea of Cortez is always part of the plan. The water can be a bit cold and at cloudy but the experience does not disappoint. The nimble sea lions race by snorkelers sometimes blowing bubbles in our surprised faces. It can be a bit unnerving when you are in their home and in the water, a place where we are not as comfortable.
This year especially as there was one juvenile sea lion that had taken to biting the snorkelers in his domain. We got out with just stories to tell but a few folks in another group actually had teeth marks where the “playful” pup had taken a bite through their wetsuits. Needless to say the second group decided not to snorkel as close to that group!
Even with the amazing sea life and beautiful landscapes, the real reason many folks make the pilgrimage down to Baja each year is to see the whales.
Mexico has done a remarkable job of helping to protect this important ecological and tourist attracting natural community. Most notable were the efforts of the Mexican government to establish two important gray whale lagoons in Baja California Sur as sanctuaries. Scammon’s Lagoon and San Ignacio Lagoon were declared protected areas in the 1970s.
While the United States was busy destroying its Pacific coastal wetlands, Mexico set aside two of the largest remaining wetlands on the Pacific coast of North America as gray whale refuges. This it seems, was a remarkable achievement for a country not necessarily known for it’s positive environmental record.
The hunting of gray whales was outlawed in 1946, and their numbers have since rebounded from an estimated low of about 500. The Mexican government strictly regulates access to these lagoons to ensure that any human activities do not affect the whales while they are in the quiet, protected lagoons of Baja California.
The protected bays of Baja’s central Pacific coast proved irresistible to early 20th-century whale hunters, who blocked the bays’ exits and slaughtered the gray whales that gathered there each year. These whalers entered the Baja lagoons in small wooden rowing boats (roughly the same size as the whale-watching pangas we use today) and harpooned them. But in the face of the slaughter the whales fought back – chasing the whaling boats, lifting them out of the water, ramming them with their heads and dashing them to pieces with their tails. Many of the fishermen that had been recruited to hunt these creatures could not swim and so perished when their boats were destroyed. To protect their lives and their calves, they would “fight like devils”, so the whalers dubbed them “devilfish”. But truly, can you blame them?
What a difference 100 years makes, today these Grey whales are widely regarded as the friendliest of all whales: it’s often hard to tell if we are watching them or they are watching us.
“I have noticed them; sometimes they have noticed me; and I am reminded of something which a certain kind of person is rather prone to forget – that there are other creatures in the world beside himself.”
“Baja California and the Geography of Hope”, Joseph Krutch
Spending time with them is arguably one of the greatest wildlife experiences on Earth. Nowadays, somehow, they seem to understand that we come in peace. Today’s whales seem to positively welcome whale-watching tourists into their breeding lagoons and, far from smashing our pangas (small fishing boats) to smithereens, they instead seem to welcome us to their home. They seem to have forgiven us for all those years of greed, recklessness and cruelty. They trust us, when we don’t really deserve to be trusted. It’s a truly humbling experience.
“They say the sea is cold, but the sea contains the hottest blood of all, and the wildest, the most urgent.”
—D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930), “Whales Weep Not”
Due to the diligent efforts of the Loreto community, you can add to the above protections The Bay of Loreto National Park that was officially created by Presidential Decree and approved by the Mexican Federal Congress on July 19, 1996. A “Sister Park” to Channel Islands National Park in the US, this Marine Park covers 797 square miles in the Gulf of California, ranging from Isla Coronados in the north to Isla Catalana in the south. On July 14, 2005, the Park was added to the United Nations’ list of protected World Heritage Sites. With over 800 species of marine life inhabiting the Gulf of California, many of them currently endangered, the need for protection of these areas is great. Many endemic species of plants and animals are found here including the largest mammal on earth, the Blue Whale.
Seeing a blue whale is a dream of many folks. Having taken groups down here for this experience for the last seven years I have to say that it’s nearly impossible to prepare someone for their first encounter. Hearing the sound of their breath (remarkably loud) as they surface from the depth of the sea is indescribable.
An average-sized blue whale is astonishingly enormous: the largest animal known to have ever lived on earth, longer than a basketball court, a heart the size of a Volkswagen bug and weighing as much as 200 tons. Quite simply, it takes your breath away. When one of these animals surfaces near the boat, you are hooked for life.
It’s worth travelling all the way to Baja for this single experience alone.
Gray & Blue whales form part of the culture, history, politics, and geography of Baja, one of Mexico’s most isolated states. These animals have helped to shape the world around them and the people who share the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific lagoons of Baja California Sur with them. One could argue that whales in many ways represent our destructive past and a hopeful future.
“The oceans are the planet’s last great living wilderness, man’s only remaining frontier on Earth, and perhaps his last chance to prove himself a rational species.” ― John L. Culliney
You can read more about this awesome place in two more posts from last spring:
Sea Desert Mountains – This is Baja
To close I can’t help but reflect on not only the wildlife but Baja’s beautiful clear skies. Skies that make for incredible full moon rises over Isla Carmen and clear star filled night skies just waiting to be captured by this newbie photographer.
For now as always I can’t wait to get back there again……
Beautiful Baja photos Dana. Brings back many fond memories of my trip to Baja.