The Whales Of Baja Rest Your Hands On The Bellies Of These Gentle Creatures Of The Pacific

Imagine actually petting a friendly whale. Not at Sea World, but in the wild. Picture yourself leaning over the side of a small wooden boat in a warm, sheltered Pacific lagoon and stroking one of the world’s living giants. Then imagine this 45-foot, 50-ton mammal rolling over ever so gently, just beneath your fingertips, to have its tummy rubbed like an enormous, gentle puppy.

Imagine having a mother bring her baby to your boat, and then visualize becoming an integral part of the unspoken communication as she teaches her calf to make its first contact with humans, coaxing it patiently to your waiting hand. As you rub and caress the soft head of that baby, you know you have just helped it to become another of the growing number of Baja’s “friendly grays” - the mysterious whales that now return to their winter breeding grounds, year after year, eager to make contact with humans again.

Local fishermen call them kuyima - “the glowing whales” - these remarkable wild whales of Baja, Mexico, who consistently approach humans. They are a phenomenon, and their existence has been a closely kept secret for almost 20 years. But now access to these wonderful creatures has expanded, making this extraordinary experience easy and comfortable, even for the least adventurous of travelers.

For millions of years, the peaceful California grays have been making their annual 6,000-mile journey from the Arctic to three warm, quiet lagoons located 500 to 700 miles south of San Diego on the Pacific side of the Baja peninsula. There, each winter, the whales mate and bear their calves, spending three to four months before beginning the long journey back to their summer feeding grounds in the Bering Sea.

During decades of commercial whaling, the grays Whales, learned to fear humans - even to attack whaleboats. After almost 100 years of slaughter, barely 2,000 remained. But the whales were finally placed under protection in 1946 and their numbers have risen to an estimated 21,000 today.

No one knows why the first friendly approached a man, but a bond was born with that touch - a bond that has been spreading throughout the species for a generation.

Today, the lagoons are alive with humans again, but humans who have come on their own personal quests - to touch whales, not to harm them. And the whales have responded as eagerly as their new human friends. Each calf taught by its mother to approach a boat and and make human contact returns the following season as a new friendly. Today it is far more rare to be ignored while on the waters of the Baja lagoons than to be approached.

A typical day between December and April might find upwards of 250 adult whales and dozens of calves in a single lagoon measuring a half-dozen miles long and a few miles wide - all going about daily life while calmly including humans. Some are mating in threesomes, the second male acting as assistant and stabilizer for the 100-ton pair.

Others are sleeping, feeding, playing, nursing their young or teaching, strengthening and preparing calves for the long and arduous swim north. Spouts break the surface everywhere and punctuate the skyline in every direction. Playful whales breach, the cetacean equivalent of an exuberant belly flop. Curious whales spyhop, heads poking straight up and out of the water to see what’s going on.

Amid it all, bright wooden fishing boats fleck the water here and there, each surrounded by whales - giants passing time with their tiny new friends. A gleeful grandmother plants an unabashed kiss on the nose of an enormous female who has raised her huge head for a rub and a tickle.

In another small panga, members of a German CNN crew drop their equipment and completely forget filming during their first close encounter with a friendly. Eight hands simultaneously reach over the side of the boat to touch as a 50-footer surfaces within inches and nuzzles gently alongside. Several hundred yards away, an older gentleman, who had been videotaping his wife and grandson as they stroked a young calf, drops to his knees weeping, overcome with emotion.

Emotion is what this is all about. It is a thrill beyond belief, an exhilarating, uplifting, emotional connection with another species, another world. It is an experience never before possible on this planet - and it has been initiated by the whales. They have forgiven us at last.

Thus far, word-of-mouth has brought most visitors to these beautiful but remote Baja lagoons. Now, under the careful eye of the Mexican Environmental Commission, facilities are expanding to encompass all kinds of travelers without disturbing the pristine environment or infringing on the privacy or habits of these protected whales. And accessing the whales has recently become as easy as visiting the Grand Canyon, economical enough to suit most every budget, and diverse enough to accommodate every type of traveler from the rugged adventurer to the weekender who is adventurous only in spirit.

Now, perhaps, it’s your turn. And your time to touch a whale.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Where the whales are The principal gray-whale breeding areas are located in the middle and lower half of Baja’s spectacular 1,000-mile peninsula in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. They are Scammon’s Lagoon (called Laguna Ojo de Liebre on Mexican maps), just west and south of Guerrero Negro and approximately 447 miles south of the U.S.-Mexican border at Tijuana; Laguna San Ignacio, 43 miles southwest of the city of San Ignacio and 536 miles from the border; and the Magdalena Bay area near San Carlos, reached through Ciudad Constitucion, some 792 miles south of Tijuana.

Accessing the whales Rustic but comfortable “whale camps” are located on the shores of some breeding areas, operated by local fishermen’s co-ops under the strict supervision of the Mexican government. Apart from twice-a-day, guided whale watching, other activities at the relatively isolated camps are discretionary. Days are full, however, with two- to three-hour sessions on the water, morning and afternoon, along with birding and exploring the mangrove swamps by boat and shell collecting on the miles of empty beaches. Various travel clubs and organizations operate their own whale camps in conjunction with numerous tours and with complete whaling vacations. In addition to the whale camps, other accommodations arranged on your own or by tour include hotels and restaurants in the closest towns. Up-close, on-the-water whale watching can be arranged for a day, for several days or on a longer basis through a variety of southern California and Baja California tour operators and clubs. Prices range from $80 a day, including meals, for a stay at a locally run camp to almost $3,200 for a 12-day, allinclusive cruise that includes air transportation back to San Diego. Regardless of mode of transportation, most trips depart from San Diego. Whale watching from the lagoons’ shores can be done individually from any suitable spot, but water access to the whales is highly restricted. By rigorously enforced Mexican law, no private vessels of any kind are allowed into the government-protected areas. All boats in the whale sanctuaries are skiffs under the command of a member of a local fishermen’s cooperative or have a Mexican government permit.

If you go Each year, Baja California Tours of San Diego serves as a central clearing house for information on all known Baja whale-watching tours, camps and facilities. At no charge, they will provide contacts and comprehensive information covering the full spectrum of upclose, whale-related operations. Contact: Baja California Tours, 6986 La Jolla Blvd., No. 204, La Jolla, CA 92037; call (619) 454-7166 or fax (619) 454-2703.