BajaNomad

Low Whale Sightings Guerrero Negro March

bajamary1952 - 3-16-2022 at 09:54 AM

Report about demise of gray whales. I was in Guerrero Negro last week and saw very few whales and only a couple of babies. Been to GN several times in January, February & March and March was always the best month. But not this time.
https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2022/03/climate/gray-wha...

Howard - 3-16-2022 at 01:35 PM

Around 3 weeks ago there was a group of us camping out on the lagoon and went out whale watching twice and both days were beyond spectacular. We have been whale watching at all 3 lagoons many times over the years and these 2 trips were by far the best. There were quite a few whales and they were extremely friendly and had their calves with them and saw numerous breaches and spy hops. We had a lot of physical interaction on both trips.

I don't think there were as many whales in the lagoon as say 5-10 years ago but there were enough to entertain the hell out of us.

Go figure.

boe4fun - 3-17-2022 at 08:42 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Howard  
Around 3 weeks ago there was a group of us camping out on the lagoon and went out whale watching twice and both days were beyond spectacular. We have been whale watching at all 3 lagoons many times over the years and these 2 trips were by far the best. There were quite a few whales and they were extremely friendly and had their calves with them and saw numerous breaches and spy hops. We had a lot of physical interaction on both trips.

I don't think there were as many whales in the lagoon as say 5-10 years ago but there were enough to entertain the hell out of us.

Go figure.


Historically, for my many trips to Ojo de Liebre, there has always been better interaction deeper into the lagoon than at the mouth of the bay. Just my dos centavos.

shari - 3-18-2022 at 04:16 PM

This has been the best year for whale interactions than the past several years. After the UME Unusual Mortality Event where about 25% of the gray whale population died...mostly young reproducing females...there were very low numbers in the lagoon. Gray whales stop having babies when their food source is compromised so there was hardly any mating a few years back.

But whale have found new food sources and last season the lagoon was a flurry of mating activity and it really showed in the large increase in calves this season and general increase in numbers.

We often had between 1,500 to over 2,000 whales in Laguna Ojo de Liebre with about 500-800 calves. This year like last was absolutely crazy with mating everywhere. I am pleased that the numbers are increasing again...there were over 1,000 whales in the lagoon this season and over 300 calves.

Whale encounters much depend on what part of the lagoon you are in. The mouth has much fewer whales mid season but has more at the end of the season as whales move toward the mouth to leave on the migration. It also depends on the state of the tide where the whales are as they all swim against the tide. If the tide is going out, they all swim further into the lagoon and visa versa.

It is heartening that there are more whales this season and next season should also have many more whales as more babies are being born.