Anonymous
Unregistered
Posts: N/A
Registered: N/A
Member Is Offline
|
|
Socializing with the whales
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7025279/
Meet with gray whales of the Pacific in Baja, Mexico
By Jonathan Roldan
Feb. 28, 2005
With a sputter and pop, the 55 horsepower outboard of Captain Rodrigo?s 22 foot panga (Mexican skiff) purred to life and we pulled away from the short
dock at Lopez Mateos. The little pueblito on the shallow shores of Bahia Magdalena on the Pacific Coast of Baja, Mexico is normally just a collection
of colorful cinder-block houses and storage shacks for the fishermen and their families, but today, it was a bustle of activity.
?Muchas ballenas ahora!? (Lots of whales today!), smiled Captain Rodrigo as he grinned and pointed his craft out and across the strait that separated
his village from the series of sand dunes that make up the major part of the bay in this area. More like a giant-slow moving river at this point than
a major seaway covering hundreds of square miles, the bay was literally only a hundred yards wide and perhaps only 20-30 feet deep moving languidly
among the sandbars, shoals and mangroves that lined the shores.
It didn?t take long. Capt. Rodrigo slows the boat.
We could hear the yells from some of the other boats as nine-year-old Emily Duncan from Santa Barbara suddenly pointed, ?Look! Look! There?s one of
them!?
Swiveling around in my seat, camera at the ready, I hadn?t been fast enough but in the glassy greenish seawater, a giants? ?footprint? was clearly
visible in the water. I hadn?t seen a whale, but the huge swirl, as if a huge hand had swept beneath the water, was excitingly evident. I was quicker
next time as just ahead of the swirl the huge gray and barnacle-mottled body of a 30-foot California gray whale rose with barely a ripple moving
in-no-particular-hurry and 15 feet of dark-charcoal dorsal parted the waters. Collectively, our boat ooh?d and ahh?d!
?That?s incredible!? said Emily?s father, Bob, as he tried to take a photo. I could hear squeals and excited talk from many of the surrounding pangas
as several other whales could be seen in the area as well. ?Oh wow! Look! It?s coming to the boat! ? said Jorge Romero of La Paz sitting on the
starboard side of the panga as he cautiously backed away from the gunwale and the rest of us rushed to the side he had just vacated. Gazing down and
now 2 feet below the surface, a baby whale of perhaps only 12 feet seemed to have turned on it?s side and was eyeing the boat. A bump near the bow
that lifted the boat a with a thump and a larger body scraped and passed by?and by?and by as we pointed excitedly into the water. It was like watching
the sides of a slow-moving train go by as you sit at the train stop. (When does the caboose get there?) Mom had arrived!
Raising her head in an activity called ?spy-hopping? mom appeared to be checking us out, her huge eyes barely blinking as she just hung and suspended
some 6 feet of her head out of the water vertically. She must have given the OK, because both she and the smaller calf were shortly rubbing themselves
against the boat and alternately lifting their heads (faces?) out of the water to be petted, scratched and rubbed. Occasionally, one or the other
would lift and eye out of the water and you couldn?t help but think there was a connection.
?I think the baby just winked at me!? yelled a delighted Emily, as she rubbed the nose of the baby.
?Except for the barnacles, I can?t believe how soft their skin is!? said her father. As a boat owner in California and an experienced sailor, he had
seen numerous whales, but had never encountered anything like this as over the next 2 hours, we saw perhaps a hundred whales and were able to touch
several dozen friendly or curious enough to come to the boat.
The area around Lopez Mateos was ideal for this. Its slow moving waters protected by sand dunes created a virtual flume for the whales to pass through
on their way to and from the large and more open parts of the bay.
?This just exceeds all expectations. What an unbelievable experience!? commented Bob Duncan. He started to say more, but suddenly, two more whales
appeared off the bow with one making a sudden dive displaying the classic flukes of its tail just in time to be captured in Bob?s camera. ?It?s so
different here. Unlike the open ocean, the bay is so shallow, they can?t dive away. There?s also so many of them and many are seemingly so tame they
come right up to the boats. This is a lifetime event.?
It hasn?t always been like this. By the turn-of-the-century, the whaling industry had tragically decimated the gray whale and brought it to the brink
of extinction. Even today, remnants of carcasses can be found among the lonely blasted sand dunes in this part of the Baja. However, through
conservation efforts, the whales have made an outstanding comeback and now numbers between 20 and 40 thousand. In what has been called the longest
migration of any mammal, the whales begin their long journey from the Bering Sea in the frigid waters of the north and begin heading south along the
Pacific Coast of North America.
By January, they begin arriving at their 3 main destinations along Baja, Mexico?s Pacific Shoreline. The areas of Scammons Lagoon, Guerrero Negro and
here in Bahia Magdalena offer warmer, protected, shallow waters for the whales to mate as well as give birth. Quiet little towns such as Lopez Mateos
literally boom during whale-watch season as tourists, scientists, photographers and school kids pile into small skiffs to see these great creatures.
?Everyone should do this,? I heard one teacher say to her charges clearly still excited and chattering happily after climbing out of their boats. ?It
helps people understand the need to protect such creatures and there?s no better time than when we can make an impact on the children.?
At first, the whales are leery of the boats early in the season. However, by February, the cetacean visitors seem more tolerant and almost appear to
enjoy the daily company of so many two-armed and two-legged visitors with their cameras clicking and whirring. Females are less reluctant to come
between their curious calves and the pangas. Males seem to enjoy a good nose rub. When they grow weary of us, one flick of the tail and they move on.
The leviathan simply disappears below the surface. However, almost like clockwork, another often appears.
The whales will be around until March or early April then head back north along the coast. Trips can be arranged by a number of operators and it?s
truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
|
|
|
Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
|
|
My opinion is that the whales would be much better of with out so much human intervention. It is not natural for them to be petted and disturbed
during the time the mothers are trying to bond with there young. I prefer to watch from the shore and See them in their natural interment. rather turn
theme in to circus acts.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
 |
|
|
wilderone
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3779
Registered: 2-9-2004
Member Is Offline
|
|
They are in their natural environment. It's the whales' choice to come up to the boat. Don't you think they get something out of the inter-personal
experience? Forever humans have thought that the animal world should be segregated from humans. Who's to say that there shouldn't be much, much more
to our relationships with and understanding of animals on our planet? Almost everyone has finally stopped killing whales and we're only now --
hundreds of years later -- able to pet them. It's just a beginning of ..... what?
|
|
|
Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
|
|
they deserve to be left alone. it is not natural to have that much human contact . the young need to bond with there mothers not pongas full of
screaming tourists.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
|
|
|
Sharksbaja
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5814
Registered: 9-7-2004
Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
Member Is Offline
|
|
Are u familiar with the new whale hunts in the PNW. Some whales appear to know that humans are trying to kill them.......ah, but not for research as
the Japanese claim their slaughter is for.
|
|
|
wilderone
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3779
Registered: 2-9-2004
Member Is Offline
|
|
I thought the Macah lost. Appeal in 2000 put a ban on the tribe's whale hunting.
"The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on 9 June 2000 suspended by a 2-1 decision federal approval of the Makah whale hunt, ordering a new study of
environmental risks. The full text of the ruling on the "Metcalf v. Daley" suit can be found on the court's website. In the majority opinion, the
court said the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) had violated the law by failing to conduct a review that was timely, objective and "in good
faith, not an exercise in form over substance". A new Environmental Assessment (EA) was ordered "under circumstances that ensure an objective
evaluation free of the previous taint". The court found that NMFS had promised the Makah help to gain approval for the hunt from the International
Whaling Commission (IWC). The judges said that commitment to the tribe biased the agency, which began the environmental review with a foregone
conclusion. The court asked that the hunt be suspended while the NMFS reviews its environmental consequences."
|
|
|
Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
|
|
Pompano that is exactly my feeling on the subject of whale watching. you are a much better writer than I am. I wish people could learn to study nature
with out interfering or touching it. get a good pair of binoculars and watch from the shore.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
|
|
|
gringorio
Senior Nomad
Posts: 812
Registered: 4-10-2004
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Member Is Offline
|
|
Nicely put Pompano
thank you
|
|
|
Gypsy Jan
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4275
Registered: 1-27-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: Depends on which way the wind is blowing
|
|
Pompano, Bruce and Gringorio
I agree with you completely.
In another time, many years ago, when you could harvest abalone off the rocks at low tide in So Cal, I gave up completly on diving because I was
sickened by the "take all you can" attitude.
I used to believe that tourists could interact with dolphins in a benign way and that would spread good effects.
But no, the tourists that come demand "cute tricks" from the sealife.
In general, people are uninformed, and don't care much about learning how to preserve the species, they just want to be entertained.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
|
|
|
Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
|
|
No good can come from touching and or interacting with any wild animal.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
|
|
|
Frigatebird
Nomad
Posts: 215
Registered: 9-12-2004
Location: L.A. County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Soaring
|
|
A wilderness approach
may make whales better able to avoid human hunting. While this will undoubtedly help them evade traditional indigenous hunts, it won't amount to a
hill of beans against a modern whaling vessel's technology. In this respect, I think a little human contact is the price to be paid to foster
continuing public support for nature. Abstract ponderings of the natural world pale in comparison to the motivational value of face to face contact.
And unless we are motivated in some way to save nature, our growing population will not. There are no "pristine places" left on this planet. Our
best hope is to thoughfully, practically, and sustainably manage ourselves as well as the rest of the natural world around us. We will all have to
give a little.
[Edited on 3-5-2005 by Frigatebird]
Avatar courtesy of Herb 
|
|
|
El Jefe
Super Nomad
Posts: 1027
Registered: 10-27-2003
Location: South East Cape
Member Is Offline
|
|
I must agree with Frigatebird on this one. Once one pets a whale one is drawn that much closer to that "we are all in this togetner" feeling that we
need to foster in order to help maintain biodiversity. Whales just happen to be the poster children of environmentalism, not altogether a bad thing.
Cozying up to gaggles of school children is perhaps a small price to pay for the high level of protection whales do receive.
And when you compare petting a whale to the act of hooking a fish and dragging it to almost death and then releasing it, well it pales in comparison.
No b-tchin\' in the Baja.
|
|
|
Ken Bondy
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3326
Registered: 12-13-2002
Member Is Offline
Mood: Mellow
|
|
This is one of those insoluble problems
| Quote: | Originally posted by Bruce R Leech
No good can come from touching and or interacting with any wild animal. |
While I tend to side with the "no-touch" position, I don't think it is completely true that "no good" comes from the whale/human encounters that
happen in the Baja lagoons. The publicizing of these encounters to the general public has, in my opinion, helped to put pressure on the countries who
still kill whales and has, to some degree, reduced the number of whales killed by humans. That is a good thing.
It is undeniable, I think, that these encounters make some whales less wary and more likely to become prey to humans who want to kill them. But if
the humans don't want to kill them, for whatever reason, no killing will happen. So the behavior modification that occurs as a result of these
encounters affects both species. The effect is generally bad for the whales, good for the humans.
This supports the saying that all generalities, including this one, are false.
++Ken++
|
|
|
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
