Mexico is indeed magic as all Nomads know and appreciate. I was not however prepared for apparitions of sky hopping whales floating above what was
infamously called Scammon’s Lagoon. Steinbeck had talked about this phenomenon in his Sea of Cortez, but I was not prepared to actually see islands
appear and then disappear and whales present themselves in the sky.
Scammon, a 19th century whaler, discovered what the gray whales have known for eternity, this is a great place to come in the winter and give birth to
calves. This was also a place to slaughter them, unmercifully. It is also a great place to anthropomorphize the motivations of these huge creatures.
“Look, that one is showing off”, “That one is trying to keep it’s calf from the danger of the humans.” We are here with Shari Bondy, who has devoted
much of her life to studying these mammoth creatures. Shari is intimately knowledgeable of these fellow sentient beings and provides an ongoing
dialogue as to the behavior that we are seeing. Shari identifies pods of feeding mothers and calves, swimming school for the babies, sleeping whales,
barnacles that have evolved to live solely on the backs of these creatures, dropping off, and reproducing, as their hosts inhabit this remote lagoon.
There is something primordial and erotic about this place.
Our first attempt out, with Shari Bondy, hosting a group of Nomads, was met with a rainstorm that looked like it would last for days. After walking
the dock out to the boat we all got in. After making a furtive attempt at leaving, the monsoon began. There were many comments back and forth and
finally the decision was made, safety first and it is back to the dock for everyone. Now the tide had receded even more and it requires that everyone
debark and wade back to the modern dock where the boats are launched. This is, in the main, a congenial crew, its back to the restaurant, and Barbados
brandy laced coffee mochas. We decided to pitch it in for the day and to debark on the morn. One needs patience in Mexico and that is particularly
true if watching whales is your forte. Nature has its own notion of what is a good day to go. So you should prepare for weather breaks. Even though
this lagoon sits on the edge of a desert, it can be windy and rainy here. Bring your galoshes of various kinds. It is said that this lagoon increases
fecundity. It may be only folk lore, but it is wise to follow the Boy Scout motto.
It costs 50 pesos to boondock at Laguna Ojo de Liebre and it is well worth it. There are wonderful sites on the lagoon where you can hear whales
blowing. You can readily see from shore the exciting activities of these leviathans. The cost of the boat and guide are 450 pesos not including a tip.
The next day, Feb 24th, there was sunshine, a calm lagoon, and we again set out to see the whales. The bay was full of them. There was hopping,
diving, breaching, cavorting, and curious whales checking us out. The place was alive with whales. New mothers herded their charges away from the
boat; other, more mature moms seemed to be mellower and allowed their offspring some cross species curiosity.
It is hard to describe the impact of seeing one of these immense creatures clear the water and splash down on their sides, “breaching.” Having one of
these things stand on their tail and look at you as they “spy hop” is an experience you will not easily forget. We are fortunate today that Shari is
along to add to our understanding and to talk with the guide about how to position the boat. Too often it seems, people have an agenda of touching
these creatures and this puts pressure on guides to “chase” the whales. Today we slowly troll around, then stop and the whales come to us. It is
difficult to describe the wonder one has as a creature many times the size of your boat sloooowly passes under your feet, on one side the massive head
and on the other, far down you can see the immense tail as it gently propels this creature under the hull. It surfaces and blows a few feet from the
boat and I hope it does not have a cold as its salty breath wafts across my face. This whale’s breath was Colgate clean and smelled like typical beach
wave spray. I was surprised and relieved. I thought it would smell of decaying and fetid sea creatures. It did not!
An experience like this, boating with the whales, could put you off whale tacos for life! There are studies of the songs of the Humpback whales that
conclude that their vocalizations, which sounds like music, is actually the oral history, or saga, of these creatures. Scientists have discovered that
the song is added to each year and that those who do not make their migration do not include the latest snippet of rap in their singing. Grays are a
different species and like their distant relatives, the elephant, generate sub sonic vocalizations that are out of our range of hearing. According to
Shari, the Grays are their own unique species that predate all other whales. She reports that they evolved on their own, distinct from all other
whales. Recent scientific studies have found spiral neurological structures that are like those found in humans that are involved in
self-consciousness. The Soviet Union, before the break up, declared Whales and Dolphins to be “fellow sentient beings.” It is hard to spend time with
Whales and not attribute intelligence to them. They appear to be getting over the misunderstandings they had with Scammon and his buddies. Time does
appear to heal all wounds. Maybe it’s bygones be bygones as the species comes back to it’s pre Scammon state. At any rate, there is plenty of cross
species interaction today, out on the chuck.
Another thing about Mexico is that you can never be certain, where you will find some sort of culinary surprise, we found it at the restaurant at
Laguna Ojo de Liebre. We had an assortment of dishes, mainly seafood, save for one order of excellent Huevos Rancheros. Our Nomad friend from Iowa
said that he “never had seafood this good” as he devoured his chipotle sauced fish. His lovely wife had an excellent fillet of fish with a shrimp
dressing. She also commented on the excellent quality of this plate. Mrsiflyfish had her typical shrimp Casa Dia and reported it to be unremarkable. I
however had a regional dish, called Tiger Paw Scallops, which are huge scallops that are so big that they are cut on a spiral, leaving hearty slabs of
succulent flesh. These scallops are said to be indigenous in this region and are a local delicacy. My favorite seafood runs to Razor Clams, Lobster,
Scallops, and Abalone. These scallops are in a category of their own and are a “must try.” I would suggest the neater, the better. The best example of
these I had in Guerro Negro at Conzuelos on the right hand side of the main drag heading into town off Hwy 1. The man who owns Conzuelos is the cook
who made the Malarrimo restaurant famous. His cooking is the real deal and he is proud of it. He cares about his cooking and his prices are
reasonable. This is a family run restaurant and you can see his genes in his progeny.
Evening is approaching and we wait the usual spectacular Baja sunset over the lagoon of the whales.
IflyfishOffroad - 2-25-2007 at 02:33 PM
Iflyfish -
Thanks for the tips. I hope to visit soon and look forward to what sounds like great meals.
Any kayaking allowed in the lagoon, or is it strictly set up for the tours?Iflyfish - 2-25-2007 at 03:10 PM
Access to the lagoon is strictly monitored and no kayaking is allowed. However, if one decides to lay on the sand by the beach, you will hear the
amazing sounds of the whales in the lagoon and the coyotes in the desert.
Enjoy!
IflyfishWiles - 2-25-2007 at 10:01 PM
First of all, sounds like everyone had an extraordinary experience on this recent outing. Combine Baja, food, friendship, water, whales, weather,
scenery … how can it get any better.
A few notes concerning the natural history part…..
Paleontologists have mostly believed whales earliest ancestors were ungulates (hoofed critters like horses and pigs). Then with the discovery of two
fossil species they believe Artiodactyls gave rise to modern whales. Artiodactyls have even number of hoofed toes and include pigs, hippos and
ruminants such as cows. Hippos are the closest kin to modern day whales.
Palaeomastodon was the early ancestor of modern day Proboscidea or elephants. They are most closely related to modern day manatees, dugongs and
hyraxes.
Gray whales do vocalize in the range of 100 - 2000 HZ well within the human hearing range of 20 - 20,000 HZ. A low gutteral sound that can be heard
without the aid of a hydrophone although in the lagoons it can be difficult to hear anything over the snapping shrimp.
Not to sure about the spiral neurological structure - self consciousness thing…would like for Shari to tell us more………
Thanks again for the report as it brought back many years of great memories.shari - 2-26-2007 at 07:39 AM
Ah yes, gotta love those vestigal appendages (left over hip bones from hind legs! Couple other small notes on an otherwise wonderful report...the
excellent restaurant is Las Cazuelas and those would be quesadillas instead of "casa dias".I read about the spiral neurological structure here on a
link Zoe sent us...I knew it in my heart all along though. Gracias Iflyfishers..we miss you...Juan beamed when he got his lures and nope he will not
attach the epic lure to the photo when he might get another big one on it...Denny and Michelle are out at this moment, left at 6:30 in search of your
fish's brother. I'll meet them in San Roque for an afternoon of fossil hunting later today. cheersIflyfish - 2-26-2007 at 12:17 PM
Thanks Wiles for the info. So much to learn in the time we have left.
It is wonderful to be part of a community of people who also love what you are interested in. We are fortunate to live in an age when communication is
instant and the entire world of information is available on the web.
Shari,
Abrazos amiga.
Iflyfish
Whale brain development
zforbes - 2-27-2007 at 08:57 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by shari
...I read about the spiral neurological structure here on a link Zoe sent us...
Here is the link for others who are interested. Scroll down past the advertisement midpage and continue to the rest of the research report.
