BajaNomad - whale in the bay...mulege

whale in the bay...mulege

Bob and Susan - 6-4-2009 at 01:50 PM

today 1pm

whale in the bay swimming south

wah.jpg - 46kB

toneart - 6-4-2009 at 01:55 PM

Cool! Hopefully he will turn around and head back out eventually. Last time I saw one in The Bahia was two years ago. There were some idiots on wave runners who kept buzzing around and harassing it.

I hope this one will be left alone. He's probably just cruisin'. :cool:

shari - 6-4-2009 at 02:03 PM

looks like a humpback...they are big into splashing! I saw a whale and a seiner just coming into sta.rosalia a few days ago

nancyinpdx - 6-4-2009 at 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by shari
looks like a humpback...they are big into splashing! I saw a whale and a seiner just coming into sta.rosalia a few days ago

I've never seen a whale yet. Hope I get to some day. I went on a dolphin tour in Fort Meyers Beach, Florida and that was fun. I hope to see manatees and flamingos and manta rays some day too!

rpleger - 6-4-2009 at 02:16 PM

Get the harpoons

Wiles - 6-4-2009 at 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by shari
looks like a humpback...they are big into splashing! I saw a whale and a seiner just coming into sta.rosalia a few days ago

My what good eyes you have :lol:

You are probably right, but could be a gray, sei, or even a toothed whale.

I like to get just a little closer before making the call, but that's just me.

I do like the frigate bird just above the splash though. :lol:

4baja - 6-4-2009 at 06:21 PM

shari how could you possibly see what kind of a whale that is? all i could see was a splash. i have seen many types of whales splash so you must be psychic.

[Edited on 6-5-2009 by 4baja]

nancyinpdx - 6-4-2009 at 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Wiles

Quote:

Originally posted by shari
looks like a humpback...they are big into splashing! I saw a whale and a seiner just coming into sta.rosalia a few days ago

My what good eyes you have :lol:

If he's not a toothed whale maybe we can get 'im some dentures!!!

shari - 6-4-2009 at 07:58 PM

As a matter of fact I am psychic...good call....but the fact is that it is highly unlikely to be a gray as they are pigging out up north right now...yes, most whales do breach but not often. Another clue is that in order for Susan to snap the picture, the whale must have breached at least once if not more times for her to turn her camera on and get the shot...humbacks which frequent that area on occasion breach more than other whales...so deduction has something to do with my "guess"...although the humback vibes were coming in very strong.....ommmmmm

CortezBlue - 6-4-2009 at 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bob and Susan
today 1pm

whale in the bay swimming south

Damn It Bob, I told you not to post the photo of me doing the cannon ball from the cliffs :lol:

toneart - 6-4-2009 at 08:31 PM

We also have a family of Fin Whales or Finback (?) that seem to stay local. There are usually three and they are big.

shari - 6-4-2009 at 08:32 PM

do you see them breach often tony? fin whales arent known for breaching...just curious hermano.

Bob and Susan - 6-5-2009 at 06:12 AM

it was black and white...

it jumped several times and was moving fast

it was big as it was a couple miles away

sorry fr the "bad" picture...

toneart - 6-5-2009 at 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by shari
do you see them breach often tony? fin whales arent known for breaching...just curious hermano.

Shari,

I have seen them kinda doing a serpentine surfacing and spouting. Not actually slapping their tails. Does this count as "breaching"?

Bajaboy - 6-5-2009 at 02:34 PM

Oh, a real whale...I was expecting a picture of a nomad taking a swim

Sharksbaja - 6-5-2009 at 03:34 PM

Killer Whale perhaps??

shari - 6-5-2009 at 06:37 PM

that serpentine movement is called porpoising...wow, I've never seen a finback do that...it would be impressive! Most whales kinda look black and white from a distance but I doubt that whale is an orca as the splash it too big...orcas are small....considering...coulda been a finback but I'm stickin with humpback.

Sharksbaja - 6-5-2009 at 07:05 PM

Well, coming from an expert I'll have to go along with you. Can you really tell by the size of the splash? Cmon, now you're pushin' it. How do you know it's not a Manta Grande? By the splash?

jejeje

mulegemichael - 6-5-2009 at 07:47 PM

shari...you ARE the expert here, with all your anos of experience...it's so cool to have you here as a resource...we might try to make it over your way this next week...let me know if there's anything i can bring..m.

shari - 6-5-2009 at 08:11 PM

Actually, you can tell alot of things about the whale from a splash....or the spout....gray whales have a very romantic heart shaped spout that is sorta fat and then caves in at the "V" of the heart...shaped by the double blowhole that all baleen whales have, wheras toothed whales have a single blowhole so more of a straight stream up.

sperm whales are a cinch to ID because their spout tilts forward and off to the left (as does their nose which is just a single blowhole more forwad on thier huge head and off to the left side a bit) so the spout has a narrower shape than baleen whales (which have 2 nostrils)

Orcas have a smaller spout just bit more boisterous than a big harbour porpoise cause they are just big porpoises.

dont get me started.....

the splashes are results of a variety of behavioral activities...can be scaring fish or feeding...can be trying to attract attention so a threatening boat can be drawn away from a calf or weak animal...can be just for fun like us diving into the water...they dive out!

Sharksbaja - 6-5-2009 at 10:45 PM

"dont get me started....." How else to get good factual info. Ya know I just like to tease stuff outta people. I read a couple years back that you were part of a team that ID'd orcas. Do they have any type of similar cetacean program in Baja?? Not the whale pangueros but a Fed program?

shari - 6-6-2009 at 08:00 AM

When Dr.John Ford and Graham Ellis began the photo ID program in the pacific northwest...everybody got in on it...there was a whale hotline too to report harrasment. Fishermen, tourists, water taxi captains and crews all sent in ID photos to the fisheries department and they published an Orca catalogue.

It is an interesting story on WHY photo ID was started in the first place. Graham Ellis was a young fisheries officer who was posted as an observer Bob Wright's whale capture boats that went out and ruthlessly rounded up way to many Orcas in order to capture an aquarium candidate. He owned Sea World in Victoria B.C. and sold orcas to aquariums around the globe for megabucks.

Graham was really disturbed by the cruel capture methods and began to believe that it just wasnt right....he also noticed the family ties in a pod and how they stick together etc. He was fascinated by the Orcas family structure and went on to become a leading Orca researcher.

Now...he also suspected that there were not as many Orcas as once thought and so he designed a method of identifying them in order to do a census around Vancouver Island. He figured if he could prove there werent many Orcas...he could present justification to stopping the live capture around Vancouver Island of Killer Whales...which he DID!! Graham is my hero and a really cool guy too.

An international ID method is to photograph the dorsal area from the right side to identify the unique saddle patch patterns and dorsal fins. When the first catalogue was put out there were only something like 330 Orcas around Vancouver Island...it's a cool catalogue showing all the family members in a pod...males never leave their mothers pod...mamas boys!
Gray Whale photo ID was the brainstorm of a surfer kid from Tofino who is now the leading gray whale expert Dr.Jim Darling (who is just that) because when he was surfing he noticed the same whales surfing beside him and hanging out in the bay all summer...so he ID''s them and discovered lots of interesting things...one big breakthrough in gray whale research was that not all whales go up to the arctic...he proved that many whales spend the summers feeding in their own areas all along the northern US and Canadian coast...and many of the same whales came back year after year...I had the privelidge of hanging out with Jim and learning the photo ID ropes from the masters.
Now when I was hanging out in Ojo de Liebre, i had lots of questions that photo ID could answer so began just shooting away there. When the biosphere took over the lagoon, I taught them how to do effective photo ID and made up a catalogue of my work. the silly thing was that they wanted left side photos!!! I explained that all photo ID is based on right side ID's but because they had some left side pics they wanted to go with that...whatever...
But it is a huge long term project that wont be funded or carried out effectively. There is some photo ID done by the university but very little. I would LOVE to see a concentrated effort in all 3 lagoons simultaneously that would provide us with lots of neat info like whether whales travel between lagoon or stay in one all calving season...if whales return to the same lagoon they were born in...if nurse whales are related...if the "matriarchs" are related etc.

It also helped us identify aggressive whales..like if a particular demonic whale was hitting boats then we could show the photos to capatains so she could be avoided...sometimes what seemed to be an unprovoked attack in one observation area really wasnt as the whale had just been run over by a tour boat in another part of the lagoon so she was taking her anger out on every panga she encountered. It is good practise for captains to note and identify whales they see everyday so they can pass on relevant info such as she is very friendly or aggressive or sick etc.

[Edited on 6-6-2009 by shari]

[Edited on 6-6-2009 by shari]

Sharksbaja - 6-6-2009 at 12:38 PM

Wow, this is good stuff! Those are some good questions Shari. Whale behavior is very interesting and it's neat to learn how they behave in different places along their travels.

I have mixed feeling tho about whale watching. Sure it can and is done responsibly but I just wonder exactly how many(whales) approve of this human interaction. Like you said, some whales are put off by nosey people, just like you and me haha.

Think about it..... you wouldn't want prying eyes in your bedroom circling around now would you(please say no). Are whales shy?

shari - 6-6-2009 at 01:04 PM

please dont get me started on pesky whale petters....looks like you and me gotta get together for some whale gossip sharkie...my opinions on whale watching arent real popular.

Sharksbaja - 6-6-2009 at 02:01 PM

You go girl. Once a rebel always.....

Been impossible to travel much this last year. Hoping for a better year. Love to visit your neck of the desert. Hear sooooo much!

shari - 6-6-2009 at 04:57 PM

Sharks....it's all about justice....in any race...creed...color...species.