WHALESHARK IN THE BAY AND A DOLPHIN OR TWO..

Friday, April 9, 2010
.


.
Buoyweather had said that this morning would be somewhat calmer than the previous windy days we've been having lately. The Yar-Craft needed some excercise and I'd been too long ashore.

I said, "Let's go fishing!"

Co-pilot said, "Yes, Buongiornio..Good morning to you, too. Tell me, tesoro, why do you like fishing so much?"

Aha!..This was too easy, I thought, as I quickly rattled off this old quote, "The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope. And also to pit oneself against a worthy adversary."

Co-pilot, "Tesoro, you are full of the beeswax. All this romance of fishing exists only in your mind, and I don't think the poor little fishes share this thought."

(Argghh...damn..note to self: Pompano, try to remember she is smart.)"Sigh..Yes, sweetheart, you may be right. Now ...to more important things. I will pack the boat."

Co-pilot, "Does that mean you take a lot of beer?"

Wha..? "Hey..it's not MY idea. My Mexican maritime law book states that: 'A boat cannot put to sea without cerveza aboard.' That is but one of many laws you must learn about here in Baja..and for your information, here's another, loosely translated: 'The earth is 3/4 water, therefore men are required to spend 75% of their life fishing.'

"Yes? You have such a book? Show me the fishing law book now, please?"

"Scusami, tesoro...I am sorry, but Cedric, the beach dog, ate it. But don't worry, I have it memorized. Now we must hurry, the best fishing is at dawn. Andiamo!"

The look she gave me was..shall we say...amusingly incredulous...as she continued with her normal morning routine.

We loaded the boat.... and got underway at the crack of nine...sigh..



Our first sighting of the day..this fine Nordhaven yacht making seaway out of Coyote's anchorage. Not a bad way to go.
.

While I was admiring the yacht's lines, I forgot about her wake...Opps, scusami, Co-pilot...hee-hee, so maybe next time we get going a little earlier and miss these boat wakes, eh?



Suddenly I spot lots of birds up ahead. Full speed to the action!



I quickly toss a heavy dart into the mass of birds and let it sink..
..and am quickly rewarded with a monster yellowtail of about 35 lbs.


Co-pilot, "Tesoro mio..I think that is perhaps not a yellowtail? And is that really 35lbs? So small a fish can weigh so much?"

Pompano, "I, and only I, will write the fishing report, Co-pilot. These things can get quite technical."
.
After catching and releasing many of those giants, we realized it was such a fine, calm day on the sunny Cortez, that nothing would be better than to enjoy some beach time at one of our favorite spots..Playa Domingo..Sunday Beach. So off we go..

Co-pilot wants to go beachcombing...

...and I am eager to do some ultra-light casting to the reefs on the point.

We are both happy with the results.

Reef fishing: Just enough for a dinner tonight and tacos tomorrow.


Shelling: Priceless



.
We take some moments to go swimming in the warm, clear shallows of Playa Domingo. The swimming here is a most welcome treat..especially in the heat of summer. Already looking forward to those times.

.
I see some splashing way off in the bay, so I ask Co-pilot if she wants to see some dolphin? "Andiamo!" she shouts as she leaps into the boat.

"...That's okay, I can manage this beer cooler by myself...uff-da.."
.
.
As soon as we come around Domingo Point, we see the school ahead of us. Looks to be about 40 or so in this group.

.
.
I pull up carefully next to the foraging school and slow down to about 12-14 knots..just enough to create a large stern wake and some bow waves. These guys love to surf! Both fore and aft....starboard and port.



.
.

I think somebody likes dolphin.
.
.
While happily providing some great surfing fun for the dolphin I thought I spotted a different kind of dorsal fin.
And... it turned out to be quite different. It was a shadowy figure just below the surface , moving lazily along.


.
"Tuki-Tuki! Tuki-Tuki!" Co-pilot is shouting and giggling.
Che bella squallo ballena!"


I glance down to make sure I am tucked in....Then realize she is pointing at ...


...a WHALE SHARK!






.
This one was a baby compared to the really big ones...about 16 feet alongside our boat...docilely swimming along. We used the saltwater electrics to stay close and not disturb it's progress.


I researched and learned some new things..to me anyway.. about this creature.

Hope this doesn't bore you, but I found it a very interesting read. And I found the whale shark a fascinating creature to behold. With no known predators (except humans) and a completely peaceful nature they are huge, harmless and sublime.

Just some whaleshark tidbits:

Whale Shark and whaleshark are common names in the English language used to refer to this fish. Often mistakenly called 'basking shark'...which is a different creature altogether.

Other common names include Shalaam Waan (Thai), bagea ni oka, bahiri (Gela), chagrin (French), dámero (Spanish), jinbeizame (Japanese), pez dama (Spanish), rauhhai (German), rekin wielorybi (Polish), requin baleine (French), thimingal sura (Tamil),Big flocking Shark (Australian), tiburon ballena (Spanish), tubarão baleia(Portuguese), Tofu Shark (Taiwan), tuki-tuki (Visayan), tuko (Tagalog), vaame (Swahili), walhai (German), walvishaai (Afrikaans), yaak (Khmer), and yu paus (Malay).

Distribution
The Whale Shark has a very widespread distribution, occurring in all tropical and warm temperate seas, except in the Mediterranean.

.
Size, Age & Growth
The whale shark is the largest living fish. Maximum size is thought to be 20m. The smallest free-living individuals are from 55cm (21.7 inches) long. Sexual maturity in both sexes may not occur until the sharks are over 9m in length. Age estimates for whale sharks are as high as 60 years, but no one really knows how long this species lives.


Food Habits
Whale sharks feed on wide variety of planktonic (microscopic) and nektonic (larger free-swimming) prey, such as small crustaceans, schooling fishes, and occasionally on tuna and squids. Also, phytoplankton (microscopic plants) and macroalgae (larger plants) may form a component of the diet. Unlike most plankton feeding vertebrates, the whale shark does not depend on slow forward motion to operate its filtration mechanism. Rather, it relies on a versatile suction filter-feeding method, which enables it to draw water into the mouth at higher velocities than these dynamic filter-feeders, like the basking shark. This enables the whale shark to capture larger more active nektonic prey as well as zooplankton aggregations. Therefore, the whale shark may be more dependent on dense aggregations of prey organisms. The denser filter screens of this shark act as more efficient filters for short suction intakes, in contrast to the flow through systems of basking shark. Whale sharks are always seen feeding passively in a vertical or near vertical position with the head at or near the surface.


.
.
.
Well..
...After that episode with the porpoise and the tuti-tuti, we decide to beat it back to home base...because I now see a wind line fast approaching us from the south end of the bay.

We are in a race against the wind. We must reach home before the whitecaps hit us..because in the oft-repeated words of Co-Pilot...

"I don't like waves!"

So....Andiamo! Let's go!



Those waves coming at us don't look so bad in this photo, but soon after this shot, we were in 20 knot winds..a gust sweeping down the bay..something that happens here a lot in warm weather. It can be dead flat calm outside The Bay and roaring whitecaps inside...and vice versa. Hot air rising, colder air coming down the surrounding mountains to replace it...ergo: whoosh.

.
.
Okay..end of that boat trip, folks. We are back home..after another great day on the water.

Glad you joined us for this day and look forward to seeing you out there. Hasta la vista, amigos.

















[Edited on 4-11-2010 by Pompano]

thanks

Pompano, Thanks for the report and the pictures. Your catch resembles my usual Mulege vicinity catch.

Pompano I thought you were joking about that Russian "mail order" co-pilot.

Co-pilots beach catch looks much better

I was always afraid one of those porpoises would miscalculate and fall right into the boat. The outboard would shake on the transom from the power of their tails below the boat.

Glad you all came along, and I couldn't agree more about the joy of being among the porpoise!

There is something almost magical about these playful and powerful marine creatures that captivate us all.

What great and rare fun to be amongst them in a small boat.



Igor, like you and most likely many other Nomads, I have been in situations where I thought that maybe..just maybe..that huge jumping porpoise would indeed land right in the bow!

.

.


Oftentimes, our dogs would be hanging far over the bow and I could see the muscles tensing for that JUMP onto the porpoise's back...always aborted, thank God.



Hey, I confess to having the same urge myself. Must come from having read 'Boy on a Dolphin' too many times.

I have a prized VHS video taken in August, 1988, of a school ...well, more like an army....of porpoise on the move near Ille Delfonso (between Mulege and Loreto) that stretched from the southern to the northern ocean horizons. We could see a distance of approximately 12 miles in either direction from the top of my flybridge. That total distance of 24 miles..was solid porpoise about 300 yards wide.

Who knows how many thousands were in that mass of jumping mammals? The video is amazing...as were the schools of tuna underneath the porpoise. Unfortunately, I haven't seen a sight like that since..but I remain hopeful.

Russ...About 4-5 days ago I was out about 30 miles due east of Mulege to check the sea current that runs SSW towards Ille Delfonso. This is usually the first place dorado will occur near Mulege..IF the water temps are warm enough. I found just 72 degrees max out there and down to 70 in lots of other places.

But..a half-dozen marlin have already been caught and released in our area, so everyone is optimistic that the first dorado report will happen any day now.

The earliest I can ever remember catching dorado out of Mulege was the Ides of March... March 15, 1987.

"God willing and the creek don't rise"..we'll be on the water tomorrow looking for them.

Santa Inez estuary November of 09 visitor:

Quote:

Originally posted by Pompano There is something almost magical about these playful and powerful marine creatures that captivate us all. quote] Unfortunately we have had a large dead adult on the beach by our restraunt for the past week. Damn commercial boat net I'd guess