BajaNomad

Big Increase in Gray Whales at Mexican Biosphere Reserve (2011)

BajaNews - 2-12-2011 at 11:08 PM

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=386777&Categor...

MEXICO CITY – The population of gray whales this year at a coastal lagoon within Mexico’s El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve has risen to 1,280, or more than double the number in 2010, the Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat said.

Mexico also estimates that between 600 and 700 gray whales will have been born in that lagoon – located in the southern half of the Baja California peninsula – by the time this year’s mating and calving season concludes at the end of April, when the marine mammals will begin migrating north to their Arctic feeding grounds.

More than two months prior to season’s end, the population of gray whales in the biosphere reserve’s Laguna Ojo de Liebre has already reached the average for the past 15 years, the secretariat said Friday in a statement.

This year’s gray whale population of 756 adults and 524 sub-adults in the lagoon indicates a high reproductive rate relative to the 2010 season, when the tally was 390 adults and 183 sub-adults.

“These figures are proof of the federal government’s commitment to conserving the gray whale’s reproductive environment through a joint effort among the different social sectors,” Environment Secretary Rafael Elvira Quesada said.

Meanwhile, this season’s population of that same species in the Laguna de San Ignacio, another coastal lagoon within El Vizcaino, totals 111 – 76 adults and 35 sub-adults – according to the latest calculations.

The “signs of recovery are very encouraging and renew (Mexico’s) commitment to offering the gray whale the ideal environment for reproduction,” Luis Fueyo MacDonald, Mexico’s national commissioner for Natural Protected Areas, said.

Ojo de Liebre and San Ignacio, the two lagoons that make up the El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve’s whale sanctuary, are visited by hundreds of tourists between the months of January and April, when the gray whales arrive in Mexican territorial waters after migrating up to 12,000 miles south along the Canadian and U.S. west coasts.

Pregnant cows are the first to arrive, giving birth and feeding their calves in those two lagoons.

b1 - 2-13-2011 at 07:08 AM

My wife and I visited Laguna Ojo de Liebre on February 9. The road in is in good shape with the exception of just a couple little washboard stretches. The cost to park the rig was $5. usd and the boat ride for a full two hours amongst the whales was $40. usd each. Our boat went out at about 1 p.m. We were the only two tourists in the boat with the guide and we were the only boat on the water. The guide was very friendly and accomodating. No one else except the staff of 2 or 3 was at the site. There were 3 rigs camped in the campground north of the site. The water was drum top smooth and the sun bright and warm. No wind. I have no way of knowing the numbers of whales, but the Laguna is absolutely stuffed with whales. Of course, when one lives in the parched desert of southern Idaho, any number of whales looks like alot. b1

Mexitron - 2-13-2011 at 10:54 AM

Always glad the Gray Whales are doing well!

shari - 2-13-2011 at 12:54 PM

B1...I am sooooo glad you took my advice and went there...sounds like a wonderful trip...we will be there this weekend...cant wait!!!

ArvadaGeorge - 2-13-2011 at 07:18 PM

I think i talked to you about your trailer wheel in the parking lot. Is it working ok?
Quote:
Originally posted by b1
My wife and I visited Laguna Ojo de Liebre on February 9. The road in is in good shape with the exception of just a couple little washboard stretches. The cost to park the rig was $5. usd and the boat ride for a full two hours amongst the whales was $40. usd each. Our boat went out at about 1 p.m. We were the only two tourists in the boat with the guide and we were the only boat on the water. The guide was very friendly and accomodating. No one else except the staff of 2 or 3 was at the site. There were 3 rigs camped in the campground north of the site. The water was drum top smooth and the sun bright and warm. No wind. I have no way of knowing the numbers of whales, but the Laguna is absolutely stuffed with whales. Of course, when one lives in the parched desert of southern Idaho, any number of whales looks like alot. b1