BajaNomad - memorable Ojo de Liebre outing

memorable Ojo de Liebre outing

Whale-ista - 1-24-2015 at 09:01 PM

(Jump to the end for the photos)

Went out w/full panga (9 guests + captain) Friday 1/23 and had series of wonderful whale encounters/views. Surrounded by moms/calves all heading in same direction, doing "swim school" w/frequent stops for spy hops and cavorting.

Some moms slept soundly as we motored alongside, as the current pushed them along. One mom motor boated at hi speed, practically leaping out of the water, with a calf doing its best to stay alongside. Full body leaps were visible in the distance.

All in all, we saw so many behaviors in the 2.5 hours on the water... It was a wonderful trip!

We went out with Shari- if you have a chance, visit the lagoon and travel with her. Leopoldo was the captain- he did a masterful job of getting us close enough to the whales to see every dimple, without scaring them.

We had a few near- collisions that the whales managed well. They were focussed on swimming, and we got in their path. And a few calves apparently wanted to come closer to the panga, but moms blocked them, and kept them swimming. Rightfully so- they need their swimming strength/skills to be ready for migration in a few short months, so.... mom wins!

It was such a full, satisfying trip that I decided to head south with Shari to Asuncion, and see a new town I haven't visited yet. We arrived Friday evening, just in time for sunset. Then we learned they were doing a rare evening of caballero horse races Saturday PM!

It's been a memorable weekend and evening- I will post that Information in another place, and try to add photos.

[Edited on 2-3-2020 by Whale-ista]

woody with a view - 1-25-2015 at 08:27 AM

sounds awesome.

fotos or it didn't happen!

bigjohn - 1-25-2015 at 02:33 PM

Ditto on Woody's post..........

fotos or it didn't happen!

Udo - 1-25-2015 at 04:55 PM

Photos would be nice!

photos...

Whale-ista - 1-25-2015 at 05:28 PM

after years of compulsive/excessive photo taking I took only 1 or 2 this time. I wanted to savor the experience without peering thru a lens.

Shari may post some to document the activities I described.

I did take fotos of the caballeros racing in Asuncion last night- quite show! Will post once back home, en route back north today. WiFi is limited.

Ateo - 1-25-2015 at 05:41 PM

Looking into that eyeball of a whale sure does change things!

Bajahowodd - 1-25-2015 at 05:50 PM

As does does petting the beasts. And I use the word beasts in the most complimentary way. They are wild animals.

BajaBlanca - 1-25-2015 at 06:57 PM

your enthusiasm is catching! and you are so right, the whales are extremely active this season - I have seen many of them leaping out of the water right in front of our house.

Such a sight - makes you humble in the spectacular beauty of it all.

pics Shari?

shari - 1-25-2015 at 07:00 PM

Here are some photos to go with Lori's trip report and some of my comments about our magical days on the lagoon. It was great to meet RnR and had alot of fun with them and great as always to have old pals Boe4fun & Redmesa along for the ride!

Here is our convoy at the salt works gate.

Quote: Originally posted by Whale-ista

Went out w/full panga (9 guests + captain) Friday 1/23 and had series of wonderful whale encounters/views. Surrounded by moms/calves all heading in same direction, doing "swim school" w/frequent stops for spy hops and cavorting.

Some moms slept soundly as we motored alongside, as the current pushed them along.

this gal had lots of barnacles on her head

One mom motor boated at hi speed, practically leaping out of the water, with a calf doing its best to stay alongside. Full body leaps were visible in the distance.

All in all, we saw so many behaviors in the 2.5 hours on the water... It was a wonderful trip!

We went out with Shari- if you have a chance, visit the lagoon and travel with her. Leopoldo was the captain- he did a masterful job of getting us close enough to the whales to see every dimple, without scaring them.

here are some calf dimples...

We had a few near- collisions that the whales managed well. They were focused on swimming, and we got in their path. And a few calves apparently wanted to come closer to the panga, but moms blocked them, and kept them swimming. Rightfully so- they need their swimming strength/skills to be ready for migration in a few short months, so.... mom wins!

Flaco stopped in the middle of the whale highway so whales simply dove under us and passed us by going on their merry way...I knew they would dive under us but some of the whale watchers were probably a wee bit unnerved by these two big suckers heading straight for us...jejeje

It was such a full, satisfying trip that I decided to head south with Shari to Asuncion, and see a new town I haven't visited yet. We arrived Friday evening, just in time for sunset. Then we learned they were doing a rare evening of caballero horse races Saturday PM!

It's been a memorable weekend and evening- I will post that Information in another place, and try to add photos.

As Lori mentioned the whales were very busy attending school...seems like they were learning spy hopping that day as we must have seen over a hundred!

My favorite thing to see this time of year are the calves resting and sliding on and off their mother's back..so very very sweet.

Here is a gal with a grand set of knuckles! very sexy eh!

and this lady was really flirting with her boyfriend...turning over and showing her privates!

we saw Saddle and her beau again who hasnt left her side in 3 weeks!

the restaurant is open and we had a fantastic breakfast while watching dozens of whales right in front of the patio wetting our appetite for whales!

here is the motley crew ready for action

It was a spectacular time and I cant wait for next week's trip. We still have space on the Jan.30th boat if anyone wants to join us.

[Edited on 1-26-2015 by shari]

TMW - 1-26-2015 at 11:50 AM

Excellent, thanks.

chavycha - 1-26-2015 at 04:24 PM

Lots of action!
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Quite a bit of spy-hopping.
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Piles o' whales. Leopoldo did an excellent job of getting us in position to see plenty, while not disturbing the goings on. The whales weren't interested (or bothered by) the boat.
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This pair floated next to us for a good twenty minutes. Mom was asleep most of the time. The calves don't sleep when they're young, apparently.
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"Wrinkles" - only a few days old and still with his/her fetal folds.
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[Edited on 1-26-2015 by chavycha]

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Thank you For the excellent photos!

Whale-ista - 1-26-2015 at 08:01 PM

Now other nomads have proof: it really happened the way I described it!

chavycha - 1-27-2015 at 12:14 PM

Going on a boat with a group of knowledgeable people made the trip even better. It's already pretty amazing to be surrounded by that many whales, but to have the chance to learn about the behaviors we were witnessing made it that much sweeter. I got to learn about the 'why' behind the spy-hops, the synchronized pairs swimming, the mating displays, and everything else.

Great to met everyone - and a big thanks to the official guides (Shari and Leopoldo), unofficial guide (Whale-ista, who sat right next to me and answered all my silly questions), and the Ejido restaurant and salt works staff.

Overall, a fabulous trip. I can't wait to go again next year.

shari - 1-27-2015 at 12:59 PM

It was an extreme pleasure to have you aboard too! I just finished working on the photo ID's and got more in 2 days than I usually get in a week...there were just so many whales.

While physical contact with whales is indeed amazing, sometimes if there is a friendly whale, you spend the whole trip with it and miss out on all the natural behaviors like we saw on our trip.

Next trip is on Jan.30th if anyone is in the neighbourhood!

woody with a view - 1-27-2015 at 01:27 PM

Flacko is a cool guy. Remember to tip your Captain!

Whale-ista - 1-27-2015 at 04:01 PM

Glad you enjoyed the trip Chavycha. I was happy to help Answer questions since the boat was so full that day. +There were a lot of amazing behaviors you don't normally see on a single outing.

(There is no such thing as a silly question. We don't learn if we don't ask.)

Many thanks again for posting the photos. It was a pleasure to be able to share the trip with everyone else taking so many pictures, so I could just relax and enjoy the show.

Bajahowodd - 1-28-2015 at 05:48 PM

Quote: Originally posted by chavycha

Going on a boat with a group of knowledgeable people made the trip even better. It's already pretty amazing to be surrounded by that many whales, but to have the chance to learn about the behaviors we were witnessing made it that much sweeter. I got to learn about the 'why' behind the spy-hops, the synchronized pairs swimming, the mating displays, and everything else.

Great to met everyone - and a big thanks to the official guides (Shari and Leopoldo), unofficial guide (Whale-ista, who sat right next to me and answered all my silly questions), and the Ejido restaurant and salt works staff.

Overall, a fabulous trip. I can't wait to go again next year.

If I might chime in here, my advice is to not just drive out to the nature center to get on a boat. Make arrangements ahead of time, whether with your hotel in GN, or Shari. The locals have first dibs on the pangas. So unless you are prepared to wait for hours, do what I said above.

shari - 1-29-2015 at 08:35 PM

we have first dibs on boats because we make reservations in advance. Because there is no schedule out there, the boats leave on demand. If there are only 2 people waiting, you will have to wait for awhile until more people show up...for one reason so they can break even on the trip but more importantly for the good of the whales...which most people dont take into consideration...or care about.

The thing is that if the pangas took out 2 or 4 people, there would be twice as much boat traffic in the lagoon and thus more stress on the animals. It is much better...for the whales if the boats have more people on them and make less trips around the whales. Whale can get overstimulated and fed up late in the day when there is alot of traffic and in the whale watching world, we are aware of this and would rather wait till a group is formed and everyone go together instead of 2 or 3 trips out.

If you have waited awhile, the ejido will usually take out whoever has the patience to wait even if it is one or two people.

It has been raining all afternoon here in GN and the town has alot of water around already...hope it clears for awhile tomorrow for our trip but it is supposed to rain for 2 more days...whew!

We drove out to the lighthouse today and I can confirm first hand that there are whales there!!! It was raining and low tide so they were over by the dunes but I saw 3 whales spouting and the guard there said there are whales every day there...soooo cool...not to mention the myriad of birds in the wetlands.

DianaT - 1-29-2015 at 08:54 PM

Quote: Originally posted by shari

we have first dibs on boats because we make reservations in advance. Because there is no schedule out there, the boats leave on demand. If there are only 2 people waiting, you will have to wait for awhile until more people show up...for one reason so they can break even on the trip but more importantly for the good of the whales...which most people dont take into consideration...or care about.

The thing is that if the pangas took out 2 or 4 people, there would be twice as much boat traffic in the lagoon and thus more stress on the animals. It is much better...for the whales if the boats have more people on them and make less trips around the whales. Whale can get overstimulated and fed up late in the day when there is alot of traffic and in the whale watching world, we are aware of this and would rather wait till a group is formed and everyone go together instead of 2 or 3 trips out.

If you have waited awhile, the ejido will usually take out whoever has the patience to wait even if it is one .......

Why don't they just limit the number of boats that be out there at one time like San Ignacio does? Then it wouldn't matter if there are fewer people and the watching area is not filled with too many Boats. However, it's less profitable for everyone.

shari - 1-29-2015 at 09:03 PM

there are limits on the number of boats in each viewing area... but I have never heard that San Ignacio only has one boat at a time...that has not been my experience there.

DianaT - 1-29-2015 at 09:07 PM

Quote: Originally posted by shari

there are limits on the number of boats in each viewing area... but I have never heard that San Ignacio only has one boat at a time...that has not been my experience there.

One boat???? Using my phone where typo errors are common, but I don't think I said one boat---just limited as to how many. On edit I read it and while I made a bad grammar error, there was no mention of just 1 boat.

[Edited on 1-30-2015 by DianaT]

Whale-ista - 1-29-2015 at 09:27 PM

A few notes re:boat times, boat etiquette, and differences between lagoons: During busy season (Feb-March) there have been observers in San Ignacio who monitor the time of boat tours.

Not sure if his is still done, but it used to be: The clock starts when they enter the main lagoon, near Baja Discovery camp. The boats are limited to 90 minutes per trip, to ensure no one over stays their time and keeps others from enjoying whales, and ensures not too many boats are around them. (it may take 15-30 minutes to get from camp to lagoon, depending on conditions, tides, starting point, wind etc., so each trip takes 2-3 hours)

In past years the guides have also designated responsibility for a shared "rescue" boat with emergency medical services, towing if there's a mishap, and even extra gas in case someone runs low (has never happened in my decades of trips).

On one trip I took a few years ago, an older visitor had forgotten her prescription medication. They radioed the camp (Kuyima), located the meds, and delivered them to the boat. What service!

Very conscientious to make sure people are comfortable and safe- and the whales are too.

shari - 1-29-2015 at 09:28 PM

sorry....I have had a very long 2 days at a funeral and an in GN about to go whale watching tomorrow and I simply misread your post.

There are limits in all the viewing areas but what I am getting at is that if there are fewer boats...instead of 3 boats around a whale each with 2 people in them... one boat with 6 people means less pressure on the animals. It can also make a better viewing experience for the passengers as it is so nice to be the only boat out there.

Bajahowodd - 1-31-2015 at 05:52 PM

My understanding is that at Ojo de Liebre. only six pangas are allowed out into the lagoon at any one time. It was not always like that.

shari - 2-1-2015 at 09:34 AM

actually there are 3 different viewing areas that have different limits on how many boats. For example at the mouth there are more boats as there are3 different tour companies that go there, Malarrimo, Marios Tours and Laguna tours and each have permits for several boats...I am not exactly sure how many. They are the tours that take you out in a van to the port.... In the middle of the lagoon there is campo Mariscal that I believe have 3 boats..they are a newer company and the ejido has 4-5 boats available...only 3 running right now.

Bajahowodd - 2-1-2015 at 05:52 PM

Quote: Originally posted by shari

actually there are 3 different viewing areas that have different limits on how many boats. For example at the mouth there are more boats as there are3 different tour companies that go there, Malarrimo, Marios Tours and Laguna tours and each have permits for several boats...I am not exactly sure how many. They are the tours that take you out in a van to the port.... In the middle of the lagoon there is campo Mariscal that I believe have 3 boats..they are a newer company and the ejido has 4-5 boats available...only 3 running right now.

Got it. I was specifically writing about the nature center at the inner lagoon from where you embark.

I imagine that depending on the time of month in the season, there is varying success among all those who go out there.

toronja - 2-1-2015 at 10:10 PM

We will definitely go again next year. Great pics, Shari! There has been too much fun in the sun to be had and too many fish to be caught to be inside editing videos, so I may not get to the 2+hrs of whale footage for awhile yet, but I pulled a couple of screencaps of some of the exciting moments (I believe that top one is Whale-ista working her magic and calling the whales in, no?). Thanks again for the awesome trip, Shari, and it was great to meet you Whale-ista! So glad you could come and see Asuncion and have the Saturday shrimp taco experience.

whale3.jpg - 129kB

Whale whisperer

Whale-ista - 2-1-2015 at 10:48 PM

Ha! thanks for the photos Toronja!

I did my best to flatter, flirt and invite them over for a closer look. Clearly, they were in swim mode vs. play with humans mode. Still- It was an amazing day for all of us, seeing so many hops and leaps and twists and turns.

Thank you for posting. I don't often have others take photos, so I really appreciate seeing myself in a picture for a change!

UPDATE: here are those photos I promised long ago

Whale-ista - 2-2-2020 at 05:05 PM

This was a remarkable day on the water with Shari in early 2015.

A huge "herd" of moms were swimming against the incoming tide, with stops to allow for resting and a few babies leaping.... it was really a lovely morning with lots of interesting behaviors.

In my 30+ years of visiting the whales in the various lagoons, this is still one of my favorite & most memorable outings.

Kissing is optional

These underwater shots are from another trip- but thought I'd add them since you don't see this perspective very often.

Getting ready for whales- 2021

Whale-ista - 11-15-2020 at 04:46 PM

Going to "BUMP" this post since it includes some good Information about whale watching: limits on boats in the lagoon, approximate time on the water, etc. -and the new season is fast approaching!

Thanks again to those who posted photos and comments from their outing that day.

Also, an update/reminder: Shari is still offering the same quality experience of guiding and photography (example: capturing this wonderful photo memory)- but her camp is at a different location on the lagoon.

Looking forward to seeing people who are able to migrate south later this year/early 2021.

David K - 11-15-2020 at 06:09 PM

I wonder if kissing the whales will be banned this season to stop the spread of Covid-19 to our cousins in the sea? LOL

Whale-ista - 11-15-2020 at 10:27 PM

Ha! Well, it's been a good run for the last 35 or so years.

And if the whales want to practice social distancing and avoid us humans... I don't blame them one bit.

http://bit.ly/QuittingSeaWorld

Quote: Originally posted by David K

I wonder if kissing the whales will be banned this season to stop the spread of Covid-19 to our cousins in the sea? LOL

shari - 11-16-2020 at 09:33 AM

It will be interesting to see how the 2021 season goes. Of course we will be Covid compliant with precautions and will give full refunds if things are completely shutdown....finger crossed you will be able to play with whales.