Gray Whale Migration: South & North

Baby Gray Whale Near Boat in San Ignacio

     It is late February and thousands of gray whales have found their way to the warm waters of Baja California.  New baby whales are counted everyday.
     Latecomers are still spotted southbound. Last Thursday we saw a pod of about 4 whales swimming south from our Central California lookout.  And then the next day we saw at least 2 whale swimming back north.  They were probably juvenile gray whales.  
      The Pacific west coast is like a whale highway right now.  Blue whales are visiting Monterey Bay, along with a few Humpback whales.  Off the coast of Los Angeles, a whale watch boat found a pod of Sperm whales!  That was a surprise.  


     

The Gray Whale Winter Migration Continues

A gray whale in San Ignacio Lagoon.  C. Coimbra photo

Strung like gray beads along the west coast of the Pacific Ocean are thousands of gray whales swimming to the warm waters of Mexico.

Yesterday a gray whale swam thru the kelp in the waters near Big Sur, California, while over 1000 miles away, in San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja California, whale watchers  just reported: 46 gray whales in the Baja California lagoon and that 15 were adult females with their newborn calves (baby gray whales)! 

There are several places in Mexico where migrating gray whales will spend their winter.  Besides San Ignacio Lagoon, there is Scammon's Lagoon--also knowns as Laguna Ojo de Liebre,and  Magdalena Bay.

Gray Whale Migration Update

San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja California Sur

Everyday we watch gray whales swim south in the Pacific Ocean. They swim in groups, or pods--sometimes just two whales, sometimes five or more whales--all heading south for Mexico's warm water lagoons.  And lookouts in Mexico report that some whales have already arrived at San Ignacio Lagoon--or Laguna San Ignacio, as said in Spanish.

What a special place! San Ignacio Lagoon is so special that it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the last undeveloped gray whale birthing lagoon on the planet.

We hope to share with you the first gray whale birth of the season.  But that's not always easy.  Many of the pregnant whales swim to the very inner tip of this lagoon to give birth to their calves.  That means that there are not that many people to witness the first birth.

But what a birth it will be.  The newborn calf will measure almost 15 feet long--about the size of a pickup truck.  It is a curious and playful rascal.  

Here's a photo of a curious young calf that came up to our boat in San Ignacio Lagoon when we visited a few years ago.

 

Curious Gray Whale Calf. C. Coimbra Photo