Most of us have come to see the gray whales and today was dedicated to that endeavor. National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions has a long history of using local guides and their pangas to allow us to get close to the whales that have come to the warmer waters of Bahia Magdalena to have their calves every winter. Sunrise provided favorable weather and high expectations.
During the morning session, it seemed like every whale around us was spy-hopping (raising their head above the water high enough to look around), sometimes three or four at once! Other whales were seen breaching in the distance. Occasionally a few would pause just a few feet from the boats, the panga drivers expertly giving the whales space to maneuver around us.
We returned after lunch to the same place, but the scene was subtly different, perhaps influenced by the changing tides. Less spy-hopping, less breaching, but a willingness to approach even closer to our pangas! Perhaps tomorrow morning we will get to touch a whale.
