Boca de Soledad
Finding oneself in a small inflatable boat motoring about in a remote desert lagoon among California gray whales is rather a surreal experience at first. In the distance Pacific, breakers throw white plumes against the blue sky, miles of sand dunes lend a fantastic sculptural aspect to the scene, and long strings of cormorants and frigatebirds head out for a day of foraging. Boca de Soledad (the mouth of solitude) is teeming with life, as it has been for thousands of years.
Among the California gray whales, there were many newborns; calves that were birthed in the last two or three weeks. They swam alongside their mothers and we imagined them taking frequent breaks to nurse. These babes drink about 50 gallons of milk a day and will double their weight from 1000 to 2000 pounds in the eight protected weeks they will stay in the lagoon. We followed the whales, gasped with joy when they swam near the Zodiacs—took pictures of breaches and spy hops and baby whales and water.
Many of us also trekked through the starkly beautiful dunes following the tracks of coyote and jackrabbit. Some of the hardy desert plants offered exquisite small flowers to admire, and across the undulating sand, the dark blue Pacific beckoned.
After a stop at the National Geographic Sea Bird for lunch, it was back to the boats for whale watching. In the last light of the afternoon, a friendly young whale approached our outstretched hands, and some of us were blessed with one of nature’s wonders… a true interspecies connection. A friendly whale.
