3
Here's a mother <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_Whale">California Gray Whale</a>, the star of our vacation. Her baby is nearby; our guide, Eli, is splashing the water here, making bubbles in the hope that the baby will be enticed over to the boat.
Yankee whalers used to call this species "devil-fish", because they were fiercely protective of their young and dangerous to hunt. But, decades after the whaling stopped, something interesting started happening with Gray Whales...they started showing curiosity in humans, even allowing themselves to be touched. Eli said he spent some time with Pancho, the son of the first Baja fisherman to have a friendly whale encounter here, and Pancho recommended making bubbles with our hands whenever the whales were near. We didn't notice any baby whales being interested in this ourselves, but we did see a mother whale do some interesting blowing/bubble making underwater...some say they do this for the babies to play in.
We had a fantastic time whale watching. Steve has even better photos of our close encounters.
?a ?m/?d/?y ?I:?M:?S ?p
Mama Gray Whale
Yankee whalers used to call this species "devil-fish", because they were fiercely protective of their young and dangerous to hunt. But, decades after the whaling stopped, something interesting started happening with Gray Whales...they started showing curiosity in humans, even allowing themselves to be touched. Eli said he spent some time with Pancho, the son of the first Baja fisherman to have a friendly whale encounter here, and Pancho recommended making bubbles with our hands whenever the whales were near. We didn't notice any baby whales being interested in this ourselves, but we did see a mother whale do some interesting blowing/bubble making underwater...some say they do this for the babies to play in.
We had a fantastic time whale watching. Steve has even better photos of our close encounters.
?a ?m/?d/?y ?I:?M:?S ?p
Mama Gray Whale