Whales–Kissing the Greys

Our whale trip in Baja, Mexico, extending from the end of March through early April, included the last days before the female whales and their fast-growing babies will head north to join the male whales on their way to the Arctic feeding grounds.

Our adventure began in the charming little town of Loreto, located on the eastern side of the Baja peninsula, next to the Sea of Cortez.

The church was built in 1697 when the town was founded.

This is the hotel where my sister, Vreni, and I stayed in 2003 before we headed out to be with the whales in Bahia Magdalena.

Our sunny lodging in Loreto, located on the beach, a few yards from the Sea of Cortez.

The Malecon in Loreto, a walkway that runs along the edge of the Sea of Cortez

The Sea of Cortez, also known as the Gulf of California, has been designated a World Heritage site for its importance “…in the conservation of the rich marine and terrestrial biodiversity…and its stunning natural beauty.”

A Brown Boobie staring off into space

Coronado Island in the Sea of Cortez. The elusive blue whales live in the Sea of Cortez. They are shy and are usually only seen at a great distance.

Pelicans hanging out

One of the thrills of going to the Sea of Cortez is swimming with the sea lions. Unfortunately, I missed this opportunity as I took advantage of other opportunities. I hope to swim with them when I return someday.

Blue-footed Boobies

Snorkeling in the crystal-clear waters of the Sea of Cortez—sometimes referred to as the Gulf of California.  The photos of Coronado Island are courtesy of Glenna Clouse.

We left Loreto and drove across the Baja peninsula to the Pacific Coast for our rendez-vous with the grey whales. Baja is sometimes referred to as the “last frontier.” We drove through rugged and sparsely inhabited country that had its own unique beauty.

I should have specified that the country was sparsely inhabited by humans—as opposed to wildlife. These free-roaming cows stared intensely at us as we stared back at them.

We ate many of our meals al fresco, a true delight. We stopped in the little pueblo of San Ignacio to eat dinner and spend the night before heading to the remote San Ignacio Lagoon, accessed by a seemingly endless bumpy dirt road.

We arrived at the San ignacio Lagoon! This stunningly beautiful and pristine lagoon is full of birds, coyotes, and grey whales! (In case you have been wondering about the spelling of the color of the whales, there are two ways to spell the word. “Grey” is the British spelling and “gray” tends to be more the American way of spelling that color. I learned to spell when I lived in England and simply got used to using “grey.”)

Mother osprey, aka sea hawk, and her baby nesting. Photo courtesy of one of our guides, Lorna Hill.

Our tiny, two-bed cabins were perfect—one step above camping.

Meet the cast of characters:

Deborah Stephans, Goddess of the Wild, trip leader to magical places, former resident of Santa Fe, now living in La Paz, in Baja, Mexico. There were eight other goddesses on this trip—an extremely diverse and interesting group of women.

In the doorway are Forouz Jowkar, an excellent healthcare provider in Santa Fe, and Katharine Gates, energy healer and hospice care provider, also from Santa Fe.

My longtime friend, Sally Abbott, writer and poet from San Francisco. When met in the 10th grade at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, she had just returned with her family to the States from Burma, while I was preparing to go with my family to Germany. We really hit it off.

On the left is Mary Nolan, a lieutenant in the ranks of firefighters in Chicago. On the right is Glenna Clouse, my one and only cousin on the American side of the family, She is a school psychologist in the Seattle area and works with autistic children. She knows a lot about the brain and is also a lovely person. On the shot glasses they are toasting with is written “Death Can Wait.”

Here we are, the nine adventure goddesses. There are two women I haven’t introduced to you yet.

The woman on the right is Diana Ferrell, a most delightful and endlessly interesting person. Her mother is Navajo and grew up as a child in Canyon de Chelly (same place where I taught school). She and her siblings were taken from their homes by missionaries in the 1950s and placed in Christian schools and raised by foster parents. What happened next is too gut-wrenching to write about here. The story has a good ending, as evidenced by Diana who kept us spell-bound by her stories and in awe with what she has done with her life. She used some of her skills on the trip to help heal those of us with aches and pains in our bodies.

The woman in front with her hand under her chin is Tricia McConville from Chicago, another remarkable woman who is following her dreams. She created her own travel company and takes people to faraway exotic places. Her good sense of humor was an asset to the trip.

Time to meet the whales:

The little boats are called pangas. There were about six people per boat. The drivers of the boats demonstrated impressive skills at navigating some very large waves without capsizing.

Ah! The whales are everywhere! This baby whale has his head covered in multi-colored barnacles.

The whales come up for air every few minutes. Since whales are mammals, they breathe air, have blood in their circulatory system, give birth, and nurse their young.

This mother whale swam around our boat. Usually they just stay close to us for only a few minutes. We discovered that if we sang to them, they stayed longer. They seemed to especially like “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin, sung by our Irish guide. They also seemed to be attracted to a Navajo prayer song about “Walking in Beauty.”

Mother whale and baby cavorting together. The mother waits until the baby grows strong enough to make the long trip to the Arctic, thousands of miles from its birthplace.

Our lovely guide, Lorna Hill, underwater diver and filmmaker from Ireland, drinking a shot of tequila after eating her snack of locally grown oysters.

Rodrigo, beloved partner of Lorna, and fellow filmmaker, currently residing in Cabo San Lucas, at the tip of the Baja peninsula.

Low tide

Some of us could sense when the whales were under our boat.

A baby whale making eye contact, about two feet from our boat.

Another baby getting closer and closer.

That’s my hand reaching to pat one of the baby whales.

Happy baby. If I didn’t know better, I would think the baby was smiling.

The baby seemed to enjoy the nose rub.

The baby obviously loved having his underside stroked.

Now comes the sad part:

This whale is one of 30 that died this year from starvation.

Scientist believe that the starvation is due to climate change which affects the food that the grey whales feed on in the Arctic. I suspect that a big part of the problem is the plastic inadvertently ingested by the whales. The anormound amount of plastic gets impacted in the whale’s stomach and then blocks transit of the food to the intestines, causing the whale to die of starvation. The NYTimes wrote an article about this growing disaster: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/18/world/asia/whale-plastics-philippines.html

The birds have already eaten part of this whale’s flesh. The bright red blood streaming from the whale indicates that it died not long ago.

In the whale’s mouth, the light yellow part next to the tongue is the baleen. Baleen is a filtering system. The whale swallows a mouthful of ocean water, then pushes the water out through the filter, leaving behind sea creatures such as krill that are an important source of food for the whales. Baleen feels like bristles on a hair brush and consists of the same substance found in human fingernails and hair.

A whale approaches Forouz, seeking her attention.

I’m totally mesmerized by the whales, as though they are kindred spirits. I had the same feeling when I was with the elephants in Thailand. I have a sense that they are trying to communicate something very important to us. If we were indigenous people, we might speak their language and know what the message was.

I dreamed that the whales are offering us their forgiveness for slaughtering them into near extinction. In my dreams they are coming to us as friends, asking us to help them survive and help protect the oceans where they live. I usually wake up from these dreams choked with grief.

My friend, Sally Abbott, talked a lot about the book Moby Dick by Herman Melville, which she loved. One of the main characters in the book is a whale. Sally felt inspired to write a poem about the whales which she read to us:

The Record Keeper

By Sally Mansfield Abbott

Your girth, your breadth,

Your vast size testify

To knowledge, greatness,

Stores of benevolence

Holder of history

Keeper of the ship’s log

In this gentle bay

You have come

To set the record straight.

It was not you but we

Who were nature’s predators.

Our greedy dependence on oil

Led us to see you as

A malevolent creature

Leviathan, behemoth

Justification for predation.

Your oil lit our lamps

And fueled European and American industry.

Your annual migration from

North to South

From cold to hot.

You figure prominently in our

Soul’s great migration as well.

Pinocchio didn’t become a real boy

Until his sojourn in your belly.

Nor Jonah, a prophet of the Lord,

Until swallowed up and released.

Ahab wrestled good for evil

Before he was finally impaled

On his own harpoon

The might of the Beluga

Was more pacific

And ultimately victorious.

Grey whale, you came to

Pacheco Mayoral in San Ignacio Bay

To teach the good news

Of forgiveness and starting again

With your healing touch.

My very first close encounter with a whale occurred in 1996 in Glacier Bay, Alaska. I was in a two-person kayak. My seven-year-old son, Barrett, sat in the front and I sat in the back. We watched in awe as the magnificent humpback whales breached high into the air not very far from where we were paddling. We had been assured by a fisherman that the whales would not tip our kayak over and that they were very aware of our presence.

As I paddled, I had a strong feeling that something big was about to happen, but I didn’t know what it was. The feeling got stronger and stronger until the hair stood straight up on my forearms and my heart began to beat faster. Then the water on the right side of the kayak next to me became unnaturally still like opaque glass. About 18 inches from where I sat, a greyish-brown mound rose through the surface as water poured off its steep sides. The mound got bigger and bigger until I realized it was the head of a humpback whale. The head kept rising until the whale looked me straight in the eye with his one eye on the side of his head.

Time stood still as we looked at each other. I could feel my eyes fill with tears. I cannot tell you how long we looked at each other. It was probably only a few seconds but it felt like an eternity.The next thing I knew, the head sunk down into the water as slowly as it has risen up.

“Oh my God. Oh my God.” Barrett turned around in his seat up front and asked me why I was saying Oh my God so many times. I said, “Barrett, I just looked into the eye of God. I looked right into a whale’s eye. We looked at each other up close.” He gave a predictable response, “Mom, why do you think that’s God you looked at? If that’s God, then why isn’t everything you look at God?” He made a good point.

Lynne Cox is a famous world class swimmer. When she was 17, she trained off the shore of southern California at night, swimming mile after mile in training. On one of her swims she was joined by a baby grey whale who had gotten separated from its mother. Here is a link to the 23 minute podcast about the bond that developed between the two of them. It is so poignant, you will surely be in suspense right from the first sentence through the whole 23 minutes. https://player.fm/series/this-is-love/episode-2-something-large-and-wild   

Good-bye dear whale. We have to go home now, but we will remember you always and hold you in our hearts.

We reluctantly left Campo Cortez on the Pacific Coast in the San Ignacio Lagoon and headed back across the Baja wilderness, a five-hour drive back to Loreto. There we spent two days soaking up every moment of paradise before we headed back to our lives in the States…and Deborah headed back to her life in La Paz.

Our last view of the Sea of Cortez before the van took us to the tiny airport.

Addendum: The photos were a joint effort. I can no longer identify who took which photo in order to give them credit. To create a manageable blog, I had to sort through nearly 400 photos and part with 350 of them—no easy task when everywhere I looked were scenes worthy of preservation.

If you would like to learn more about the enchanting and unforgettable trips that Deborah Stephens arranges, you could visit her website at  www.timelessjourneys.net

I hope you enjoyed your virtual travels with me.


Comments

Whales–Kissing the Greys — 45 Comments

    • I’ll be seeing you for sure in May. Natalie invited me to dinner on a Thursday during your writing retreat. After dinner I’ll be doing a book reading and signing. Natalie told me to bring 50 books!! Big hug, Erica

  1. This must have been a wonderful, magical experience – like so many things you are doing, Erica. I listend to the podcast with Lynne Cox, so touching. To experience this beauty and intimacy with nature together with a group of openhearted, warmhearted and adventurous women – how special!!!
    I loved the photos, the memory with Barrett, just everything. Thanks for sharing! Love, Traude

    • That podcast of Lynn Cox is so moving! I was mesmerized listening to her talk. I could easily see you doing this trip, making your own arrangements. You wouldn’t need to go with a group. And it’s very inexpensive. It would be great if you could take your whole family with you!! How is your gorgeous book doing? Love and hugs, Erica

  2. Such an emotional story. Kept me in tears from the shear beauty and tragedy of it.
    P.S. What a profound question Barret made at the age of 7.

  3. Thanks for the report and the amazing images, Erica. I once was closet o buy into a development that a Canadian couple had started in Loreto. It attempted to combine environmentally sensitive development with successful investment. I wonder if you heard about it while you were in Loreto. Good to have you back and looking forward to reading about your next adventure

    • Thank you, Axel. I never heard about the development you referred to in Loreto. It sounds wonderful. There are so many Americans that have chosen to live in Mexico. In the past, some of my patients with severe chemical sensitivities have gone to live on the beach in Baja in their RVs and survive on fish and fresh vegetables and long walks in nature. They usually come back healthy, with their sensitivities being much more manageable.

  4. Wow! Another amazing trip! Thanks for sharing with all of us that can’t travel. I can’t wait to see where you go next.

  5. Erica,
    WOW WOW WOW..totally breathtaking…I have to take time to gather my breath when I see
    gorgeous ocean and its “family”…I feel very fortunate to see the fabulous living pictures you took…What a wonderful trip this must have been for you all..and how cute everyone
    looked. I can’t leave home..so being able to see the wonderful water, sky and the ocean critters being so friendly..blows me away! Thanks so much for sharing..I felt so close
    to the pictures and they will run happily through my mind. Did I say WOW!!!!!!
    Love from Maggie
    PS…it is very sad to see that the ocean critters are starving…SIGH!

    • Given your deep love of animals and the natural world in general, I’m so happy you went with me—virtually speaking—on this trip. Much love and hugs, Erica

  6. Beautiful Erica!…and Barrett was right at only 7 years old!…with tears of gratitude in my eyes…Thank you for your sharing!

  7. Thank you so much, Erica! Another one of your excellent adventures! I’m ordering more copies of your Medicine and
    Miracles book to share with family and friends. What a treat! Love, Paul & Family

  8. Your experience of that bond that exists between whales and mankind (womankind) is a blessing for you and writing about it is a blessing for anyone who is fortunate enough to read it. Thank you!

  9. Erica, I LOVED reading about your adventures with the whale and also your encounter with Barrett in the kayak. Growing up on Cape Cod, I have spent a lot of time seeing whales from boats and also have seen the beauty of when they come up and really look you in the eye with their amazing eyes! We once had a baby whale that was “playing” with us on the boat, seeing how it could get everyone to run from one side to the other to say hello in a sort of “peek-a-boo” game (maybe my projection). No one would ever be able to convince me that there aren’t souls in those amazing beings. Thank you for your pictures and story. I enjoyed it so much!

    • It makes me so happy to hear that you really get what I experienced and how deeply moving it was. Thank you! Love, E

  10. Dear Erica,
    What an amazing trip! I loved the photos, as well as, the explanation of your experiences. What I love the most is that you are enjoying yourself!

    • I thought about you while I was communing with the whales. I wish I could have magically transported you to the whales for an eye-to-eye experience. With love, Erica

  11. What a wonderful time you have had! The photos are beautiful and really tell the story of your adventure. I think whales are amazing and are very intelligent, more than most people realize. It is lovely that you could be so close and have them right next to your boat. I appreciate you petting that baby whale for me!
    Thank you for sharing your exotic travels with all of us!
    p.s. I think Barrett was very wise when he said “Why isn’t everything you look at God?”

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