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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/up-close-ecotourism-is-bringing-back-mexicos-gray-whales/>
"The 40-ton gray whale stretches her massive head out of the murky water next
to our small boat so that we can bend over the railing and pet her chin. She
opens her mouth so we can scratch her tongue, which weighs about 3,000 pounds.
Then the 40-foot-long giant turns onto her back for a belly massage. Finally,
the mother of a two-month-old calf holds up her baby on her back so we can give
it some love, too. The calf’s skin feels surprisingly soft, like smooth
silicone.
“Their calves are just like human infants,” naturalist Jim Dorsey explains on
the boat, “bumping into you, tumbling, playing. They don’t know their own
strength yet.” When our 20-foot skiff (called a
panga) turns back toward our
camp at the shore of the San Ignacio Lagoon after 40 minutes, the two whales
follow us like puppies that crave more attention.
According to Dorsey, three lagoons on the Pacific coast of Baja Sur, Mexico,
are the only places in the world where wild animals seek physical contact with
humans without the lure of food. The San Ignacio Lagoon is the smallest of the
three lagoons. Its salt content is three times that of the open ocean and
therefore an ideal nursery for gray whales. Their young can hardly swim after
birth and the water’s high salt content makes the calves naturally buoyant.
More than 3,000 gray whales migrate from Alaska to Baja every winter, 5,000
miles each way, with many females giving birth in the safety of the lagoons,
before making the long trek back to Alaska’s nutrient-rich waters in the
summer. Scientists counted 268 whales in the San Ignacio Lagoon this season, 50
of them mothers with calves."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
