Docpal Posted February 26, 2018 Report Share Posted February 26, 2018 Drove across the peninsula yesterday and went to what was formerly called "Scammon's lagoon". Now it's the town of Adolfo Lopez Mateos ( turns out that Scammon was not a very nice guy as he discovered the grey whales breeding here and sailed into the lagoon to slaughter them....) . Luckily the locals have now formed a cooperative and ONLY their boats ( NO private boats are allowed) can be in the lagoon for breeding season which runs up to the end of March/early April. We chartered a Panga and went out to find whales. Took all of 20 minutes before we found "Olivia' pictured in this video and her 3 week old calf. Olivia has become acquainted with a few captain's/boats and will swim right up to the boat to let you pet her ! The calf was like most kids, playing, rolling around, etc. Very surreal experience having a 40 foot animal watching you as you rub her head... Throughout the day we sighted about 25 whales, many of which would let you get up close, but not touch them. In fact at times we were surrounded by whales of all sizes ! The lagoon itself is a pretty special place with sand dunes on one shore, and mangroves on the other. I'd like to bring Petunia over in the "off season"and spend some time here.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted February 26, 2018 Report Share Posted February 26, 2018 Wow. That is one of the most beautiful, wonderful things ever. What must they think of us? Thank you so much for sharing this. Peace, Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hirilonde Posted February 26, 2018 Report Share Posted February 26, 2018 Wow! There's a memory locked away for life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmosSwogger Posted February 26, 2018 Report Share Posted February 26, 2018 Very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docpal Posted February 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2018 Here they are in motion... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docpal Posted February 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 And the last one with the baby showing off- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Designer Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 Bill, You are just having too much fun out there, you are making us jealous. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lathrop Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 Liz and I visited Scammon's Lagoon in 1997 and had the same experience with the grey whales. I think Mexico prefers to call it St Ignacio Lagoon. The salt harvesting was interesting as well. Very inexpensive then with no fee for camping on the lagoon shore. The only place we've been where whales are practically guaranteed to be seen close up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docpal Posted February 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 Tom, San Ignacio is actually further North than we were, but the setting is very similar. The Mexican name for the area we were in is now Magdalena Bay. I had NO idea that Captain Scammon was such an "opportunist" as once he discovered that the grey whales would return every year to the bay to breed, he also returned every year and slaughtered them while they were then trapped inside the lagoon. One of the best parts of the day was seeing how many Mexican families came to the bay to show their kids the whales. These families, and their kids will have a say in the future treatment of the local environment, and the whales as well. You didn't even need to go out on a boat as the lagoon isn't very wide so you could actually sit on the dock and watch them as they swam by... Graham, I needed to do this before the Everglades Challenge kicked off this weekend ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docpal Posted February 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 Graham, I needed to squeeze this in before the Everglades Challenge kicked off next weekend ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracked_ribs Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 That's really cool. Seeing whales up close is super impressive; I've only seen orcas around here and none recently, although my wife diligently points out anything that could be a whale, anywhere. But you can see the degree to which whale sightings are valued here: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 These videos are amazing. thank you so much for sharing. My whole family was "OMGing". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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