Our group decided to go whale watching this morning at Punta de Mita, which is 20 min. north of Bucerias in Banderas Bay on the Pacific. Back in the 1800's, Banderas Bay was called Humpback Bay because of the kind of whale that predominates the area. Approximately 300 humpback whales congregate in the bay from October to late March, mating and calving, but they all don't arrive at the same time. The waters are warm, shallow and turbulent with whales and whale watchers everywhere. The new Mexican law for whale watching prohibits tour boats from approaching whales closer than 180 feet. However, the boats can't control the whales, so the whales swam within 10 feet of our boat today which happened too quickly for the pilot to get away. The new born calves can't swim, so their mothers need to teach them. In order to grow properly, they nurse up to 200+ litres of milk each day. The first few weeks are all about the mother and babies. The males continuously try to mate with the females and the calves are often injured by the males' advances. The cow selects the bull who has the most appealing song for her. Sometime in March, the pod of whales head back home to the colder waters of Antarctica. We saw many whale footprints today and Rudy, the captain, explained that whales make a footprint, which is visible on the surface of the water. It resembles a circular area where the surface of the water is smoother than the surrounding water. The whale’s tail creates a vortex, as it moves through the water just below the surface. Each whale's tail is like our thumb prints - it is their signature. They each have a personalized colour on their tails. The group saw what seemed like 50 whales today, however there was no time to study their colour schemes so it wasn't a positive count.
It is so exciting to see these marvellous creatures that are up to 16 meters in length and the calves can weigh 1 ton at birth. Most countries have banned the killing of whales. Japan, Norway, and Iceland still kill whales and sell the meat under the guise of scientific research.
We plan to repeat the experience again soon. If your child hasn't had this experience, take them.
(Rob was suffering from sciatica back in the tree house. He also gets seasick very easily, but has decided to go on the next whale watching adventure anyway.)
mating season
Captain Rudy from Punta de Mita has great deals.
A whale of a tale time!
Scientist Sue takes pictures of every whale. She is responsible for all the photos on this blog.
Kaptain Kate and Buffalo Bill practically grew up on a boat.
Betty Boop loves the humpbacks.
whale vortex
mother breast feeding with her tail out of the water
This is Curly. He use to ride on Rudy's boat and help spot the whales for the tourists. Today Curly has retired to rural life in St. Ignace New Brunswick.
Santa and his helper also love Banderas Bay. Santa needs a well-deserved Mexican vacation every year and he loves to whale watch and so does his helper, Charlie.
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