Here is the final Baja Jones Winter Whale Season
report for the 2012 season:
Hi everyone, the gray whale migration this year was
terrific for those of us whale watching at the Baja nursery lagoons.
Every one of the three bays had hundreds to thousands of whales present
inside the lagoons.
For those of you who don't know, there are three
protected bays or lagoons on the West Coast of Baja California, Mexico where
the Gray whales migrate to each year from the cold Arctic water of the Bering
Sea. While not all the whales go inside the lagoons, normally about 10 to
15% of the gray whale population does go inside the lagoons each year; to give
birth or to mate or perhaps just to rest before beginning the long swim north.
This year there were more than 750 baby whales inside
Laguna Ojo de Liebre the northernmost of the gray whale lagoons and located on
latitude 28. Laguna Ojo de Liebre is a large bay with lots of shallow
water, but a few deep channels and holes.
The whales like to swim in the currents that flow in the deeper channels
as the tide flows in or out of the bay.
San Ignacio Lagoon had a couple hundred baby whales
this season. San Ignacio lagoon is the location that most magazines and
newspapers choose to write stories about. It is the middle lagoon in
location and the smallest in size.
Magdalena Bay also had a couple hundred baby whales
this year. Magdalena Bay is the most southern of the 3 lagoons.
Because of this the weather is usually a little bit warmer and in general
nicer than at the other two locations. This is the nearest lagoon to La
Paz and to Cabo San Lucas.
Between the three lagoons there were more than 1,000
confirmed baby gray whale births this year. This is a large number almost
double the "average" number of counted baby whale births.
What I noticed this year was that there seemed to be
fewer adult whales inside the lagoon engaged in mating activity. It will
be interesting to see what the baby whale count is next year. Perhaps a
lot of mating activity took place outside in the open ocean, rather than inside
the protected lagoons as it usually does.
That concludes my report for the end of the 2012
season. Until next year enjoy good whale
watching wherever you may go.
Keith Jones
Baja Jones Adventure Travel
office phone in USA: 562-889-4016
email: keith@greywhale.com
Skype ID: bajajones
Yahoo messenger ID: rowman1998@yahoo.com
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