Gray Whale Calf and Mother on YouTube

When we watched this clip on the screen in the palapa at Laguna San Ignacio the night of Feb 13, after José’s excellent multimedia cetacean (whale and dolphin) biology presentation, the response from the guests and the staff was overwhelming. It made us feel unbelievably lucky to have been there at the right time with the right equipment the day before to capture the moment. We knew we should release it as soon as we could, so we are posting this clip of a very friendly Gray whale calf who first surprised us and then slowly approached our panga and teased us for a bit before checking us all out at close range. The mother even drew close and wowed us with her size and grace. The young calf had a great sense of both humor and timing, soaking us all a little while playfully swimming around the boat, rising up out of the water with ease.

We shot this footage as part of our exciting new project to put together video of the whale watching camp at San Ignacio Lagoon, whale shark day trips, and sailing the Sea of Cortez aboard El Mechudo, you can subscribe to be notified when new videos are posted. A heartfelt thanks to our fantastic guests and all the staff at the Lagoon, especially to our captains Antonio, Daniel, and Martin and our naturalists José and Beto. Antonio and Beto are featured in this clip. You can find out more about our crew here. We had an equally great outing the next morning and can’t wait to share the rest of the footage, to show off our camp at San Ignacio Lagoon and how easy we have made travelling to such a remote, unspoiled paradise.

The visionary policies of the conservation community that oversee the Biosphere Reserve surrounding the Lagoon to restrict the number of visitors keep the whales breeding grounds pristine. That makes moving experiences like these possible. The lagoon is teeming with gray whales right now and we still have spots open for individuals, families and groups left on this season’s Chartered Trips, but they are filling up fast and soon this record breaking migration season will be over. Overnight Trips are also available. To plan your own adventure you can call 1(800) 843-6967 or (858) 581-3311 from the states, or 612-123-4900 from Mexico. Full contact info is here. Or just email whales@cabanassanignacio.com to get the ball rolling.