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Every winter, thousands of sun-hungry snowbirds head to Los Cabos seeking warmer weather and a place to frolic with family and friends. Some fly in, others prefer to drive the peninsula for their annual pilgrimage south. Two of our largest snowbirds, gray and humpback whales, spend most of their lives “on the road,” swimming more than 10,000 miles from summer homes in the Arctic and back again each spring.
Grays and humpbacks, the most common whales seen around Los Cabos, range from 40 to 50 feet-long, with humpbacks weighing between 50,000 to 90,000 pounds and grays weighing 50,000 to 80,000 pounds. Classified as Cetacea, marine mammals that include whales, porpoises and dolphins, both belong to Mysticeti, one of the three families of great baleen whales. Gray, humpback, blue, Bryde’s, fin, minke, and right and sei whales (balaenopterids) have baleen fringes, made of whalebone, instead of teeth. The baleen lines the upper jaw and works like a large comb, filtering plankton from salt water and, in the gray’s case, sediment. Unlike other baleen whales, grays are bottom feeders, submerging for three to five minutes to eat, leaving grooves in the ocean floor behind them.
Delighting onlookers from the Alaskan archipelago down the Pacific coastline to Land’s End, shore-loving grays have captured the hearts and imaginations of many. Friendly, to the point of permitting human touch, do they sense safety as well as danger? If not, why have they chosen to interact with us now? Less than a century ago, grays faced near extinction from commercial whaling, when they were known as “devil fish” for fierce attacks on whalers while defending their calves. Gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) have made a comeback thanks to conservation practices and a moratorium on commercial whaling since 1986. Once found in Europe and Asia, the gray’s habitat is now confined to the Northeastern Pacific, with about 100 highly endangered grays in the Western North Pacific. Numbers have increased from an estimated 2,000 in 1900 to over 26,000 by 2000. Removed from the U.S. Endangered Species List in 1994, grays face the same threats from oceanic warming, pollution, poaching, and entanglement in nets and fishing lines as endangered blue, fin, humpback, right, sei, and sperm whales.
Humpback whales were also dangerously close to extinction, and received protected status in the mid-1960s. At one time, populations were as estimated to be as high as 100,000. Today, humpbacks number approximately 30,000 worldwide. It’s believed there are about 15,000 living in the Northeastern Pacific. These humpback whales differ from grays in that they migrate in the open ocean and along coastlines. Part of the population heads southeast to México, and the other southwest to the Hawaiian Islands.
Like the grays, humpbacks were commercially hunted to near extinction in the 1800 and 1900s, and remain protected today. Called the “playful whale,” for their acrobatic floor shows of breeching (jumping into the air), lobtailing (tail smacking) and fin slapping, male humpbacks are known for their songs, believed to be the longest continual vocalization of any mammal. Different sounds are combined to create a series of songs, repeated for as long as two hours, which can be heard above the surface.
While humpbacks calve in open waters off Hawaii and México, grays calve in the shallow lagoons of San Ignacio, Scammon’s, Ojo de Liebre and Magdalena Bay. Averaging 4 to 5 knots per hour, the grays arrive off the Baja California peninsula in November and December. Each lagoon, 250 to 500 miles northwest of Cabo San Lucas, is protected by the Mexican Federal Government. To allow us the privilege of visiting these nurseries, whale-watching boats are regulated by strict rules of conduct. After a 13-month gestation period, the 15-foot, 1,500-pound calves are born, growing to about 19 feet and 3,000 pounds before leaving the lagoon.
Although the lagoons are further north, grays do frequent Los Cabos. Mothers and juveniles will head out to open ocean, gravitating to warmer water, cruising the coast until early spring. A few fin and blue whales are sighted from time to time, but it’s the darker, blue to blackish humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) that you’ll see most. Distinguishing between grays and humpbacks is relatively easy, if you know what to look for. Both have double blowholes, but grays are lighter in color than “humps,” with long snouts. In place of a dorsal fin, the gray has a hump with dorsal ridges running to its flukes (tail). Humpbacks have a small dorsal fin, and long pectoral flippers—averaging a third of the whale’s body length—a dead giveaway. Each humpback has its own unique pigmentation, found on the mostly-white underside of their wide flukes, which may be seen before long dives. Several thousand humpbacks around the world have been identified through cataloguing fluke patterns. Humpbacks also have odd-looking knobby bumps on their heads and on the edges of their flippers, called tubricales. Oddly, each grows a single hair. In the spring, some humpbacks tend to stay around later than grays, like those human snowbirds who put off leaving until the last minute. Humpbacks have been spotted breeching off the coast as late as June.
Spouting, the visible exhaling of air, is usually your first indication of activity, or you may see breaching, especially with humpbacks. You’ll also see whales showing their flukes, known as sounding. If you’re in a small boat or Zodiac you’ll be able to move in closer, cut your engine, and watch a spectacular show. You may see spyhopping, when the whale pushes itself half out of the water to see its surroundings. You can watch whales incidentally, on a fishing trip or a coastal snorkel cruise, or take an organized excursion.
What you don’t want to do is go chasing after whales or run them down with Jet Skis or WaveRunners. Scientists in a 1998 Hawaiian study that included Dr. Urmas Kaldveer, a Sea of Cortés humpback whale researcher, discovered that small engine noises, particularly Jet Skis and WaveRunners, were very annoying to humpbacks. Look for knowledgeable operators whose staff is well trained and respectful of these sensitive mammals’ habitats and behaviors. Some vessels, like Spin Doctor, have a biologist on board and information on whale species, their behaviors, and various non-profit marine conservation organizations.
For those blessed with both patience and a sense of adventure, whale watching excursions can be highly addictive. If you do not see whales on your first trip, you’ll likely see other fascinating marine life. The added marvel of common, spinner and bottlenose dolphins, sea lions, rays, whale sharks, fish boils, sea birds, and the occasional olive ridley and Laud sea turtles (the highly-endangered Laud, at six feet-long and 1,200 to 2,000 pounds, is the world’s largest living reptile) makes the time on board more than worthwhile.
Whale watching is ideal for families with older children but check that child-size life preservers are on board before you book your tour. The La Princesa and Spin Doctor catamarans are good options for families. Pez Gato, Buccaneer Queen, Baja Xplorer, Yael, and Cabo Expeditions all run whale watching trips. February and March are best for optimum conditions. Dress warmly in layers, take Dramamine ahead of time if you are prone to seasickness, and bring a camera with a zoom lens if you can. Log on to www.oceanalliance.org, the youth-oriented www.oceanrevolution.org or www.oceanconservancy.org, for more on whales and marine conservation programs.
By Sabrina Lear
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