2025 marks Baja Expeditions’ 35th year of running gray whale camps in San Ignacio Lagoon. The whale encounters here are extraordinary and truly unique on our planet. Our fly-in camps offer glamping and luxury options, fine dining, 24-hour power, and the incredible Mexican night sky filled with stars.

Yet, the question that comes to mind when one of these gentle giants sprays me in the face with whale halitosis and rolls over for me to scratch between its pectoral fins is not, “Can we touch the gray whales?” but rather, “Should we touch these beautiful animals?”

Touching the Gray Whales

The question in my mind is not “Can we touch gray whales?” but rather “Should we touch these beautiful animals?”

Gray whales in San Ignacio Lagoon actively seek out interaction with us. Throughout the season, some 5,000 – 6,000 whales visit the lagoon, of which maybe 400 choose to interact with humans in. the small, restricted whale-watching zone.

The first known whale interaction was in 1972 between 1 whale and 1 fisherman. Up until that time, fishermen in the lagoon were scared and very cautious around devil fish aka gray whales. But Pacheco, the first whale whisperer of the lagoon, reached out and touched a whale that surfaced right beside his panga and pushed up against his hand. His friends in the fishing village thought that he was loco. And we are quite sure the whale went home and told its friends about the crazy fisherman who wanted to befriend it. Fishermen taught other fishermen about these interaction, and whales taught other whales. And slowly over time, more and more whales became interested in interacting with us.

So, can we touch these gray whales? Yes. Certainly. Definitely. But always on the whales’ terms.

I think the real question is whether we “should” be touching them. it’s essential to be thoughtful and very careful about our impact on these whales.

Are We Changing Whale Behaviour?

Are there behavioural changes in the whales that might impact their survival? No. Interestingly, gray whales only show interest in human interactions in the birthing lagoons of Baja. Despite their vast migration up and down the coast of North America, I have only heard of one whale encounter outside of Baja.

That was outside Tofino, on the west coast of Vancouver island, where a gray whale rubbed up against the transom of a small boat and allowed the boaters to rub its back. Maybe it had an itch? A friend’s son, a local whale guide with a lot of experience, was in the skiff and the video was forwarded to me. Super cool behaviour but different than what we experience and it only happened once.

I don’t think our interaction with the whales has induced any behaviour changes that affect their feeding, mating, longevity, or any other negative outcomes of their life.

Are Whales Stressed by Our Interactions?

Definitely not. Interaction is entirely on their terms.

San Ignacio Lagoon is 7 miles long. Which is big! The whale-watching zone is tiny, and is only in one small area of the lagoon. No interaction with the whales is allowed anywhere else in the Lagoon. It all happens on their terms, at their pleasure, when they choose to approach our pangas. If they don’t like it, they leave. If they don’t like us, they leave.

And yes, there are visitors to the lagoon that the whales don’t like. There is an amazing trust and non-verbal and very clear communication with the whales. Much like what we experience with puppies, giant manta rays, dolphins, some sharks and many of the other animals of Baja. It might sound crazy, but I’m sure they can sense our energy and intentions when we look them in the eye. Some people have an energy that the whales just won’t interact with. It’s all part of the magic. I’m not religious but the old-timers say that you can see G*d in the eye of a gray whale and I believe it. To look into the eye of a gray whale is something you will never forget.

Could Touching the Gray Whales Harm Them?

To me, this is the biggest question. Touching any animal can transfer bacteria back and forth. With whales, that might include brucellosis, tuberculosis, and leptospirosis.

If you are sick, coughing or sneezing, do not interact with the whales. Stay onshore and enjoy some rest and relaxation.

Super important to my thinking to wash your hands thoroughly, and rinse really well to avoid any soap contamination. Their blubber is thick but their skin is surprisingly soft. Be gentle with them. We provide all our guests with stream2sea biodegradable, ocean-safe sunscreen, shampoo, and moisturizer to ensure minimal impact on the whales’ environment. If ever there was a product that deserves a shout-out it’s Autumn at Stream2Sea – her newest formulation of sunscreen is designed to actually nourish coral!. There are no known cases of humans causing illness in any gray whales.

Why Touch Them?

Because the interaction touches our souls.

Because the interaction brings out deep emotion for the whales and will forever change how you think about these beautiful animals. For those who have experienced this interaction, it’s impossible not to be sad and upset when the gray whales went through the mass mortality event several years ago.

To see an emaciated whale trying to survive, desperately scraping along the seafloor for some kind of food, is to bring tears to your eyes and deep anger at human encroachment of their habitat, overfishing, pollution, and all the human induced changes going on in their world.

The whales have been adapting and evolving for at least 50 million years and they will adapt faster than we will to the new climate realities. When a gray whale reaches out to touch us, it reminds us of our shared responsibility to protect them. It’s about them and it’s about humanity.

They can’t shout out for themselves, but we can and should shout out for them. That connection is why our interaction with the whales is so important. To touch a whale is to forever change our life.

-Captain Mike, Baja Expeditions

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What to expect Sailing Sea of Cortez

Sailing the Sea of Cortez… what’s the point? Isn’t it kind of boring? Is it scary when the boat tips over? Aren’t there more fun things to do?

“The sheet winches creak, the water murmurs on the bottom as the Joshua gathers way and begins to come alive… People who do not know a sailboat is a living creature will never understand anything about boats and the sea.”

The Long Way, Bernard Moitessier

For our experienced sailing friends, the “Mango Wind” is a Caine and Robertson 45, also known as a Leopard 45 AKA Moorings 45. She underwent a shipyard refit and overhaul stem to stern 2 years ago. Nice rig. We are fitting her out later this spring with a code zero and perhaps also a code 5 to have more fun.

Fully staffed with Captain, chef, and a naturalist/guide/diving instructor. Equipped with twin Yanmar diesels, a generator, air con, gas cooking, and individual heads (bathrooms) and showers in all 3 guest staterooms. The yacht carries a full complement of kayaks, paddle boards, snorkelling, and scuba diving gear. A supply of cold craft beer, good wine, and single malt scotch. Plus a very large cockpit with a shaded outdoor table and couches seating 6 in great comfort.

For all our non-sailors out there, it’s hard to describe the thrill of hoisting sails, catching the wind just right, and feeling the power of the wind as the sails fill and the boat accelerates. It’s a joyful experience, especially when you turn the engine(s) off. A day on the water never fails to leave us pleasantly tired, fulfilled, perhaps a bit windburned and sun-kissed, and immensely satisfied with a day well spent. We are not sure who said, “time stands still when you are sailing” but it is so true. Is it thrilling? Absolutely, especially when the wind picks up, and you are on a beam reach going FAST. Will the boat tip over? Nah. It’s fun to be heeled over, but a monohull is not going to capsize in the Sea of Cortez!

Sounds fun? We think you’d love this personal account of sailing the Sea of Cortez: ‘A Family’s Adventure’

What are our favorite trips?

That’s a really hard call. Sailing quietly past blue whale mommas and calves is very special.

Stories from the Deck: Guest Testimonies

My wife and I regularly see the humpback whales in Hawaii but have never seen the Blue Whales which are substantially larger and equally graceful. While they don’t breach like the humpbacks, they are truly amazing and magnificent creatures to behold!  This trip was a fantastic opportunity to spend time with them as well as whale sharks, which we had never seen before.  It was a wonderful trip filled with adventures and fun!

-Ross

What an amazing adventure! To see so many whales up close in the beautiful setting of the Sea of Cortez was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  A truly magical moment was cruising alongside a group of about 200 dolphins that were playing and jumping in our wake. 

Candy. Denver ,CO.

Find out more about Sailing the Sea of Cortez on Mango Wind, or reach out by email for help planning your dream adventure.

* Bernard Moitessier was an incredible sailor. He spent 7 months sailing around the world in the first Golden Globe Race, a solo nonstop circumnavigation, rounding the 3 great Capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin, and the Horn. All his competitors were knocked out of the race except for Robin Knox Johnston, but as he closed in on the final leg, he thought “screw it” and headed off for another partial circumnavigation before setting anchor in the Tuamotu Archipelago, Tahiti, in June 1969. His account of this adventure, “The Long Way”, is a highly recommended read.

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Unveiling the Secrets of Gray Whale Migration

Imagine being a 45-ton gray whale living along the coast of British Columbia, where life is pretty good. There’s an abundance of food, including tons of yummy amphipods and shrimp. In fact, with your hearty appetite, you might devour up to 2500 pounds of these little critters every day. Your dining routine involves diving down to the muddy bottom, rolling over on your side, and bulldozing along the seabed, scooping up both mud and delectable treats. Your baleen-equipped tongue efficiently separates what you want from what you don’t. So, why do gray whales migrate to Baja, Mexico?

What Draws Gray Whales South?

In these waters, your only enemy is the orca, also known as the killer whale. However, you’ve discovered the joy of hanging out in the shallows, sometimes even in water as shallow as 15 centimeters, between the kelp forests and the shoreline. Orcas rarely venture into such shallow waters, making it a safe haven for you. While orcas are known for their playful breaching and jumps, they’re also cautious about getting stuck in these shallows. Any adult gray whale knows that one mighty swipe of their tail flukes can mortally wound an orca, earning them the nickname ‘devil fish.’

The Evolutionary Benefits of Baja’s Winter Waters

But now, imagine you’re a pregnant momma whale facing an intriguing dilemma. Why would you leave this idyllic place, where everything you need for survival is at your fins, to embark on a migration of 2000 to 3000 miles down the coast? This journey involves fasting, all while you carry your precious calf within. The caloric requirements for such a migration are immense, as you must swim thousands of miles and have enough fat reserves to nurse your calf. A calf typically grows 50 to 80 pounds a day during the 4 to 5 months spent in the lagoon in Baja Mexico. In fact, momma gray whales also nurse their calves all the way back up the coast, for a total nursing period of 7 months or longer, with milk astonishingly containing 53% fat (compared to 2% for humans).

So, why the arduous journey to Baja? One theory suggests that the higher salt content of the lagoon’s water may help the calves float more easily when they are newborns. However, other Baja birthing lagoons also have extensive salt flats. Moreover, mommas also give birth to calves in the open ocean on the final stretch of their southward migration, with reports stating that more than 50% of all births occur north of Los Angeles.

Perhaps the salt flats hint at something else – warm water. The lagoons are relatively shallow, which helps maintain even warmer water temperatures. Is there an energy benefit to the whales in these warmer waters compared to the frigid North Pacific? In winter, waters in the North Pacific can drop to 34-35°F in the Aleutians, while British Columbia remains relatively balmy at 46°F. By contrast, San Ignacio Lagoon might dip from 86°F in the summer to 74°F in the winter. The math is fascinating: a big female, after a summer of feeding, might weigh 90,000 pounds. The southward migration, calf care, and northward migration could cost her 30,000 pounds of blubber – about one-third of her body weight. Moreover, calves nurse on milk that is a remarkable 53% fat.

So, assuming warm water provides benefits, could there be more to this story? Orcas! While the thought of transient orcas lying in wait for gray whales during their Monterey Bay crossing is troubling, they are almost never seen in San Ignacio Lagoon. In February 2022, orcas entered the lagoon, causing concern. They took at least one dolphin (remains were found), but that was the first time they had been seen in the lagoon in 17 years. The orcas face a high-risk, high-reward situation. The entrance to the lagoon is tricky, with constantly shifting shallow sandbars. Gray whales are comfortable in the shallows, even when it’s wavy or there’s a swell. Orcas do not have the same comfort zone and could ground themselves, potentially leading to their demise. If they do enter the lagoon, they are in unfamiliar territory – it’s fairly shallow and home to a large seasonal population of big, powerful adult gray whales, known as ‘devil fish.’

We welcome all comments, additional ideas, and suggestions. Our working hypothesis for now is that gray whales migrate to the lagoons of Baja Mexico because the water is warm, has higher salt content, is shallow, and offers protection from orcas.

Of course, only our beautiful gray whales know the actual answer to this. We can speculate all we want, but the only thing we know for sure is that whales are highly adaptive and will likely survive long past humans. They have evolved from four-legged terrestrial animals into the elegant and incredible marine mammals we see today. As they continue evolving in front of our very eyes, adapting to avoid starvation and finding new ways to thrive, we remain humbled and in awe of these magnificent animals.

P.S. Yes, I know that it’s Baja California and not Baja Mexico! In 1804, the Spanish crown divided California into Alto (or upper), which is now California, USA, Baja California (sometimes now called Norte), and Baja California Sur (or south). San Ignacio Lagoon is just south of the dividing line and is located in BCS, but people often get confused by ‘California’ and think we’re somewhere near San Diego!

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Blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), one of the most amazing big animals I have ever seen. I’ll never forget the first time I saw one. I was just down from a summer of Alaska trips and had seen a lot of humpback whales. Loads of humpback whales. We were on our way into Ensenada from Guadalupe great white sharks when I saw two 30 foot high “blows” in front of us as we approached the shallow underwater ridge (and feeding ground) off Baja… And then we saw the blue whales. The size was almost unfathomable. The back of the whale just went on and on and on until we saw the tiny dorsal fin at the back.

And then we saw the blue whales. The blue whale size was almost unfathomable. The back of the whale just went on and on and on until we saw the tiny dorsal fin at the back.

Captain Mike

All of a sudden, humpback whales shrank in our perception to being not much more than minnows. It was an experience I will never forget and once I started reading about the winter aggregation of blue whale mommas and calves off Loreto, I became determined to figure out how to share this amazing experience with our guests. Our first Baja Ultimate Whale trip on our 116-ft expedition yacht, Gallant Lady, is just in and as the following videos attest, the experience was stunning.

Fascinating Blue Whales facts

• An adult blue whale consumes up to 38 million shrimp (krill) per day consuming up to 1,500,000 calories.
• They inhale water and krill equal to their own body weight in one gulp which takes a huge amount of energy but is also very efficient, giving them an energy surplus up to 245 times the energy expended.
• An adult fills her lungs with 1300 gallons of air which gives 20 to 30 minute dives.
• Their blood is so dense with hemoglobin that it’s almost black in colour.
• Their heart is the size of a small car with a heartbeat of only 4 beats per minute.
• The blue whale size is huge and they weight up to 180 tons which is heavier than 2 fully loaded Boeing 737s.
• A newborn calf can be 25 feet long and 8000 pounds and can grow up to 9 pounds every hour as it suckles their mother’s milk.

To experience these whales up close and personal on the whale’s terms is truly a gift that nobody should miss!

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We are pretty darned excited and have sighted our first gray whale of the season in the lagoon 2 weeks ago. I was up in San Diego 4 weeks ago and a local whale watching company told me that their first sightings of the season were a week early. Fingers crossed and cheers to a great season!!

The gray whales are of course making a major migration with a return trip of 10,000 mile from the Bering Sea to San Ignacio Lagoon. Food sources along Baja are almost non-existent for the gray whales so why the heck do they stress themselves too fast and make this heavy duty trip. One would think it especially difficult for new mamas who lactate while fasting for many months at a time while their new born calves grow from 12 – 14 feet up to 20 feet or longer, putting on 60 – 80 lbs of weight a day. All of that growth is supported by calves feeding on Mum who is not feeding herself… Actually, interestingly, research monitoring body size and blubber thickness indicates that big full grown females are able to support extended lactation fairly easily. It must be a lot more challenging for younger moms who are sexually reproductive when 10 years old but don’t reach full size and have ample blubber and body mass for another 30 years!! A fully grown mature female is usually twice the size of a new mum.

Why the gray whale migration? 

Why make this long swim every 2 years to give birth in a lagoon 5000 miles away. We are doubtful it’s because of the high salinity of the lagoon although that is an often quoted reason. It’s not because of the relatively warm water of the lagoon or energy conservation because a normal, healthy calf is well insulated for water 20 degrees colder than San Ignacio. There has to be more direct and high value to the whales to make this migration worth the fasting and long swim. I think it’s because San Ignacio Lagoon is a safe place for the newborn calves to learn the basics of life from momma, get strong, grow, be protected from predators and ready themselves for the long swim north as far as the Bering sea.

Safe??  Why is the lagoon safe for calves??? 

I think it comes down to orcas (killer whales), the nemesis of gray whale calves. As we heartbreakingly see in Monterey Bay, California, orcas prey on gray whale calves. and yet there are no reports of orcas ever entering the lagoon. Why??? No orca has ever been sighted inside the lagoon. If a gray whale can navigate the sand bars at the entrance to San Ignacio, surely an orca could? The thing is that orcas navigate and hunt their prey using echolocation which wouldn’t work very well in the shallow and muddy lagoon. The killer whale would be going in mostly blind and feeling their way around which would leave them vulnerable to full size adult gray whales. As we saw with gray whales attacking and killing whalers in the 19th century, these are big, powerful animals with a temper. “One fluke slap from a big gray whale across the face of an orca easily put the killer whale out of action permanently. For gray whales, coming to the lagoon may be an evolved behaviour to avoid predation at the most sensitive time in their life cycle, during mating and with very young calves”. – Eye of the Whale: Epic Passage From Baja To Siberia by Dick Russell.

Point of interest with regard to San Diego whale watching. San Diego bay was a birthing lagoon in the 19th century. Historical records recount stories of ladies being taken out for a row around the bay only to be covered in interesting smelling whale blows. Those whales were wiped out by whalers and no whales have ever returned to birth there. Sad but true. But at least we get to see loads of gray whales in San Ignacio Lagoon.

Hope you can join us.

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WHOOOSH!! Wow! We are out in a panga in San Ignacio Lagoon and can glimpse an immense body in the water below us. The immensity of gray whales is stunning up close. Females can reach 45 feet and weigh 80,000 pounds – more than 12 times the weight of an elephant. The gray whale below us dwarfs our 27-foot panga, and we are acutely aware that with a flick of her tail, she could easily capsize our panga and injure us… But she doesn’t. Instead, she nestles up to our boat for a cuddle and kiss and then rolls onto her back so that we can scratch between her fins…”

– Captain Mike (Baja Expeditions)

How in the world did these most ferocious of all whales pivot and become cute and cuddly with open arms (or fins!) with humans, their former predators? We have to thank Pachico, respected patriarch and grandfather of San Ignacio Lagoon, for taming this last remaining significant population of gray whales…

Changing Attitudes of Gray Whales: From 1948 to Present

1948: Scripps Institute showed up at San Ignacio Lagoon along with actor Errol Flynn (who was a keen student of marine biology and whose father was a marine biologist at the University of Belfast). They intended to produce a documentary film on the gray whales, including the use of a helicopter with which they attempted to herd the whales into shallow water where deep dives would be impossible. The helicopter hovered at low altitude behind or beside the grays, trying to shepherd them along. Lewis Wayne Walker, on the film crew, reported;

After this had been done a few times, we noticed a decided change in whale temperament. Instead of swimming along in a placid manner… the grays churned the water with flukes and fins until their wakes became swirling cauldrons of foam.  Before such displays of angry power, the helicopter lifted to a safe altitude.”

The whales were clearly telling the humans to back off. To the point where on the last day of filming, local fishermen were thrown off their feet when a gray whale rammed their fishing boat. The initial strike was the hardest of the attack, and it seemed that only the lightweight and extreme buoyancy of the skiff prevented the whale from caving in the side of the boat. The whale continued to batter the fishing boat until the water became too shallow for the gray to continue harassing the fishermen.

1956: Cardiologist Dr. Paul Dudley White attempted to record the heartbeat of a gray whale using small darts. However, the whale charged and smashed into their boat. One powerful blow from his tail broke the rudder and propeller and even bent the driveshaft to a 45-degree angle. He then turned around and charged again, smashing into the side of the boat.

1960’s: Jacques Cousteau decided to chase female grey whales with his zodiac to get film footage. After several hours, the whale turned, breached, and landed on top of the rubber boat, destroying it. (Yayyhghhhhh! Well deserved!)

So what changed? How Did San Ignacio’s Gray Whales Become “Friendly”?

Well, everyone who lives around the lagoon will tell you its thanks to abuelo (grandfather) Francisco (Pachico) Mayoral.

1972: Pachico was out alone in his panga, fishing for grouper, when a gray whale surfaced beside him. Local fishermen were well acquainted with the whales, very aware of the gray whale’s power and ferocious temperament. Like everyone else around San Ignacio Lagoon, he always tried to keep a cautious distance. He was surprised when the animal lingered and felt himself compelled to place a hand in the water. The whale rubbed against him, remaining almost motionless… And that was the beginning.

Pachico later explained in an interview, planting a hand over his heart:

The whales… they are my family. I have not the words to express. The rest of my life since, I have activity with the scientists, the tourists, and the whales. The whales enter the lagoon and come to me… You see, I have a position. The whales, they are my family”.

– Francisco “Pachico” Mayoral (Pachico’s Eco Tours)

¡Gracias, Abuelo! The Extraordinary Timing of 1972!

The timing of Pachico’s heart-warming interaction with the gray whale was extraordinary. 1972 was the first time a gray whale made the first friendly overtures to a Mexican fisherman. The same year, the Mexican government decreed San Ignacio Lagoon a “Reserve and Refuge Area for Migratory Birds and Wildlife”. The same year, the United Nations voted for an end to worldwide commercial whaling. And 1972 was when the U.S. Congress passed the Marine Mammal Protection Act. In 1973, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act, which listed the gray whale.

Pachico’s family continues to offer encounters with gray whales. They might be our competitors in some ways, but we are proud to work with them. On one of your daily whale trips from our glamping and luxury camps, you might well find yourself on one of Pachico’s pangas with one of his family as the Captain.

Make sure you come and see us for the next whale watching season at San Ignacio Lagoon.

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We love and respect the gray whales of San Ignacio Lagoon. But make no mistake, these are animals up to 45 feet long, weighing more than 40 tons, with a fiery temper and the instincts of a street brawler… All of which makes our interaction with them even more freakin amazing.

As recently as 1976, local fishermen were very cautious of the local “devilfish”. ahem…. Gray whales. So much so that they would pound on the bottom of their pangas with steel bars and hammers as they crossed the lagoon hoping that would keep the whales at a distance. And then Nacho appeared, the first friendly whale of San Ignacio Lagoon immediately pictured in the San Diego newspapers. This caught the attention of NatGeo (National Geographic) who dispatched Bill Weaver, Ken Nelson, Steven Swartz and Mary Lou Jones to investigate and develop a documentary. The team reportedly spent weeks out on the Lagoon in January 1977 with absolutely no action and no whale behaviour until finally, in February, a juvenile whale swam under Weaver and Nelson’s boat and began rubbing against it. Jones wrote ;

“There, less than an arm’s length away, above the gape of her mouth, was the large brown eye of the (gray) whale, staring directly back at me and following my every move as I reached toward it with my outstretched hand. Her friendly behaviour was somewhat amazing and her movements underwater were graceful beyond description.”

Extraordinary.
Unbelievable.
A whale reaching out to a human…
And even more amazing considering our sad history of exploiting these whales.

December 1857. San Ignacio Lagoon. Captain Charles Scammon and his crew on the BOSTON and MARIN arrive and hunt gray whales for the first time in the birthing and breeding lagoon. The whales fought back and the whalers quickly experienced the ferocious behaviour of these beautiful gray whales. The first whale they pursued busted their whaleboat, severely injuring several of the crew. Another whale bore down on them and turned the first boat into kindling. The whalers learned very fast that when harpooned, these gray whales would go after the whaleboats and stove them in (nautical expression which means to destroy the planking of the boat), overturn them and injure the whalers. In Marine Mammals of the Northwest Coast of North America, Scammon wrote:

“Hardly a day passes but there is upsetting or staving of boats, the crews receiving bruises, cuts and in many instances, having limbs broken. Repeated accidents have happened in which men have been instantly killed or received mortal injury…. Hence, these dangerous gray whales were given names like “devilfish” and “hardhead”.

In fact, so many whalers were injured that Scammon was not able to crew the few remaining whaleboats he had left. He had to resort to anchoring in very shallow waters, shooting a bomb-lance from a small cannon at passing whales while his crew remained safely in the shallows. Frankly, we wish the whales had been able to after the whalers cowering in the shallows and finish them off.
Sadly within 2 years, the whalers decimated this population of beautiful gray whales and moved along to the North Pacific.

The true miracle of San Ignacio Lagoon is that these highly intelligent creatures put aside all this violence and choose to interact with us on their own terms. Hard to imagine but true. The grays seek out physical affection from humans that might be anything from kisses, petting, or stroking to rolling on their backs and having their tummies scratched to having us gently scratch the inside of their mouths. As humans, we have done some horrible things and it is incredible that these whales, certainly as intelligent as any primate, choose to be affectionate instead of brawling with us (which is what we probably deserve after what the whalers did)… Visiting the Lagoon and experiencing this interaction is something that nobody should miss.

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