San Ignacio Lagoon

February-March 2006

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by James Michael Dorsey

This gentle leviathan approaches for a little nose scratching.

There is no better marine adventure than an unexpected close encounter with wildlife, and no better wildlife experience than in a kayak.

I'm convinced that many animals view kayaks as little more than logs. Gliding along silently with half my body below the waterline has allowed me the opportunity to see animals most people will never have the chance to observe.

And among the many wildlife experiences I have enjoyed, the place that stands out for me is San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja, Mexico. Here I have returned for seven seasons as a guide/naturalist, trained by the American Cetacean Society.

San Ignacio is one of three great lagoons that open to the Pacific Ocean, offering shelter and sustenance to gray whales. Nestled into massive sand dunes two thirds of the way down the rugged finger that is Baja, the lagoon marks the first half of a 12,000 mile annual migration that begins and ends in the Bering and Chuksi Seas of Alaska.

While the whales are the main attraction, it's in the mangroves and along the miles of dune beaches that Mexico's other treasures can be observed. You can spend hours paddling its secluded beaches where the only footprints are those with webs or pads. In the morning you can hear the clams opening and closing, sounding like a massive chorus of castanets keeping rhythm with your paddle strokes.

A young Mexican fox.

I have watched coyotes walk out onto the flats of the lagoon at low tide, stick their tails into onen clam shells which clamp for a meal. I have watched other coyotes dig tiny octopus out of their caves, easily identified by the walls of Stone and shells that octopus love to construct around their openings.

Over 300 species of birds occupy the Mexican wetlands, and entering the mangroves by kayak is like Alice going through the looking glass. Ospreys occupy the top of the feathered food chain here and are fascinating to watch as they dive and swoop to grab fish from the water's surface. Great blue herons and night herons abound. Snowy egrets, curlews, red tailed hawks and sandpipers are all common sights. Roadrunners have kept pace with me along the shore.

I once had a cormorant land on my deck to catch his breath after a prolonged fishing session, spreading his wings to warm in the sun. Cormorants do not have natural oil in their feathers like most seabirds and must dry them in the sun to separate them.

I have watched wild burros running free on the beaches, and once, after putting ashore for a brief excursion, surprised an immature wolf, not yet fully awake.

One time I paddled alongside a young fox for over an hour as it trotted down a beach, and on another occasion found a young elephant seal pup asleep on the beach, snoring loud enough to wake the dead.

San Ignacio Lagoon is part of the massive Viscaino Biosphere, covering over a million acres of protected desert, mountains and marshes that harbor a dazzling spectrum of wildlife. It is 40 miles from the nearest road and so isolated the term 'primeval' comes to mind. The ancient cone of an inactive volcano stands guard over its cerulean waters, and the surrounding mountains hold rock paintings that are dated at 4000 years old. It is as pure a place to paddle as can be found anywhere on earth.

It is into this salty marshland that hundreds of female gray whales come each year to rear their young, completing half of a cycle imprinted in their DNA over thousands of years. It is believed that the high salt content of these waters gives the whale calves more buoyancy, making it easier to learn to swim. This has been their breeding ground for time beyond history.

Kayaking in the main channels with the whales is forbidden for the safety of the whales and kayakers. But some whales are friendly with the local pangas that carry watchers out to see them. Approaching boats is a learned behavior passed along from mother to calf and not all of the whales in the lagoon do so. It is believed that only about 20% of the whales can be counted as 'friendlies' or those who are known to approach. Out of a total of approximately 20,000 gray whales that comprise what we call the Eastern stock, meaning those along the Pacific coast of North America, usually fewer than 1000 make the entire migration into the Mexican lagoons. San Ignacio usually holds 250-350 whales, and that translates to only 50-70 'friendly' whales.

Even so, it only takes a single, 35-foot animal weighing over 40 tons, coming over for a pet on the nose to make it a memorable day!

Although paddling is not allowed in the main channels where the whales reside, I am often close enough to hear and see the blows, and more than my share of breaches. Once I was 'spyhopped' by a yearling whale who accidentally wandered into a side channel away from its mother.

To enter the main channels, you must be in a panga run by a local pangadero. And in fact, being on the water in a 20 foot panga with the engine off and carried along by the tide, is not so different from paddling.

Baby takes a break from swimming to nap on its mom.

The number of pangas on the water is strictly limited each day and monitored by a lagoon warden who makes sure they do not approach or harass a whale. The Marine Mammal Protection Act is strictly adhered to and that means you must not approach within 100 yards of a whale. If a whale approaches the boat, however, that's all right. And they do this often.

Most of the calves are born in January and their mothers are very protective of them at this time. They make the calves swim laps in the lagoon right away to build their stamina for the long swim north, less than three months away. The calves tire easily and sometimes climb on mother's back or stomach to rest. The mothers usually allow them to sleep for a few minutes then roll them back into the water to continue their lessons.

By February the calves are stronger and very curious, and that's usually when they begin to approach the boats with their mothers.

The 'friendlies' clearly like human contact. I have touched their baleen and stroked their tongues so I can speak from experience that the friendly whales do enjoy it. I have had countless mothers bring their newborns up to me to show off their pride and joy. I have watched mothers support their babies on their pectoral fins, bringing them up to the boat to meet people for the first time.

The calves are much like human babies curious, rambunctious and without a good sense of balance They will bump against the boat in their eagerness to play and have even tried to climb into our panga on occasion. They are endlessly curious and especially fascinated by shiny objects.

A "friendly" shows off its tongue and baleen.

Once I was on the water with a very experienced pangadero and my wife, observing what we believed to be a mother nursing her calf. Gray whales nurse by squirting fat rich milk into the water and the calf laps it up without actually contacting the mother's teat. There is usually much thrashing about while this takes place, so it took us a moment to realize that we were watching a mating pod, not a nursing mother.

The alpha male did not appreciate our presence and began to circle our boat, then dove under us. He hung there silently for a couple of minutes until I cautiously looked over the side, at which point he brought his flukes up quickly, giving the boat a good smack. Only providence caused me to pull back in time.

This was not an attack, merely a warning to keep our distance and I've never been more embarrassed than by this inter-species faux paux.

We are, like it or not, the stewards of these animals. Their fate is in our hands. We have a great responsibility to preserve and protect this place and its inhabitants.

HOW TO GET THERE

Drive south down Baja's Highway One to the turn off for the town of San Ignacio. You will know you are there when you see the full skeleton of a gray whale by the side of the road. Or you can fly on Aero California or Aero Mexico into the town of Loreto and drive north on highway One.

LOCAL CONTACT

The Baja Adventure Company, Johny Friday and Maldo Fischer, owner/operators. Toll free from the US (877) 560-2252, in Mexico (011) 526-1212-46629. Or email info@bajaecotours.com. They offer a variety of guided trips and daily rates for those who choose to drive down on their own. They can also pick you up if you fly into Loreto. © James Dorsey is a widely traveled freelance writer/photographer and a marine naturalist for the American Cetacean Society