At San Ignacio Lagoon, a magical place halfway down the Pacific Coast of the Baja Peninsula, whales regularly rise out of the sea to touch and be touched by humans. In one of the most remarkable annual migrations nature offers, Pacific gray whales make the 5,000 mile trip from the chilly feeding grounds of the Arctic to the safety of the warm, shallow waters of the Baja Peninsula for the breeding and calving season (the calves are about 15 feet long and weigh 1,500 pounds at birth).

 

Several thousand whales may visit San Ignacio every winter, and there are sometimes up to 400 in the lagoon at one time. Las amistosas (the friendly ones) is the local nickname of the whales, which regularly approach the small panga fishing boats to be stroked and touched by awed whale-watchers, in a genial gesture that has stumped scientists for more than twenty years, since it was first recorded.

 

Nearly driven into extinction in the 19th and 20th centuries, the gray whales now return in greater numbers every year and were removed from the endangered species list in 1994. Baja's Pacific lagoons and fifty uninhabited islands, often referred to as Mexico's Galapagos, are renowned for their exceptional marine and bird life. Hundreds of dolphins accompany the gray whales, white humpbacks, finbacks, and Brydes whales make regular appearances along with the blue whales, the largest animals on the planet.

 

What: experience

 

How: Baja Expeditions in San Diego sets up a temporary
safari-style camp and runs 5-day trips.

Tel: 800-843-6967 or 858-581-3311       .

 

When: late January through March.