Elephants may be huge animals, but they're mere midgets next to a whale -- some of which are bigger than your house! Seeing these animals in their natural habitat is easy during the winter migration season. Take a whale watching cruise and see some of the animal kingdom's biggest citizens!

I'd wanted to go on a whale watching cruise during my recent trip to San Diego, but cold rainy weather the first week of March spoiled that plan. I spent the weekend of March 11th in the Ensenada area (about an hour and a half south of the border), and the weather was sunny and warm, so I was finally able to get my whale watching trip!

Whale Watch Off Ensenada

We started off Saturday morning with breakfast and coffee in one of the small cafes near the malecon, then wandered over to the sport fishing docks -- which is also where you can catch the whale watching boats. There aren't as many whale watching trips as there out of San Diego, and the prices are really not much better (we paid about $30), but they do have the advantage of going out for longer trips than you usually find in San Diego. The boat we took left the docks around 10am and stayed out almost 5 hours!

The boat was pretty big, as far as small boats go. I'm no seadog, but I'd guess that it was at least 50 feet long, and very modern. The boat had a large cabin area where you could sit inside, out of the wind, if you wanted, and a small galley area where you could buy snacks or drinks. Most people, though, preferred to be outside, especially since we were there to enjoy the cruise, spot whales, and to soak up some of the gloriously warm sunshine!

We weren't out very far from shore -- still well inside Bahia Todos Santos -- when the first spout was spotted. The captain headed the boat at a point where he thought the whale was heading and sure enough, the whale became easier and easier to see. At first, you mostly saw the occasional spout -- or if someone else saw it first and pointed it out to you -- maybe you just the tail in the air as the whale went back below the surface. (I got a LOT of pictures of whale tails ;-)

The captain never brought the boat very close to the whale. Not because of any particular brand of altruism, but because (as he explained), if he got too close to a mother with a calf -- which is what you most likely will see in March -- then the mother could be spooked and hide from the boat. Better to stay back a little and see the whales for longer periods. Even still, the whales weren't far off -- maybe 75 feet or so from the boat. Easily close enough for some great pictures and close enough to experience the awesome majesty of these giants of the sea.

I never really saw the young calf on this first encounter -- just the mammoth mama whale. I guess junior was being camera shy.

No matter. It wasn't long before another whale was spotted and the captain moved the boat over towards the new target. Good move! This time there was clearly a small whale moving along with mama. Usually you'd see them both breaking the surface at about the same time, but occasionally you'd only see the mama, or you'd see only the little whale.

Over the course of the next couple hours, we probably saw about 8 mother-calf pairs. I'd been wondering how the boat operators could be advertising "whale sightings guaranteed", but given the frequency of sightings on our trip, there must be dozens of whales in the bay at any time. Mother Nature evidently cooperates pretty well with the boat captains.

Whale Migrations

The migration season is generally December to March. In December through early February, you find the whales heading south towards the warm waters of Mexico, where they give birth to their young. The mothers and their young calves then head back north between late February and late March. If you're whale watching early in the season, expect to see only adults. If you're watching late in the season, expect to see some young whales too!

The further south you go, the more whale species you'll see. The Sea of Cortez is a breeding ground for numerous species of whale -- not just the California Grey -- which is the most known, primarily because the Greys migrate along the Pacific Coast of the U.S., then along the Baja coast of Mexico, until they round the tip at Los Cabos and head into the Sea of Cortez. Other species do not follow the coastline -- but they still come to Baja to breed.

Whales Are Everywhere Around Baja...

Although I went on a whale watching trip out of Ensenada, there are much better places to go in Baja -- if you have the time to seek them out. As I said, other species come to Baja to breed, and the best places to see the most whales are going to be inside the Sea of Cortez -- sometimes called the Gulf of California.

The very best places for whale watching in Baja are probably about halfway down the peninsula on the Sea of Cortez side. I've heard that San Ignacio is outstanding, as is Guerrero Negro. In the Sea of Cortez, you might see Finbacks, Sperm, Blues, or other species, in addition to the California Greys. There are places along the central Baja coast of the Sea of Cortez where the whales approach boaters and will sometimes come close enough to be touched!! I don't know about you, but I'm personally a little worried about the thought of a massive 10 ton animal coming close to a fragile fiberglass boat! Not only that, but there are outfitters in the central Baja region who will take you out into the channels in kayaks or canoes! I feel fairly safe in the 40 to 70 foot launches that go out from places like San Diego and Ensenada, but the thought of paddling a little 30 pound piece of plastic around an area populated by animals with the size and power of a locomotive is a bit much for me. (Even the 75 feet or so that the whales kept themselves from our boat out of Ensenada was plenty close for me!)

There's been a lot of media coverage lately about the San Ignacio area and its reputation as a whale breeding ground. Unfortunately, the media coverage happened because industrial giant Mitsubishi wanted to form a partnership with the Mexican government to open a huge salt works in the area. Worldwide media coverage and outcries from environmental groups who viewed the area as one of the most important natural havens for the whales caused Mexico and Mitsubishi to shelve their plans. At least for now, central Baja remains the winter playground of the world's biggest marine mammals.

Get Going!

Seeing whales up close was an experience that I'll never forget. If you find yourself on the coast of California or Baja during the whale migration season, you must do yourself the favor of taking one of the many whale watching cruises. If you want to make a special trip for the whales though, go to the small towns on the Sea of Cortez about half way down the coast -- that's where the whales come close enough to the boat to touch, and that's where you find the most species. Even if you don't have that luxury though, by all means, just get out there and see some whales!

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