Baja blues

I'm life-afirmed, I'm more alive, I'm a 'wild thing' again, I'm back from Baja California . . . ok it was a week and a half ago but I've only just worked my way through the 6000 photos I took (digital photography is supposed to save time and money!). I've got it down to substantially less than that - take a look http://www.flickr.com/photos/as-nature-intended/sets/72157604160425366/ I think they're great - taken with my sexy new Lumix FZ18!

So how to summarise that Baja 'trip-of-a-lifetime' experience (yes, it really is)? I guess I'm hoping that the pics will really do that but you want a brief summing up?

Aboard Searcher we sailed from San Diego south amidst the Pacific Ocean, heading for the Baja peninsula and the waters of the Sea of Cortez. It was simply uplifting to be heading there once again (started off with some choppy weather for the first 24 hours) before we landed on San Benitos Island to look at huge male Northern Elephant Seals, nesting Ospreys galore, and Guadalupe Fur Seals (back from the brink of extinction - they seem to be more numerous than ever).

The tranquil waters of beautiful San Ignacio lagoon were always luring us southwards as we journeyed next, this stunning, almost land-locked, area where the Grey Whales have their calves, is entrancing and we had lots of emotionally-charged encounters where the whales came right up to look at us and be touched!

Between 1845-1875 the whalers killed more than 8000 whales in the sheltered calving lagoons (targeting the calves so that they could lure in the adults) and the whales had a reputation as being aggressive around small boats (shock!). In 1975 the first Gray Whale was noted approaching wary fishermen and early tourists in San Ignacio lagoon (including Art Taylor, the skipper of Searcher) and since then it’s become more and more of a phenomenon. In my experience, many of the whales appear to be intrigued by the small tourist boats in the lagoon (they are now operated by Mexican boatmen as a locally-benefiting eco-tourism initiative, financially aided by Art & Celia of Searcher) - it's as if we enliven an otherwise uneventful day, but that doesn’t explain why so often it’s the mothers that physically push their sometimes reluctant calves close to the boats. It’s almost as if they want their calves to experience an encounter with humans – it’s very special, surprisingly frequent, and the ultimate reminder that we share this world with some very BIG creatures! Laying under your tiny boat, a mighty adult whale can rear up, look you in the eye, secure - as we humans just are not - in it's watery domain, and decide that it wants to be your friend. It just doesn't get any more humbling than that.

San Ignacio lagoon was targeted by Mitsubishi as a potential salt-works and it’s said that the Mexican president brought his wife out and that they had such an encounter, which caused them to turn down the development – if only we could introduce all politicians to some emotionally-stirring, up-close, 20-metre long environmental advocates! You've all simply got to see this place in your lifetime.

Once outside the lagoon there were Bryde’s Whales plus lovely Pacific White-sided and Short-beaked Common Dolphins but, best of all, our first dozen Blue Whales. Now, as a 6-year old being taken to see the life-size replica in London's Natural History Museum, I dreamed of seeing one of these awe-inspiring giants - and I've done so now on many an occasion - yet our encounters this year were especially uplifting: many of them lifting their tail flukes into the air as they dived which is unusual, and exhilarating to watch. We saw more than 30 Blue Whales on our travels. They weigh up to 200 tonnes, have a heart the size of a VW Beetle, can grow to 100ft, have a blow 30-40ft tall, and there are only about 10-15000 in the World (for a little perspective, 330,000 were killed in the Antarctic between 1900-1970) - we owe them, and all other whales, safety in the oceans. Quite simply, they are awesome - and here that word has real meaning. And yet we know so little about them - we've still yet to learn exactly where they are, where they go, and where they give birth to their 7-metre calves.

This is where the BBC filmed Blue Whales for that astonishing intro to the Blue Planet series . . . and we saw scenes just like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YtC-VagE4Y .

Down at the southern tip of the peninsula we came across tons of Humpback Whaless and heard snatches of their enigmatic and haunting songs through the hydrophone – they were mostly busy feeding but we saw some breaches (leaps from the water), fin-slapping, and some courtship behaviour, plus there were lots of Bottlenose Dolphins buzzing between them.

Then we entered the more tropical Sea of Cortez - another chapter in our exploration. We had lots more landings here, on the peninsula and on the varied, individual islands, and ashore we caught up with some great arid-zone birds like Roadrunner, Xantu’s (endemic) and Costa’s Hummingbirds, Hooded Orioles, Verdin, Cactus Wren, Gray Thrasher (another endemic), plus the unpronouncably-named Pyrrhuloxia! There really are some captivating islands in this area, many with lots of giant Cardon cacti and unique reptiles - the region is often called Mexico's Galapagos - including a personal highlight when I found my first endemic Santa Catalina Island Rattleless Rattlesnakes amidst the Cholla cacti . . . the trick is to listen out for them!

As ever, sealife was abundant - there were Manta Rays and an astonishing gathering of about 3000 leaping Mobula Rays, plus more dolphins as well as Blue, Humpback, Gray and Bryde’s Whales. We had an incredible evening encounter with groups of blowing Fin Whales around the boat in the sunset silence, and managed some snorkelling with California Sealions – though I can still see in my mind the big bull which swam over to check me out!

That's enough for now but, re-reading this, I don't feel that I've done it justice, so why don't you just come with myself and Dylan - we're back there in March 09 - and find out for yourself why it really is one the world's 'must-vist' places.

Ian