WHALE TAIL
By
Steve Chism
It would be almost impossible to tell a "Whale
Tail" of the Cape Region, Baja
California Sur without mentioning the California Gray Whale, so we will start
with him. The Gray is probably the
most numerous, most observable, most predictable of all whales that appear on
both the Pacific and Sea of Cortez sides of the Cape Region. Gray's are usually
seen first on the Pacific side. They
will start entering the Sea of Cortez about December 1st. Not many at first but increasing in number daily.
The best time of the year to see whales is from early December to mid
April. There are 16 different whales and 8 different dolphins that use the
waters around the Cape Region, with a possible 3 or 4 more that stray into the
area at times. There are some whales in the Cape Region waters all year, but the
chances of seeing them after the winter months is very slim.
In the Buena Vista area where I live the first whales usually show up
right around New Year's.
Buena
Vista is located on Bahia de Palmas in the East Cape area. We have access to Los Planes and La Paz on the north and Cabo
Pulmo, Los Frailes and San Jose Del Cabo on the south via the "Coast
Road". There are many places
in both directions with access to the beach or close along the beach with higher
elevations where you can stop and watch, or wait, for whales to pass.
Whales
will pass as close as thirty yards from the beach In many places on both sides
of the Cape Region. On the
Pacific side there are several good overlooks with beach access between
Cabo San Lucas and Todos Santos. There is also a road that runs for many miles behind the
beach dune from Todos Santos north. Although
your view of the Pacific is blocked by the dune you can stop and climb to the
top of the dune (about 200 yards) where the view is spectacular!
You'll see miles of empty beach and open ocean.
Maybe even some whales!
An alternative to beach watching whales is to charter
a fishing boat. Explain to your
captain that fishing is not your primary concern and that you want to see whales
and dolphins. These guys are out
there on a regular basis and if there are whales or dolphins around they know
basically where they are. Your
skipper can also get on the radio and have other boats in the area let him know
if they spot a whale. This
increases your chances a great deal. If
you also put out 2 or 3 trolling lines while you're searching you might even
catch dinner!
Whales and dolphins are attention getters even when they're just
cruising! If a whale barely breaks
the water and "blows" people will stop and watch.
If a school of dolphin slowly passes by, people will watch.
When a whale or two or 200 to 300 dolphins decide it's "Show
Time", everyone is glued to the scene.
If a whale breaches people start to count how many times.
If a whale pounds the water with his tail or flipper people count.
When a large school of dolphins decide to play in the air they perform
with long horizontal leaps, vertical jumps, belly flops, back flops flips and
"tail walking". Your head needs to be on a swivel to keep track of what's
going on around you! And
then, just as fast as it started, it all stops. Nobody dims the lights or makes
an announcement. It just stops!
People are quietly sitting or standing around.
It's like they expect an encore. Then,
after about 4 or 5 minutes things get back to normal.
Now, for a couple of Close Encounters with dolphins and whales.
One winter day several years ago I walked out on the dining room terrace
of the Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort. It
was a perfect day...clear, warm and calm. A
relief after the last 7 days of strong north winds! I sat down to drink a cup of coffee. Then I looked north toward Punta Pescadero and there it was
again! A "wind line"
building out from the point! I
watched for awhile as the "wind line" got bigger and closer.
But, it looked kinda funny. There
were flashes here and there in the white water coming our way.
And there was no breeze on the Hotel terrace.
Then I went to get a pair of binoculars. By the time I got back, the
"wind line" was south of Punta Pescadero and almost to Los Barriles.
Still no breeze! As I looked
through the binoculars, I saw dolphins...miles
of them! I ran back to the Hotel Boat Yard and got Juan (Mickey) Castro to help
me put the work boat in the water so we could go take a look. The dolphins were almost
upon us and still coming around Punta Pescadero.
We put the boat out through the dolphins.
They were everywhere...around the boat, under the boat and in the air.
I was standing in the center of the boat looking back at the dolphins
when I glanced down at Mickey who had the tiller. His eyes were as big as coffee cups! I turned around to look forward and saw the point of the bow
aimed straight down a row of "knobs" on the back of a whale who was
headed down under the boat. I was
too stunned to grab hold of something or even sit down. I watched as the back of the whale kept coming.
We passed right over the top of the whale without getting hit.
After this, we didn't talk for a few minutes.
We decided that we'd seen enough for the day. I
watched the dolphins a little longer after we got back on the beach.
They were still coming north from Punta Pescadero moving across the Sea
of Cortez as far as you could see to the south.
The whole episode lasted about four hours.
I've never seem anything like that before of since.
Another
Close Encounter with a whale happened more recently. Two old friends who had spent the winter in a local trailer
park decided one morning to go fishing. It
was a perfect day in mid-March, 1999. These
guys fished all day from a 14 foot aluminum boat equipped with at 25 hp motor.
In the afternoon they picked up their gear and headed for home.
About one-half mile from the beach up in the air they went!
They had driven up the back of a surfacing whale that was crossing
in front of them. When the boat
went up on the whale's back it was spun around 180 î.
As it headed back into the sea the force tossed the older of the two
fishermen to the side
But
one morning my luck changed. I saw a school of dolphin coming in time to get a
kayak into the water and was already headed south when the dolphins caught up
with me this time. There were ten
curious animals. They made passes
and swirls all around the kayak, sometimes very close.
The kayak and I together weigh about 170 Lbs.
These animals are about 500 Lbs each and 8' to 9' long.
A bit intimidating! On other
occasions, when I was quick enough to be in front of them, they would come to
the kayak to look and play. Twice,
actually, they bumped the kayak. Other
times they would just move out, pass on by and keep going.
They have never waited for me to catch up if I got a late start.
Another
thing about being in a kayak is that you are right down at water level with
them. If you notice that the
animals are starting to leave, take your
hand or paddle and slap the surface of the water several times.
Sometimes they will come back to see what's happening.
This will also work with smaller fish that come around the kayak. I got
If
you go hunting a school of dolphins and whales using a fishing boat, watch the
Bow wake for "surfers". When
this happens, move out to the Bow and lay down.
Hang your head over the side and talk or yell at the dolphins.
Many times they will roll on their side and look you in the eye as if to
say, "What a screwball you all are!"
It will give your skipper the same impression!
WHALES
THAT APPEAR IN THE CAPE REGION
Gray
Whale
Range: From the Beafort,
Bering and Chukchi Seas in the north to the Sea of
Cortez,
the Baja Peninsula, Mexico.
Blue
Whale
Range: From the Chukchi Sea
in the north to Panama in the south.
Fin
Whale
Range: From the Bering Sea
in the north to the Sea of Cortez.
Sei
Whale
Range: From the Alaskan Gulf
to the Revillagegido Islands south of the Baja
Peninsula,
Mexico.
Brydes
Whale
Range: From the United
States/Mexico Border to Panama.
Minke
Whale
Range: From the Chuckchi and
Bering Seas to the Equator.
Humpback
Whale
Range: From the Bering Sea
to Panama.
Sperm
Whale
Range: From the Bering Sea
to the Equator.
Pygmy
Sperm Whale
Range: From the United
States/Canada border to the Sea of Cortez.
Dwarf
Sperm Whale
Range: From California to
the Sea of Cortez.
Baird's
Beaked Whale
Range: From the Bering Sea
to Latitude 24î north. (at the
northern
edge of what is known as the Cape Region of the Baja Peninsula)
Cusier's
Beaked Whale
Range: From the Bering Sea
to the Equator.
Killer
Whale
Range: From the Chuckchi Sea
to the Equator.
False
Killer Whale
Range: From Canada to
northern South America.
Melon
Headed Whale
Range: Estimated from the
United States/Mexico border to
northern
South America.
Short
Finned Pilot Whale
Range: Estimated from the
United States/Canada border to
northern
South America.
DOLPHINS
THAT APPEAR IN THE CAPE REGION
Rough
Toothed Dolphin
Range: From California south
throughout the tropics.
Bottlenose
Dolphin
Range: From California to
Chile.
Striped
Dolphin
Range: From the Bering Sea
to northern South America.
Pantropical
Spotted Dolphin
Range: From the central part
of the Baja Peninsula to northern
South
America.
Spinner
Dolphin
Range: From the central part
of the Baja Peninsula to northern South
America.
Common
Dolphin
Range: From Canada to the
Equator.
Pacific
White Sided Dolphin
Range: From alaska to the Sea of Cortez.
Risso's
Dolphin
Range: From the Gulf of
Alaska to Cape Horn.û