Hi,
When the sun shines on Gray whale blows in San Ignacio Laguna, the droplets form a glistening heart shaped rainbow. It’s a completely beautiful sight and at the same time, painful to know that a whale who blows a multi coloured shining heart should be at such risk.
When the whales come up to the small pangas with their babies, there’s no words to properly describe the experience. You can see how awkward it is for both human and whale, humans need to bend a long way over the side to touch whales, whales need to roll up close to the boats so their tummies and tongues can be scratched. Occasionally, you will see an eye measuring you up, staring with great curiosity. I always take my sunnies off so we can eyeball each other. Such an experience to have a whale once-over!
If you’re lucky, a whale will blow and the spray drenches you like an oceanic communion wine. Babies are cheeky, they love to show off, sometimes breaching or spy hopping dozens of times. They race to the boats often causing Mama whale to swim between the boat and calf in a gesture of protection.
I’ve been lucky enough to be so close to a big Mama whale when she opens her great mouth, showing off massive baleen plates , she lets me scratch her tongue. Gray whales love to have their tongues scratched, and the only way you know when she’s going to shut that great mouth is by instinct !
It’s impossible to ignore their intelligence. Or the lessons they teach their babies. Calves learn how to swim against the tide, how to feed, how to relate to other whales.
San Ignacio Laguna is a major Gray whale breeding ground. In good seasons, you can see the whales mating. The massive “ Pink Floyd” is a dead giveaway, weaving like a giant snake above the water. Gray Whales practice threesomes. Whether its sexual preference or commonsense is difficult to know. A female ready to mate will be virtually sandwiched between two males, the bottom one holding her stable so the male above can penetrate. Then the males swap places, all to the accompaniment of much splashing and thrashing. A dangerous place for young calves, especially if Mama whale doesn’t want to have any sexual relationships.
Calves stay with their mothers for six to seven months. A fairly short time when compared with Humpback whales who stay in family groups. Yet the Gray Whale is known as a fierce protector of her young. In the old days, she was called the “ Devil Fish” because of the way she protected her calf.
Of course the time old way of harpooning these whales, and all whales, is to go for the calf first. Then the mother when she comes to protect her baby and finally, the male who comes to protect them both. It’s obscene and although the IWC prohibits taking a lactating female or one accompanied by a calf, no one bothers to abide by the rules. There’s no enforcement officers out there in the Chukchi and Bering Sea. No rangers, no-one to check on the way whales are killed or the cruelty involved.
I’m always struck by the contradictions of stroking a Gray Whale in San Ignacio, knowing that she and her baby may well be slaughtered by the Russians when they make their long migration back to the feeding grounds of the Chukchi Seas.
The miracle of these whales is that they still come to humans, in spite of the ongoing killing.
That’s the true test of intelligence. To know where their friends are. These whales have come to me in my dreams, they have spoken to me in quiet times. Their message is one of unconditional love, such love for humanity. As the most ancient baleen whale left alive on Planet Earth, I believe these are spiritual whales who are calling on us for protection.
For the Whales,
Sue
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