Each winter the California Gray Whales make the 8,000 mile trek from the Bering Sea of Alaska to the warm lagoons of southern Baja California. From late January through March these gentle giants occupy the coves and inlets of Baja. Many of them can be found about 400 miles northwest of Cabo, however many will continue their journey south to the Cape where they will birth their calves and feast on the abundant plankton of the nutrient-rich Sea of Cortez.
Although
you won't see as many whales close to shore here as you would farther
north (in Pacific gray whale calving bay of Bahia Magdalena), newborn
calves and their mothers do swim by on their 'trial run' to the Sea
of Cortez. These whales can be seen within a few hundred meters of
Cabo San Lucas throughout the year, but the most activity occurs
during this gray whale migration season, which is from January through
March.
Your first
indication of the gray whale will probably be its spout or “blow”—up
to 15 ft (4.5 m) high, bushy, and occasionally heart-shaped when
seen from the front or rear. It will be visible for miles on calm
days, and an explosive “whoosh” of exhalation may be heard
up to ½ mile away. The spout consists mostly of condensation
created as the whale’s warm humid breath expands and cools in
the sea air, along with sea water blown into the air as the whale
begins its exhalation just below the surface. Look for 3-5 blows
as a rule, 30-50 seconds apart before the whale dives again. (As
a rule of thumb, a gray whale will blow once for each minute it has
spent in its dive.) Use your stopwatch to time these blows and predict
when the whale is due to blow again.
