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Report from the field February 2002

by Michael Fishbach

The marina in Loreto is absolutely wild with diving birds this year.  Pelicans are plunging into the water at times by the hundreds inside the marina and they often miss boats by less than a foot.  Blue footed boobies are diving en masse usually just outside the marina, and cormorants are swimming all over the place and coming up with fish.

We began the season of looking for whales in early February.  There were finbacks around and quite a few of them had calves.  Also, several blue whales could usually be seen between 1 and 3 each day.  There was one very special cow/calf pair that were easy going and great to view. The cow always lifted her huge fluke when diving.  They have been around for a full month now.  The most exciting spectacle of February was a pod of 40 false killer whales.  These fierce predators were followed for hours, and once hundreds of fish erupted from the sea just in front of them.  They breached many times and I am looking very forward to seeing  pictures that I took of them.  The males were almost 20 feet long and weighed about 2 tons.  

As February came to a close, more and more blue whales began to appear as did lots and lots of manta rays, which could be observed jumping into the air every day.  This season could also be the best ever here for humpbacks. There are many here already, and usually we observe just 3 or 4 in a season.  We have seen the humpbacks breaching --an awesome sight!

There have been some fantastic blue and finback whale surface feeding displays, and in one location north of Loreto, 30 whales were seen in one bay, with most of them surface feeding.  This was one of the most incredible sights I have ever witnessed in my 11 years at sea.

There do not seem to be as many dolphins around as usual, but still they can be observed every day.  They have not been jumping as much as in past years.  We have also been twice graced with the presence of pilot whales, huge melon-headed, big toothed predators, which gave us very close views of their massive odd shaped dark bodies.

At present we expect to see at least 15/20 whales each day we go out. Yes, it is a fine season, not very windy in February, and a little bit more moody with wind here in March.

It should be mentioned that it rained 4 times in one week in February and the desert has more wildflowers on the ground than I have ever seen.  Also, the canyon fresh water  swimming is fantastic this year.  We observed 3 rainbows one day while at sea-- a record here.

All the very best from the field ! 

Michael

Michael Fishbach
Marine Mammal Specialist for Secret Spot SA de CV