whale talker

Well my friends, today was a doozy (am I antiquated or what?). Yesterday Vicente came by to see if I wanted to go out looking for whales. It was a beautiful morning but I had eaten something (my own cooking) that gave me some stomach problems and I really wasn’t interested in rolling around on a panga for 6 hours so I declined the offer. Later that day I saw 5 whales nearby and when I got together with Vicente this morning he told me he had been out yesterday and had seen 3 groups of 3 or more whales. Needless to say I felt a bit of remorse at not having gone out with him. He did show genuine sympathy and said that all his fisherman friends were in accord that “El Ballenero” should have been there. I couldn’t imagine that kind of activity in our area this early in the season in two consecutive days….right?

Hot dog! Yes indeed. Two days in a row! Within minutes of launching from the beach we spotted 3 whales a mile away. But no, there were blows further out….yes, another 2 at least. We head for the furthest out group and see yet a third group near Punta Pescadero (about 4 miles south, yes you can see the blows from that distance). We did well in our choices and ended up within an hour with 7 ID’s. That’s a damn good day right there.

We decide to head back towards El Cardonal (we are now by Los Barriles, 15 miles from home) but Vicente spots 2 more by the “Tuna Hole”. We get ID’s on these two, a spectacular breach, the weather is good and I’m feeling like I want to swim with some Whale People.



We pull in front of the 2 whales, Vicente kills the engine, I go overboard and Vicente directs me to the whales. He says they are coming right for me, I dive, the water is not very clear (maybe 20 ft at best), I come up, Vicente says they are right underneath me, I dive again but can’t see them (oh, for the clear waters of Hawaii). Never mind it is good to be near them and in their world again.

Meet "Jumping Jack Flash", my swimming buddy.

That made 9 ID’s and you know what? We got 5 more returning to El Cardonal! What a day.

It is a different world here in this little village in Mexico. I have been to the Great Cities of The United States. I have been to Paris, London, Athens, Stockholm, Munich, Vienna, Cairo etc., but El Cardonal is where my heart has found it’s home. The Whale People and I have a destiny.