I haven’t been posting for a while due to a visit by my son Zack. We have been keeping busy literally day and night (excluding power naps in the afternoon) enjoying the sand, sea and critters. Not to mention this being the first time ever that Zack and I have had a full week to hang out together without outside distractions. He also brought some excellent videos I have been wanting to see, ie: Star Trek and Moon, plus the 5th season of Lost and the series on The American Indian, “We Shall Remain”; great way to finish the day. We have quite similar tastes and love to comment on the movies.

Most importantly for me is that he was able to join me while I ID’d some Humpbacks. Not only did we ID them (5 all together) but swam with them and at one point were in the water with 3 large Humpbacks within 40’ of us, and dozens of Bottle Nose Dolphins within 10’. It was a dream come true for me to be able to introduce Zack to my Cetacean friends. Zack did not hesitate for a minute when I suggested we get in with them, he made me very proud, especially with the three Humpbacks that had been in combat along with the dozens of dolphins around us, it was a real “party”!!

Here are some shots from the past week

My son Zack

kayaking near El Cardonal

Zack & Vicente

2 Humpbacks vying for a mate

A little aggression

Up close

Right on Zack!

Yesterday (Sunday, Mar. 14th) was a very special day. The wind lightened up so I could go out for the first time in a week. I also wanted very much to take my adopted grandsons, Antoine & Tristan, out to be with the Whale People one more time before they return to Quebec. Their mother Brigitte was ready as always to go too. The only problem was finding Vicente. Vicente parties “hardy” and Sunday morning is not his favorite time. I finally tracked him down and we got out at 10:00 am instead of the customary 7:30 am. Interesting how things work out as you will see.

After following our normal grid down to Punta Pescadero we began the return north in deeper water. Suddenly Vicente says, “what’s that?”, which is more often to get my attention than to seriously ask a technical question. It was a good-sized dorsal fin but I couldn’t make out the critter it belonged to.

Vicente then says, “Whale Shark, and a big one!”. Now I have been wanting to swim with a Whale Shark for the past 21 years. I knew they were around but had just never seen one. I got geared up (wet suit, mask, fins and snorkel) and Vicente put me in position to intercept. Funny thing was now that I think about it, as I was sitting on the gunnel waiting to bail over the side it never occurred to me to check if Vicente got his identification right!

Ready ???

Swimming out to him
The first attempt at intercept failed, he dove. In a bit he was up again and this time Vicente dropped me off right near him and I swam over to see him up close. All at once I was there, he was right under me and slowly surfacing….incredible sight! I was only a few feet from him and began swimming at a leisurely pace next to him. I dove down to check out his eye and then edged over to touch him, very much a Shark!! Skin like coarse sandpaper and a body of STEEL. What a beautiful creature, magnificent.

The mood was so mellow that as we came closer to each other I reached over and held on to his dorsal fin at the base to take a ride. What a “trip”!! He of course pulled me effortlessly; he was 98% muscle and 30’ long.

Reaching for the dorsal fin
After a little bit I think he got tired of pulling me and brought his considerably large tail around to give me a nudge but I backed off quick enough not to be hit. No aggression mind you, just a notice. I was as insignificant to him as the Remoras attached to his body.

Backing off from his tail

We swam together for a bit longer and then he causally disappeared into the depths. A thought came to my mind; if Vicente had not been late we would most likely have missed The Whale Shark altogether. The Great Mystery had once again gifted me.

Since writing this I have done some research on Whale Sharks and I believe it was not "environmentally correct" for me to have touched and then held on to this critters dorsal fin. I apologize to all of you who think that this is an OK thing for humans to do, it is not. I had no right to assume greater leeway in something like this. To swim with them is fine, to touch them is not.

It has been another quite incredible week. By Thursday I had 54 IDs. On Thursday I took out some new friends from Vancouver and we got 5 IDs. What was particularly cool about Thursday was that there were lots of dolphins in the area and they were hanging with the whales. As we followed a couple of whales and I was sitting on the bow with my legs hanging over the dolphins would ride the bow wave directly under my feet (maybe 1’ away). They kept turning on their side and giving me the eye so I waved and called to them. They seemed to respond by becoming even more active. I have had lots of dolphin experiences but this was definitely one of the best. With the telephoto on my camera the dolphins were too close to get a shot under my feet but here they are approaching me.

Yesterday I went out with Vicente and two young folks (Tyler & Bjorn) from my neighbors, The Cooks. The day was a bit chilly and the skies dark but the Humpbacks have been so active in the area that it is hard to resist going out. We found some Humpbacks out by Punta Pescadero and after ID’ing them we were heading north because of a report from Vicente’s son that there were some HBs near El Cardonal. As we were cruising along Vicente spotted a Sea Turtle and Tyler wanted a picture so we went over. When we got there we could see that the turtle was in some trouble. It had a large plastic bag wrapped tightly around its right flipper and was unable to swim. We got next to him and while I held him by a hind flipper Vicente cut the bag off. It was OK and swam down into the depths a much happier turtle. We were all of course delighted that we had accomplished a turtle rescue (they are becoming more prevalent as more plastic accumulates in the oceans).

On top of that I got my 60th and then 61st and 62nd IDs. A very “big” record for me.



HB# 62 10.....a beauty!


Still working together after 6 years, "The Dynamic Duo" of El Cardonal.

The Humpbacks continue to frequent my area in good numbers. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t at least see one or two from shore and when I go out with Vicente we are able to make 4-6 encounters each time. At this point in the season I now have 35 IDs and as I have mentioned before, that’s a good season already and we are only half way through. No returnees from last year as far as I can tell (I now have personally collected IDs on over 100 individual Humpbacks and I can’t truthfully say I know absolutely all of them by sight) but we did see one whale (HB# 22 10) again a week after it’s first “capture” (on film). Fewer mother calf pairs this season but lots of dueling males and some dynamite breaches near our boat. All of this of course translates into my area indeed being a major breeding/calving ground and worth including in its hopeful new designation as a “protected area” here in The Sea of Cortez. This is a dream come true if comes to fruition.

There are three experiences I would like to relate because each was special in its own way. They all occurred within a period of one week so one can imagine the emotional and physical drain….though all good!

A few days back Vicente and I had no plans to go out so I did another sojourn out to the Whale Zone. No encounters but I got into a nice little show of Mobula (a benign ray related to The Giant Manta) acrobatics and then I just hung out in an almost glass Sea, no sounds, no wind, only me, The Sun and The Sea. I started getting a bit warm and I hadn’t done laps in a while so I thought I might do some out there. There was a moment of hesitation but then I thought of a story my mother had told me about swimming around her father’s ship in the China Sea and I slipped in (the tales we tell our children sometimes take decades to become part of their growth). As I began to stroke into my first lap (I know exactly how many strokes makes up a standard lap) I felt a great surrender to life at that exact moment and I suddenly felt that I could swim all the way to the mainland and maybe beyond. I did my 20 laps and when I rolled back on to my kayak I felt wonderful. I thanked The Great Mystery for it’s benevolence and kayaked back in to shore chanting my heart out.

While following the whale I mentioned earlier (HB# 22 10), Vicente brought my attention to the fact that we had a “singer”. How he first caught the sound is in itself pretty extraordinary. You see they don’t sing on the surface. They are under water where of course the sound carries better. Only males sing as far as we know (see the work of Louis Herman, U of Hawaii) and they do not do it to attract females but other males. Sometimes it results in combat and sometimes in one whale teaching some new verses to another, after which they part. To actually be able to hear the song from the deck of a panga is an enormous treat. Vicente has become quite the whale enthusiast in every way. We stopped the motor and just listened. Then we realized he was right underneath us! Well, the smile on both our faces showed our mutual wonder and appreciation of that moment. It was very, very cool. We saw him again a couple of days later as HB# 30 10 (he will of course be recorded as HB# 22 10 in The Catalogue).

This is a better picture of the singer (HB# 22/30)

This is him giving me a high five real close to the boat.

Getting older is all I had hoped it would be but of course a bit of what I certainly hadn’t hoped it would be. I have always had bad eyes, I got my first pair of glasses in the 8th grade and they became a burden athletically from then on (try being a free safety in a night football game). Searching for whales requires a keen eye if you really want to have a productive day. Fortunately I have Vicente with me and he has the eyes of a Seahawk. It is nice however to at times be the one who spots whales at a great distance and against the odds (sun, waves etc). The other day we were searching the area around Las Tinas and I saw a blow way out on the horizon, directly in the sun AND with small waves between. I yelled to Vicente and pointed just as I saw it again. Vicente asked me if I was sure and how far (he hadn’t seen it), I said way out there, at the horizon, maybe 3 miles! He gave me that look but I insisted we proceed at top speed. Then I saw it again, two blows this time. Still Vicente couldn’t see them. I urged him on and we stopped after about 2 miles. We waited and then I saw them again yet another mile or so away. Vicente still didn’t see them. Well, we got to them, got our IDs and then Vicente gave me a look of genuine respect and admiration that was inspiring. When we got back in he told all his fisherman amigos about the incredible whale spotting capabilities of his friend, “El Ballenero”. So I may be getting older but it’s not the eyesight that’s a concern.

I will end by telling you that “The Bird People” are back. I noticed it for the first time yesterday. I was sitting in my favorite spot and a classically raucous Scrub Jay flew under the palapa and to a NEST. I’ve never had a Scrub Jay build a nest near me. Then I noticed that there was lots of bird activity in the desert around me ( though I am only 150 yds from the beach I am far enough back to be in a classic Sonoran Desert ecosystem). Later in the afternoon I saw another bird, not sure of species also busy building. Spring is already coming! I realized that indeed The Bird People were back. They are such a delight to watch.


This is my daughter Kersti and her husband Bill. Just thought I'd throw that in because I love them and I think they are beautiful!

Hope you are all well.

Another very good two days at Sea. I had 7 encounters yesterday and 3 more today. 5-6 of those are really good IDs so the season continues to be a great success thus far. Today was kind of special because we had another very close breach (camera wasn’t ready) and then later we ran across a whale we had ID’d yesterday, which is always cool (they don’t “hang around” much), and he put on a wonderful show of physical prowess. To add to our delight he also sang underneath the panga and we could hear him distinctly. Ah, for a set of hydrophones.

This is a "flank shot" of the singer.

Here is his ID. Had to shoot directly into the sun but his markings are clear.

Thought I would like to share some non-ID Whale shots with you. These are all from this year and all Humpbacks.
At this point in the season I have 56 shore sightings and 22 encounters with IDs. There really are a lot of Humpbacks in the area right now. I haven’t seen a Blue Whale yet but I certainly hope to see at least one, and if so, I will definitely take a swim with it.
Windy weather keeping me in but Vicente and I expect to go out again on Wed. or Thurs. Enjoy the photos!

Two young ladies came out from San Jose del Cabo to join me on a search for Humpbacks yesterday. Christine, who I have known for a few years now, and her friend (and my new friend) Linee from Vancouver, BC. We had planned to go out that afternoon but the wind came up and it was cold so we decided to conserve our energy for today. Problem was this morning that it was both cold and raining (but no wind)…not search weather!
Nevertheless I talked to Vicente and we agreed to wait until 11:00 am to see if the weather would clear, the ladies had to return to SJD in the afternoon. At around 10:00 I went up on the bodega roof (rain had stopped) and took a look around to see if there were any HBs in the area. Within 5 minutes I see one about a mile out going north. I went into town, found Vicente, told him we had a whale and he agreed to meet us at the boat launch in 15 min.
Christine and Linee were delighted and within a half hour we were near Boca del Alamo hoping to spot the whale….and we did. Linee had never been near a HB before and was really excited. We got an ID and then immediately saw a group of blows about 2 miles further out. We found three HBs there and I got two more IDs (one HB would just not fluke up). We saw 3-4 more HBs in combat another 2 miles out but it was beginning to rain and by then we had been out for 3 hours and the cold was getting to us (the day had remained drizzly and dark) so we came in. We were all totally satisfied with the day and it proved yet again the Buddhist adage, “perseverance furthers”.

This is a shot of the three. I was hoping they would all fluke up at the same time so we would have a great record of a temporary “unit” but it was not to be.

This is HB# 20 10 and the best ID shot of the day.