Friday, March 28, 2008

Whale Hugs!







Click images for a larger view.

Took a bus trip with a bunch of fellow naturalists (plus a few other cool people tossed in for good measure....) to the Baja in Mexico to go look for whales in the lagoons there! Gray whales leave their Alaskan feeding grounds for the lagoons in Baja to have their babies. The cold Alaskan water is too cold for skinny new baby whales. Plus, these lagoons are safe from predators, like Orcas, which are known to snack on baby gray whales. Anyway, in these lagoons, the gray whales can sometimes be quite friendly. The photos should prove that! These only show the baby who came over for hugs. Seriously. Mom was present below the surface paying CLOSE attention. After a bit, Mom came over for hugs too. Many more great photos to come, after I get over being sick! Such an amazing experience.

The bottom photo shows my hand on a barnacle covered baby gray. The two oval stripey things are whale lice that eat dead skin.

12 Comments:

Blogger Kim de Young said...

Hey Scott, your hand! I can't believe it!

Actually I am being catty because I am a little jelous that you got to meet her first hand... how super cool!

9:44 PM  
Blogger Ellen Byrne said...

WOW!!!!!

2:36 PM  
Blogger Arrrteest said...

That is amazing!

8:32 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

oh wow!!! great photos Scott,,,what an amazing trip you must have had...

8:34 PM  
Blogger soulbrush said...

i agree these photos are truly incredible, what a wonderful way to spend your time. you will have these memories forever.

4:18 AM  
Blogger van dyke said...

Awesome pictures! I've NEVER seen whale skin with the barnacles on it up so close before! Amazing!!

1:27 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

omg. you are soooooo blessed.

awesome is a word already used...but

AWESOME.

5:49 PM  
Blogger B-Blogit said...

wow that is really amazing. I didnt expect whales to come up to a boat or people like that.
That would be an awesome experience, Great pictures keep putting them up.

12:46 AM  
Blogger Andrea said...

Wow! What a friendly fella!

11:52 AM  
Blogger Gina said...

wow, those are incredible

12:11 AM  
Blogger Gina said...

hope you are feeling better now.

1:00 AM  
Blogger tsu-mina said...

This is my dream! I love animals and i love sea and ocean...WOW

9:54 AM  

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