Day 5 Guerrero Negro and Scammon's Lagoon. Totally, totally awesome day. The bus picked us up at 8am sharp. We went for a VERY bumpy ride to the
lagoon. Along the way our guide gave us
a quick history of the area and the whales. This area is mined for salt. They fill up small ponds with sea water and
let it set for a year. Once the water
has all evaporated, they break up the salt (which is now rock hard) and harvest
it for processing. We passed a huge
mound of salt on the way to the lagoon.
Once we arrived there
was a quick visit to the smelliest out house I have ever been in, (and that
includes all of Alaska !!!),
and then we boarded the boats - 3 boats, 14 people in each. Although John and I were the last ones to get
into the boat, we wound up in the front..
Just the two of us, which we was really the best seats. In the rows behind, there were three people
to a seat and it was harder for them to maneuver from side to side. It was
about a 20 minute trip, on a fast boat to where the whales hang out. It was pretty choppy out there, and I was
very glad I took some sea sickness preventative.
Our boat!
One of the first things we saw was a whale breeching. That is where they raise about 3/4's of their
body out of the water and slap back down.
AWESOME!!! He did it three times
in a row.
We saw a LOT of
whales. Many with babies. They were very close to the boat and very
intimidating with their size! We were
all shifting from side to side to see them and to try to touch one. So often they were just inches away from our
outstretched hands. With all the leaning
on one side of the boat, it looked, at times, like the boat might go over! Most
of the time you did not know where to look first as they were all around
us.
Wave to the camera!!!
Momma and baby
Baby's head
momma again
momma & baby
At one point a momma whale and her baby got so
close to the boat I was able to touch momma!!!
I was the only person on our boat to be able to so. I hope tomorrow more people will be able to
touch a whale. The whale felt very soft
and slippery.
You can see the fellow behind me reach out, but he missed the whale by a fraction of an inch. You can't see my hand touching her. She was HUGE:
She kept swimming around
our boat in circles and giving us quite a show.
Another time she came close and just as she was passing me she blew out
her blow hole and got me right in the face!
That was a unique experience!!
I got a face full!
It
got a little scary on the boat as each time she came close people would rush to
that side of the boat to try to touch her.
On the boat we were served lunch - an unidentifiable fish
sandwich (but still tasted good!), a banana and a candy bar with a bottle of
orange juice. It was a wonderful
morning.
We were scheduled to do a salt mine tour, but it was
cancelled at the last minute due to recent rains. So instead we gathered for an impromptu party
for tall tale telling and good snacks!
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