MEXICO

The warm lagoon waters along the coast of Baja, Mexico, are the ideal location for gray whales to give birth before their long migration back to summer feeding grounds in Alaska. The gray whales that visit these waters each winter are famous for their curiosity about humans, a phenomenon that began in the early 1970s when wild whales first approached small fishing boats in San Ignacio Lagoon. Today, boats carry passengers out for up-close encounters with these 35 ton creatures during the peak of the whales' calving and breeding season, December through April.

The waters off Baja are also home to other great whales: blue, finback, Bryde's beaked and sperm whales are all found here, as well as many different dolphin species. Islands in the Sea of Cortes are nesting habitats for egrets, pelicans, frigate birds, and brown- and blue-footed boobies, among others. California sea lions can also be seen frolicking about the calm Mexico waters.

NATIVE WHALES


Gray Whales
Orca Whales
Fins

OTHER MARINE LIFE


Porpoise
Tufted Puffins
Sea Lions