Just around the corner, on our way out of Puerto Escondido we entered a calm strip of water flanked on both sides by land. Here we spotted a huge whale blowing, and what seemed to be her calf. They were very dark in color (almost a navy blue) and had a loud and distinctive blow. We actually heard them before we saw them. We cut the motor and just drifted between the two of them. They circled around the bay blowing, and gently surfacing, once just behind Aleydabeth. We guessed her to be about 50 feet in length. She was much larger than us. I tried to identify them, and could ascertain that they were not grey whales because there was a dorsal fin and their color was wrong. Humpbacks tend to show their flukes and tails more, and breach the water more often, as those we had seen on the west coast of Vancouver Island. After doing some Wikipedia research and talking to local people, I think they were either blue whales or fin whales – (color would indicate blues). What an experience! Ron managed to get some good pictures and Lyle got video footage of them surfacing. We watched them in awe and wonder, and felt very small.
We got up on Monday morning and after a hearty pancake breakfast aboard Aleydabeth – we set out for Puerto Ballandra on Isla Carmen. We assumed that we could take advantage of prevailing northerlies to head northeast, but alas, again the wind was not cooperating. It was a very calm day and the seas were glassy. However, we were rewarded by whales!!
Just around the corner, on our way out of Puerto Escondido we entered a calm strip of water flanked on both sides by land. Here we spotted a huge whale blowing, and what seemed to be her calf. They were very dark in color (almost a navy blue) and had a loud and distinctive blow. We actually heard them before we saw them. We cut the motor and just drifted between the two of them. They circled around the bay blowing, and gently surfacing, once just behind Aleydabeth. We guessed her to be about 50 feet in length. She was much larger than us. I tried to identify them, and could ascertain that they were not grey whales because there was a dorsal fin and their color was wrong. Humpbacks tend to show their flukes and tails more, and breach the water more often, as those we had seen on the west coast of Vancouver Island. After doing some Wikipedia research and talking to local people, I think they were either blue whales or fin whales – (color would indicate blues). What an experience! Ron managed to get some good pictures and Lyle got video footage of them surfacing. We watched them in awe and wonder, and felt very small.
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AuthorLark Balmer Archives
March 2011
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