Mexico/Baja Sur: Ojo de Libre Lagoon – Whalewatching (Zona B)
This is one of the most incredible experiences on earth – to come literally face to face with giant grey whales. Whales come to three coastal lagoons – Bahia Magdalena in the south, Laguna Ignacio in the center of the peninsula, and Ojo de Libre above that. Grey whales, or Eschrichtius Robustus in Latin, come to reproduce in hundreds of not thousands in the shallow protected lagoon waters, migrating here from their feeding grounds in Alaska and Chukotka (making it the longest mammal migration in Earth) – over 6000 miles from the Arctic to these winter grounds. Small fiberglass boats take you out into the open waters of the bay and the whales can be seen everywhere, sometimes by the dozen. Many come really close to the boat and you can easily touch them. Ojo de Libre has actually two whalewatching zones – A & B – A at the mouth of the lagoon and B deeper in the heart in the south of the massive water body. This post is the Zona B – our first grey whale experience on this trip.
