Whale Of A Vacation

BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR, Mexico – Would you like to take a vacation that takes you to new places, provides unique experiences and allows you to make a difference somewhere in the world?
Earthwatch Institute, an international non-profit organization which recruits volunteers to help professionals with their research, has more than 130 projects available.
Whether your adventure relates to a special interest or to a new subject, Earthwatch offers many activity levels detailed in each project overview, and no prior experience is necessary to participate.
In March, a friend and I chose to participate in “Among Baja’s Gray Whales: Behavioral Ecology of Gray Whale Migration.”
Our expedition was overseen by project investigator William Megill, Ph.D., the research director of Coastal Ecosystems Research Foundation, Port Hardy, British Columbia, Canada, and assistant professor at the University of Bath, England. Megill has been conducting a study off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, since 1994 and in Laguna San Ignacio, Mexico, since 2001.
Earthwatch recruits volunteers to help Megill with the photographing and identification of the whales. The California gray whales migrate along the Pacific coast of North America between the Bering Sea and Baja California, Mexico, the peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California.
The Lagoon of San Ignacio, about halfway down the peninsula coast where the project takes place, is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Many whales winter near there and have their young before heading back to the summer feeding grounds in the Bering Sea.
Some of the whales had already started their migration back north when we were there, and by the end of March or first week in April, they would all be gone. The whales migrate back south in December or early January.
Earthwatch contracts with Kuyima, an eco-tourism group which runs a wilderness camp on the beach of the lagoon, to take the group out in boats to observe the whales. Tents are provided for the volunteers, who take their own sleeping bags.
The area is a desert, so it gets cold at night, and the wind blows most of the time. Electricity for the camp is provided by wind and solar power.
Fresh water is bought from a nearby desalinization plant – also run by solar power. Drinking water is provided but water for showers is scarce, so showers are allowed every other day – from a bucket of water.
It is amazing how well you can wash by pouring a little water over yourself, soaping up and then rinsing off. I’ve never been a camper, so that was a new experience for me, but it worked fine. Since it was cool and the air very dry, having a shower only every other day was not a problem
Meals are provided on site, cooked by local people who work for Kuyima. Most of the staff speaks English and are very friendly.
The food prepared is typical Mexican food and very good: eggs and beans for breakfast; tacos or quesidillas for lunch; and rice, beans and chicken or locally caught fish for supper. Vegetarian meals can be provided for those who wish them.
Meals are served in a palapa, a palm-roofed building, which also serves the tourists who come to “whale watch” with Kuyima.
“On the job” training is how the volunteers learn to assist the researchers. Every morning, the boats take out six to eight people to view and photograph the whales.
In Mexico, it isn’t illegal to touch the whales, and you are almost certain to be offered the chance. It seems as if the whales like to be touched.
They stay by the boat for minutes at a time with the mothers allowing their calves near the boats. It is unbelievable that these huge animals are so friendly. We almost felt as if the whales were studying us!
The adults are from 45-50 feet long and weigh up to 80,000 pounds. The boats are small fiber glass boats with powerful outboard motors made to carry a maximum of eight people.
When the whales are nearby, everyone tries to get good pictures. After about two hours of observing, the boat returns to camp for lunch.
The pictures are then downloaded into computers, cropped and enlarged, and the cross identification begins. It is surprising to learn that each whale has its own markings. The idea is to see how many of the same whales are back from year to year and to get an estimate of how many are in the area.
After a day or two, even the volunteers are able to recognize some of the whales when they come to the boat.
Free time to explore the beach areas and the mangrove swamps is available. There are many water birds to observe, and you can hire a Kuyima employee to take you into the mangroves in a kayak.
Visit Earthwatch.org or call (978) 461-0081 to ask for a catalog and start planning your next unique vacation. Not only will you have a wonderful experience, but because Earthwatch is a non-profit organization, the fee you pay and your travel expenses, are tax deductable – a win-win for you and the researchers.

ANNE CORLEY is a former Bristol, Va. councilmember, active member of Central Presbyterian Church and a lover of nature with a concern for the environment. She may be reached at .