Scammon's Lagoon whales

This past March I had the opportunity to stop at Scammons Lagoon in central Baja and take a panga out to see and interact with the juvenile grey whales that use this area as a nursery for a few months out of the year. What an amazing experience - we had many whales around the boat that seemed really curious to interact with us, and it's good to know that the lagoon is closed to commercial fishing while the whales are there. However, once they leave the lagoon its a scary world. In particular, the artisanal fishermen have set gillnets along the entire Pacific coast of Baja where the whales migrate...

The boat in the background also has its own juvenile whale in attendance!