Where the Desert Meets the Sea: From the Whale's Mouth

I never thought I would get a glimpse inside a whale’s mouth, but that is exactly what happened this week. Every opportunity to tag along on visiting classes’ boat trips provides a chance to see something amazing. This week I joined the Coastal Ecology Class and Héctor, our Marine Mammal fellow, out in the bay to look for whales. Héctor is conducting a photo identification project mostly focused on Fin Whales and Sperm Whales to monitor populations and use of this area (the Gulf of CA is a crucial feeding ground for resident and migratory marine mammals). We were wrapped up in scarves and hats as the wind whipped off the water, but the day did not disappoint. Arriving to shallow waters off San Nicolas, we spotted a pod of Fin Whales feeding. Since they are baleen whales, they eat mostly krill by filtering large amounts of water through their mouths. To do this they sort of roll on their side with a fin out while taking in tons of water through their mouths and then pushing it back out. Not only did we get to see this incredible behavior, but we were even close enough to look inside the whale’s mouth and see the baleen!

The other highlight was seeing about 20 Blue Whales throughout the day. Blue whales are the largest living mammal and are also baleen whales. Their skin looks more like a speckled grey and blue color, and their sheer size is jaw dropping. Many of these whales were also feeding. They do what’s called “lunge feeding” where they push forward really fast and take in the water. The whales were very calm and were coming very close to the boats. At one point a Blue Whale surfaced just past the bottom of our boat, allowing for a great view of its massive white silhouette.