Leaving Cabo San Lucas on another bright, sunny day, the low, smooth north-westerly swell rocking us gently as we leave the busy marina behind and head out to the open ocean… Hurricane Amanda kept us tucked away in the Sea of Cortez for the last trip, and while we had an amazing time exploring new territory there, everyone is happy to be heading south to Socorro again. About half an hour into the trip I hear first mate Kevin’s voice over my radio – “Hey, it looks like there’s a whale off the starboard bow!” I run around and inform as many guests as I can see and then head up to the bow myself. Deckhand Hernan lets us know that it’s large sperm whale! You can tell, he says, by the way their spray points backwards when they exhale instead of straight up like most whales. We slow to a crawl and get a really good luck as this huge mammal just sits on the surface, breathing in…. then out with an impressive WHOOoosh!
Cetaceans (Whales, dolphins) and pinnipeds (Seals, sea lions etc) store oxygen differently from the way we do… they are able to store large quantities in their blubber, which is then re-absorbed into their blood slowly as needed. Sperm whales are one of the longest and deepest divers on earth – the longest known dive is ——— long!
We sit mesmerized and watch as our new friend breaths, preparing its body for a loooong spell underwater… finally he takes one more breath and dives, giving us a final salute with his tail as he slips out of sight. we take it as a good omen for our upcoming trip, and continue on our way…..
Hostess Claire
Whoohoo. we stopped in open ocean with a large sperm whale off the bow!! WHOOSSHHHH
