The Gray Whales of San Ignacio Lagoon

   

This short aerial film shows the very friendly and playful side of these gentle giants. Here is a mother gray whale and baby calf reaching out to us in the boat for attention. They absolutely love to be touched and rubbed. This experience was truly magical and will be a lifelong memory. This footage was captured while Sky High Videography was on location in San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja Mexico with London based, Windfall Films and Pachicos Eco Tours. This footage and other will be a part of a PBS nature series titled “Sex in the Wild”. This episode will feature whales and dolphins and should air this summer in most locations.

The first morning the crew gathered before walking out to the boats.  Every morning the tide was out resulting in about a 300 yard walk from the beach out to where the boats were anchored offshore.

Working with Windfall Films and this professional film crew from London was a delight and a very enjoyable experience.

Home sweet home for a few days at Pachicos Ecco Tours.  The camp is relatively primitive and remote, however, there were compost toilets and showers with solar heated hot water.

Special thanks to Pachico’s Eco Tours which is internationally known for being the whale watching pioneers of San Ignacio Lagoon and Baja. Pachico Mayoral was the first person to have an encounter with a friendly gray whale. Pachico’s encounter with a friendly gray whale, and his tours to introduce people to the gray whales, began to change the perception that gray whales are “devil fish.”

In 1972, after his first friendly encounter with a gray whale, Pachico began running whale watching trips in the San Ignacio Lagoon. Today Pachico’s Eco Tours is the only fully locally managed whale watching outfitter in the lagoon. Pachico’s Eco Tours is a unique whale and wildlife watching organization operated by Pachico and Jesus Mayoral.  

For more information on these whale watching tours visit:  http://pachicosecotours.com