Migration of the Grey Whale

These aquatic mammals travel 9000 km every year to perform their mating rituals and to give birth to their whale calves. Their daring journey, known to be one of the most spectacular migrations in the world, starts in December in the Artic Sea, and ends in April in the waters of the lagoons of Ojo de Liebre and San Ignacio, in the Biosphere Reserve of El Vizcaíno, and in the cluster of lagoons of Magdalena Bay.

The whales give birth after a 12 or 13-month gestation, and around 900 whale calves are born every year in El Vizcaíno. The 'small' mammals are protected and instructed by their mothers and other cetaceous which, without having given birth, help the calves on their breathing and submerging processes in the temperate waters of the lagoon.

Excessive whaling during the mid XX century put these whales on the brink of extinction; however, protection efforts managed to recuperate their decimated population of roughly 1000 specimens at a constant pace. There are currently about 25000 specimens in spite of the increase of human activities in this coastal zone.

Not just grey whales can be watched in the Reserve, there is also the chance of appreciating blue and humpback whales, cachalot or sperm whales and killer whales as well, although not as frequently as the grey.