Guererro Negro - Laguna Ojo de Liebre

Located in central Baja Mexico, Laguna Ojo de Liebre is the northern most lagoon where many gray whales give birth, starting to arrive in December and leaving by April. The males leave first, so for our mid-March visit we got to see 1 or 2 month old calves with their moms.



On the bumpy 1 hour drive, we passed a salt mine and got a pic of the kids with one of the trucks - wow!



For our first whale watching trip, we got a boat to ourselves - the four of us and the pangaro (boat captain).

Up to three boats can approach a friendly whale. The pangaros work together so that all have a good time. A friendly whale has come up to this boat, while we wait our turn.

Below is a video of a whale approaching our boat. Some whales were friendly and sought out boats for interaction - others simply kept on their way - this one was friendly. Getting to interact and petting whales is legal in Mexico. There are rules in place for boats and people, such as number allowed into the lagoon at one time, parts of the lagoon that allowed boats/interaction, no chasing the whales, no boxing the whales in with multiple boats, etc. Boat captains are trained, but are typically fisherman in the off-whale-watching season.