A group of boaters was treated to the experience of a lifetime when a huge gray whale breached within feet of them.
“We went on a ‘safari’ in Cabo where you go out into the open ocean and find animals to swim around with. We were lucky enough to happen across this grey whale family which included a mom, dad, and baby whale.
We swam right above them and then, as they pulled ahead, I saw the daddy whale turn up towards the surface for the amazing jump.”
Check it out:
Here’s more information about Gray Whales from NOAA Fisheries:
WEIGHT: About 90,000 pounds
LENGTH: 42 to 49 feet
LIFESPAN: Unknown
THREATS: Climate change, Disturbance from whale watching activities, Entanglement in fishing gear, Habitat impacts, Ocean noise, Vessel strikes
REGION: Alaska, West Coast
“Gray whales earned the nickname “devil fish” because of their aggressive reactions when harpooned. Commercial whaling rapidly brought both Pacific populations to near extinction. International conservation measures were enacted in the 1930s and 1940s to protect whales from over-exploitation, and in the mid-1980s the International Whaling Commission instituted a moratorium on commercial whaling.”
^World map providing approximate representation of the gray whale’s range. Credit: NOAA Fisheries