The 2015 season is officially underway and what a way it started. A film crew from the BBC with 2 BBC producers from the UK, an independently hired cameraman from Florida and an aerial drone pilot who is Mexican, began the season with us.
I think they will leave agreeing that blue whales were pretty much all over the place throughout the week.
On day 2 we observed 20 blue whales with the last 3 hours of the day seeing us stopped among a dozen of the surface feeding giants. At times there were as many as 6 whales within very close proximity to the boat and the scene was lovely beyond words. We had various easy going whales that lifted their huge tails from the sea right in front of us. We had 2 different mother and calf blue whale pairs and the filming opportunities were outstanding. We also saw a couple of humpback whales and a very nice mother and calf fin whale pair.
Dolphin numbers were low but the waters were teeming with large manta rays, many of whom jumped high into the air again and again.
I must say it was a pleasure to work with a dedicated and focused professional crew. The teamwork was outstanding, and the results will be seen by countless people on TV in both Europe and North America in 2016. Stay tuned for details on that. Relationships were built and ideas were discussed and we will see what comes of this week as time passes by.
The week ended with our old friend White Eyes who is one of our most regular blue whales. We found White Eyes in a most unlikely location and shortly after the encounter began a rainstorm erupted. Loreto has had more rain in the past day than we usually see here in a decade. As we returned home the sun broke out and a magnificent rainbow emerged form the Sea of Cortez. What an end to our first week!
It is great to be back in our second home and see once again that what we have to share here is good enough for an international film crew to leave absolutely thrilled with what they got here.
Stay tuned for more next week.
– Michael Fishbach
