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The Sea Of Cortez Whale Encounter

Sea of Cortez, Aboard Ketch 22

November 2008

We had had several of the most delightful days imaginable in the Sea Of Cortez, the body of water between Baja California and the Mexican mainland.   We went as far north as Loreta, and were heading south toward La Paz to refuel and provision when I saw a whale spout about 100 yards from Ketch 22.   We had winds approaching 25 knots at the time, and were making really good time, under a full main and mizzen on a broad reach.   Naty was down below at the time, so I hollered for her to come up and see some 'big fish'.   She finally made her appearance, just as the whale had changed course to come see Ketch 22.   Barely 20 yards off to port, the whale greeted Naty by spouting once more right in her face.   What a treat she exclaimed excitedly, all the while I thinking it all smelled worse than week old tuna fish in a hot desert sun.

The whale seemed to be at least as curious of us as we were of it.   It had no trouble keeping up with our 8 knots of boat speed, and seemed to want to make our acquaintance as the two of us, whale and Ketch 22, made our way south towards La Paz.   In and out, up and down, to the port, starboard, and stern, spouting and swimming a sin wave on the surface of the sea.   Seeming to want to pursue the matter further, the whale only yards from the Ketch 22, started doing a slow roll under water, exposing the white underbelly in our direction.   This was when Naty started getting all anthropomorphic, and describing the encounter as one of a male sea creature (the whale) trying to make sexual advances on a lady of the sea (Ketch 22).   I'm not convinced yet, but it is a plausible explanation.

The jousting went on for some time, perhaps 10 or 15 minutes, when events took an awkward turn.   Awkward for me at any rate when the whale approached very closely from starboard, and dove right under Ketch 22.   Yikes!   There's tender bits down there I was thinking.   What if the whale surfaced underneath us and damaged the rudder or the propeller?   This isn't fun anymore.   Thankfully however, the whale stayed deep and managed to avoid intercepting our 'tender bits' with any flukes or broad backs.   That ended up being the last approach by the whale, and we didn't see it again as we made our separate voyages south.   By this time, the novelty of having a whale easily as big as Ketch 22 flirting with us, having worn off, I was grateful for that.