Whale Watching in Mazatlán

 

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One of many happy humpback couples we saw on our excursion last week

I love how you all join in the excitement about our whale-watching trips with Onca Explorations. On our first trip in 2009 we had unbelievable good fortune; we had so many pods of whales come right up to the boat—breathing beside us and playing with us—that we lost count of how many whales we saw! The video on the link above will give you an idea. Remember, the camera is not zoomed on those shots! We felt like we could almost reach out and touch the whales, they came up so close to us.

Each year we have been blessed to see whales, though each time out has been a bit different. The humpbacks (ballenas jorobadas) that frequent our waters are the most acrobatic of the baleen whales; in fact, that’s how they got their name—the humped back motion they make when they breach out of the water. In addition to breaching, humpbacks spy-hop, lob-tail, tail-slap, and fin-slap. In our various outings we have seen humpbacks jump on top of each other and hit each other with their pectoral fins, which the males do to establish dominance and secure a mate. This time out, however, we saw a bunch of couples romancing—swimming around slowly and gently, courting and most probably mating with one another. Here, in warmer waters, is where the humpbacks mate and have their babies.

Onca’s owner, marine biologist Oscar Guzón, had to teach a class so did not go out with us this time. Saúl Herrera was our guide, and he told us that no one has ever recorded seeing humpbacks mate. Apparently it’s not uncommon to see huge gray whale penises in areas such as Baja, where they frequent. Saúl lowered a microphone so that we could hear the male humpbacks singing. They produce their haunting songs by pushing air through their nasal cavities.

Below is a short clip of one of the happy couples, swimming about romantically, with the Baja Ferry and the smaller Onca I (we were on the Onca II) in the background. First you’ll see their spouts, then the dorsal (back) fins come up, and, finally, the whale on the right dives sharply enough that the fluke comes briefly out of the water. Ah, love. You can see how coordinated their water ballet is.

The gestation period for humpback whales is 11-12 months, so calves this year were conceived in our waters last year 😉 Mature humpbacks reach 40-50 feet in length and weigh about 80,000 pounds (females are bigger than males). Their tail flukes—up to 18 feet across—are like human fingerprints: individual identifiers. No two flukes are alike.

Humpbacks live up to 50 years and are sexually mature at 6-10 years. Below you can see some of the great variety of flukes, as well as some of the spouts, that we saw during this trip. As you can see, there was a whole lot of love going on out there! Click on any photo to enlarge it or view a slideshow.

Oscar is a marine biologist, and he, Saúl and the crew of Onca have now spent nine years cataloguing and tracking the whales that frequent our waters. Their research has made huge contributions to what scientists now understand about humpback behavior at the southern tip of the Sea of Cortéz. Below is a clip of Saúl telling us a bit about cetaceans in our waters, including that they have recorded sightings of 17 species of cetaceans here in Mazatlán.

In addition to whales, this year we saw two species of dolphins (bottle nose and spotted) and, the stars of the trip, the mantas. Be sure to click on the link if you haven’t seen those photos!

Another great advantage of this whale-watching excursion with Onca is the great view of Mazatlán from the water.

 

 

Behind the Chamber: Do You Know the Origin of Stereo Music?

 

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A few of the inner balconies in St. Mark’s Basilica, Venice, Italy

Do you know the origin of stereo music? Although “stereo” most commonly refers to a method of music reproduction, and the word “stereophonic” was coined by the Western Electric company in 1927, the origins of stereophonic sounds go way back to the Renaissance.

The first stereophonic music was performed  in the 1500s in St. Mark’s Basilica, when groups of musicians would sing and play from the multiple balconies inside the basilica.

stereophonic derives from the Greek “στερεός” (stereos), “firm, solid” + “φωνή” (phōnē), “sound, tone, voice”

We here in Mazatlán will be privileged to experience such live stereophonic sound inside our own Angela Peralta Theater, as part of the Camerata Gordon Campbell.

Renaissance Stereophonic will take place at noon this next Sunday, January 25, 2015. Below you can hear Maestro Gordon Campbell and his wife and collaborator, Guianeya Román, giving us a Behind-the-Chamber glimpse into this weekend’s event.

Tickets to this event are being sold at the unbelievable price of 200 pesos, at the TAP box office or online. Can you imagine how great our Angela Peralta will sound, filled with music from the balconies, in a surround-sound effect?

 

Manta Merrymaking

1.DSC_0260 - Version 3 In my next life, I want to be a manta. I’ve always said I want to be a Kobe cow, so I could drink beer and get massaged all day. But, in 2015, I hereby declare that being reincarnated as a manta ray looks oh-so-much more fun! We went out whale watching this week with Onca Explorations.

Whale watching has been our traditional Christmas gift to each other as a family since 2009. And a wonderful gift it is! The highlight of the trip this year for me were the mantas! We did, indeed, see whales; I will post pictures and write about that separately. But the mantas!

They were having so much fun! There were so very many of them—hundreds—and they kept jumping and flying and splatting and splashing, performing their high jinks all over our bay with their friends, for what seemed like forever. They just didn’t stop. What a joyful bunch they are! It reminded me of dancing sessions with my girlfriends…

The mantas’ bodies change so completely with every leap. They slap their wings against the water in a loud “thump!” 1.DSC_0253 - Version 2 That slap launches them into the air, where their wings curl up the opposite way, wrapping themselves backwards, in a rebound of sorts. 1.DSC_0261 - Version 2 They leap into the air—seemingly soaring over the skyscrapers on the beach, as you can see in the photos. 1.DSC_0246 - Version 3 They then fall back into the water with another loud “splat,” and start the process all over! 1.DSC_0234 - Version 2 And they do all of this in the company of hundreds of their joy-filled friends, frolicking about in a big band of craziness. 1.DSC_0279 - Version 2 And did I mention that mantas are HUGE? These looked to be maybe 3 or 4 feet across, and they get much bigger. Below is a short video clip of some of the manta merriment. I highly recommend you take a whale-watching excursion with Onca. Maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll get to see some mantas!

What makes the mantas leap so? Are they mating and courting, and perhaps the manta with the biggest splash is the sexiest? Are they just having fun, partying hearty with their friends? Are they wanting some Vitamin D from the sun? Whatever the reason, I sure did enjoy them!

Click on any of the photos in the album below to view it larger or see a slideshow.

National Geographic published a video of the largest-ever-witnessed group of mobula rays in our Gulf of Cortes. It is incredible! Watch it below:

Behind the Chamber: The Virtuoso Trumpet

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Héctor Tomás Jiménez and his trumpet

You have probably already fallen in love with this season of the Camerata Gordon Campbell. Both Daniela Liberman on piano and Mozart and his Women were terrific. This Sunday, January 18, will be the first Camerata event this year in Casa Haas. The noon performance of “The Virtuoso Trumpet” is already sold out, but there are still tickets available for the 6 pm event.

Héctor Tomás Jiménez, a Mije Indian who grew up learning to play in Oaxaca on a horn donated by US Americans, is one of Mexico’s premier concert trumpeters. The serendipity, that Maestro Gordon Campbell, Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Sinaloa de las Artes, encouraged a woman to gather instruments for a Oaxaqueñan band that needed them, and, years later, that a musician who learned on one of those donated instruments is playing under Gordon’s baton, is beautiful.

Below is a Behind the Chamber clip about this Sunday’s concert, from an interview Greg and I recently conducted with Maestro Gordon Campbell and his wife and collaborator, Guianeya Román.

Buy your tickets at the Angela Peralta box office or online.

Our Beloved Favorite: Stone Island

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We all love Isla de la Piedra, Stone Island. We love the:

  • Serenity—the long stretches of gorgeous beach with, normally, very few people. In fact, our family describes it to our visitors as “Gilligan’s Island.”
  • Smiling, welcoming faces who greet us in this lovely little town.
  • Number of ambulatory musicians who come by.
  • Fishermen preparing their boats to take out in the evening, working tirelessly to repair their nets for their night’s work.
  • Vendors and, especially, those who have the thighs to bicycle along the beach.
The duo searching for work
A vendor’s bicycle waiting his return
A musician waiting to play
A band tuning up
Beach vendors
A band playing for some diners
And the bassist
Beach vendors
Beach vendors
Beach vendors
Fishermen getting their boats ready
Fishermen repairing their nets

And we love the fresh seafood, caught that day and served raw or barbecued over an open flame.

Our favorite place to spend the day is Pili’s. We met Rudy, Barbara and the family of Pili’s owners when Danny was just three or four. We were introduced by our compadre, Ruben. Danny fell in love with the pretty Alhondra, who was 11 or 12 at the time, and is now married with a toddler and living in Tijuana. Pill’s makes the BEST zarandeado. Barbara sells fresh oysters and clams, and the cold coconuts are always a hit. As is a bucket of beer, or a piña colada.

At Pili’s
Pargo zarandeado
Fresh oysters, pennies each
Closeup of my coconut, after I drank the water and Rudy cut out the meat for me
Barbara at her raw bar
Rudy opening an ice-cold coconut
Me eating both, the oysters and the coconut!
Barbara shucking some oysters

Stone Island is one of our favorites, and is always one of our visitors’ favorite places, too. No, it’s not an island. It’s a peninsula. We get there from Mazatlán by water taxi. It’s part of what all of us love about going to the Isla for the day.

Departing on the water taxi from the embarcadero by the brewery, one of two in town
Pelicans at the embarcadero of the water taxi
Departing on the water taxi from the embarcadero by the brewery, one of two in town

We love how, despite Mother Nature’s havoc, the Islanders rebuild. August’s Hurricane Marie brought waist-high flooding to the places on the beach, and the water stayed for several days. It ruined over 27 of the restaurants on the beach, and despite promises from State Secretary of Tourism, Francisco Cordova, and Mayor Carlos Felton, the islanders never saw one centavo of assistance, from either the state or the municipio. At least that’s what our friends tell us, and the Noroeste reported. Since the islanders are no longer permitted to cut down trees, they had to rescue timber from the flood waters. But they did. They have rebuilt. The restaurants, at least most of them, are again open for business. Though you can still see bulldozers cleaning up debris.

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How much longer will we have the serene beauty that is Stone Island, this idyllic paradise that is only a five- or ten-minute water taxi away from our daily lives here in Mazatlán?

Soon they will widen and pave the road from the airport. It will be much easier for tourists, who arrive via the new highway or by air, to get to Stone Island without needing to come into Mazatlán. No doubt development will follow.

And the construction of Amaitlán continues. Planned to be an eco-friendly mega-resort with lots of green space, you can see the first parts of it in the “Botanic Garden” on Stone Island. The first few rental cabañas are currently being built.

View from the Botanic Garden’s pond
Bees love the new Botanic Garden
Entrance to the Botanic Garden
Water lilies in the pond
Closeup of the pond in the Botanic Garden
70% of Amaitlan development is supposed to be green space
View in the Botanic Garden
Pathways in the Botanic Garden
A pond in the Botanic Garden, with a couple of nearby cabañas
Closeup of the pond
Closeup of the pond
A cabaña under construction in the Botanic Garden
A cute little bridge/walkway in the Botanic Garden
One of the arbors in the Botanic Garden
One of the largest hibiscus I’ve ever seen
A cabaña under construction in the Botanic Garden
Beautiful mosaics on the walkways in the Botanic Garden

Most of our friends on the Island, the ejidatarios, are excited about Amaitlán. They believe it will bring them jobs, income, sustainability for their families and the environment on the island. I am much more skeptical. But, I have my fingers crossed. I can hope. I do know that I would love to stay in one of these little cabañas, amidst all this lush, gorgeous greenery, assuming I could afford to do so.

I guess this post is really a homage to one of our absolute favorite places on earth these past 35 years. Nostalgic, because we don’t want it to change. Hopeful, as we pray things will change in sustainable ways that support the environment and local residents.

Let me close this post with a great story that Rudy told us during our last visit. He tells us that there was a rainstorm recently during which it rained fish—un aguacero de peces! And, even though they were drinking when this event occurred, he swears it really happened.

Furthermore, Rudy told us that it wasn’t the first time it’s rained fish here in Mazatlán! According to him, El Sol reported years ago about a rain of fishes in Playa Sur ( was unable to find such a story on the internet). Our interview took place during a perfect day on the beach, but somehow the ocean breeze caught my camera’s microphone. My apologies. I’ve done all I can to minimize that windy sound… The story is great though, so, heeere’s Rudy!