The whales of Banderas Bay are one of the (many) reasons why I love this town, and the return of the whales each year is one of the things I look forward to most in life.  That's why I was so happy today to see this video posted yesterday.  I had thought the whales were gone until next season, but seeing a mother whale and her calf playing in the bay was such a bonus I had to share it.

 

Wildlife Connection Vallarta, a good friend to the school for many years, offers Banderas Bay's most responsible whale watching tours.  My wife and I had been whale watching with them once when the director of the tour dropped a mike into the water so we could hear the whale's song.  It was incredible.  Then, I noticed a look of cautious optimism spread across his face, followed by a "wait til they hear this" look on his face.  He turned off the speaker and asked us all to remain perfectly still and quiet.  Then, we experienced a simultaneous combination of sound and vibration as the whale came so close to the boat that we could hear it's song without the aid of the microphone.  

 Even more amazing, we could feel the song resonating through the boat and into us.  It gives me goosebumps as I type remembering how it felt.  If you ever hear someone defend whaling to you, please send them to Puerto Vallarta to meet me for a sincere heart-to-heart chat about the whales.

The images above were taken by Eduardo Lugo, an amazing wildlife photographer who frequently works with Wildlife Connection, you can see more of his work on their website here, http://www.wildlifeconnection.com/photogallery/?album=1&gallery=11

And, you can see the video that took me down my whale watching memory lane here!