Baja Day 7
Just another travelling day heading south, or so we thought. Baja always has surprises, especially of the cetacean variety. A mother and calf blue whale appeared and our captain skillfully brought the boat near.
A blue whale out of water mainly looks grey, but when the swim just under the surface a stunning electric blue colour is revealed, which is how they got their common name.
Normally blue whales don't interact very much with boats. Their huge size means their focus is normally just on their next meal and even then they are careful about energy expenditure - if a school of krill is too small they won't even open their mouths to feed as the energy cost would be too great.
The young calf bore all the hallmarks of having survived a killer whale attack with scars on its fins and flippers.
Something was different today though. The calf decided to play with the boat, rolling on the bow wave, and for one brief moment there was just air between us.
An extraordinary encounter on an extraordinary day. Normally leaping dolphins, blowing humpbacks at sunset and a red-tinged sunset could all get the vote for "best shot of the day" but today there was no argument.