About Grey Whales

Migration

   Towards the end of November, grey whales begin to migrate from the Bering Sea to Baja California. It takes them from 5 to 8 weeks to reach the San Ignacio and Ojo de Liebre Lagoons, and Magdalena Bay, where they procreate and start raising their young. They start back to Alaska by mid February, adult males and females with no offspring leaving first. Mothers and their young calfs leave later on, many of them not until the end of April.

Reproduction

   The whales give birth by December, when they arrive at the lagoons. They seem to prefer the lagoons because of their warm, saltier and safe waters, and because they aren't bothered by big sharks. Baby whales are born tail first; they measure approximately 4.5 meters (15 feet) and weigh 0.9 metric tons. Mothers nourish their offspring for six to eight months. Once a female has reached sexual maturity at eight years of age, she will give birth every two years. In years in which she is not in gestation, she mates.

Protection

   Just 150 years ago the grey whales were so abundant that it used to be dangerous to sail near San Diego during migratory periods. After many years of whale hunting, the grey whale became endangered, and the Mexican government closed the lagoons for whaling. The League of Nations joined the effort in 1937, and the International Whaling Commission, founded in 1946 to protect the species, followed suit. Thanks to these measures, the grey whale was removed from the United States's List of Endangered Species in 1994. For more than 10 years Kuyima has actively participated in the protection of the San Ignacio Lagoon whale breeding habitat.