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Humback Whale Escaping from the cold winter weather, Humpback whales arrive at Bahia de Banderas, regarded as one of the largest and most beautiful bays in the world, where these whales carry out their reproductive activities, such as forming courtship groups, mating, giving birth to their offspring and nursing them, thus providing whale watchers with a marvelous sight.
Humpback whales are a cosmopolitan species, since other than in Bahia de Banderas such whales can also be found in every ocean of the world. The life expectancy of humpback whales is 45 years. Humpback whales are marine mammals that lack a nose; instead they have two openings known as spiracles, located at the top of their heads, through which they breathe. Their have large lungs which allow them to remain underwater from 10 to 30 minutes. Their gestation period lasts 12 months. During their birth the first thing to show is the fluke of the new whale.
Females nurse their offspring for a whole year. After which whale calfs have doubled their size, while they weight between 7 and 8 tons. Adult females are 18 meters long, while adult males are up to 15 meters long. Females are slightly bigger than males (their size is about the equivalent to tree scows) and they can weight up to 53 tons. Their most distinctive featuring their environment is their long pectoral fins, which can be as long as one third of the length of their bodies. The fins may be black on their dorsal part, whit intermediate states of white, while they are completely white on their ventral part. The sense of touch in whales is located in their skin, since they have a complicated system of nervous endings, which have a higher density in certain areas such as the head and those areas next to the jaw. Humpback whales are classified within the mysticetos group due to the 270 to 400 whale bones (70 cms long fibrous laminae also known as baleens) that pend their palate, which allow them to filter food from water, thus selecting the size of the species they will eat since their throats as wellas their digestive tracts are very narrow.
At the antartic ocean their diet is restricted almost solely to krill (different groups of planktonic invertebrates) . Whales, despite of not having vocal cords, have the capacity to emit sounds (moans, squeaks, cries) through valves located in their larynx. The average duration of such sounds goes from 6 to 35 minutes and they are high pitched sounds. Such communication system between whales is known as "The song of whales". The sounds may be heard at a distance of up to 31 kilometers. As fall arrives humpback whales leave their feeding grounds at the gulf of Alaska, the sea of Bering, the sea of Chuckchi, as well as at the sea of Okhotsk, travelling towards the coasts of Mexican northwestern pacific, which comprises the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, the south of Sonora and Jalisco. They gather mainly in the surroundings of the Marias Islands , the Isabel Islands , the Revillagigedo Archipielago as well as in the Bay of Banderas , in the states of Nayarit and Jalisco. At the end of the month of March and during the first days of April whales begin their long Journey back to the polar regions to feed. Whale calfs have learned to swim; however, they remain close to their mothers, who provide food and protection . The first to migrate to their feeding zones are lonely whales, while the last ones are females whit their offspring, escorted by an adult male.
Presently whales are protected by International agreements and in most cases a slow recovery of whale population has been proven. The international whaling commission (IWC) is an organization associated whit the fao (food and agriculture organization), established in December 1946, aimed at the creation of rules and preservation of the different protected and non protected species of whales. In 1949, Mexico adherd to the international whaling commission. In 1982 the IWC prohibited all commercial capture of whales during a ten-year period, beginning in 1986. Mexico has excelled at an international level for its polices of protection of marine mammals that arrive at its coasts. After the emission of restrictions issued by the IWC whale populations have shown signs of recovery. However, they have not regained a satisfactory level yet, as in the case of the humpback whale. Therefore it remains listed by the international union for the conservation of nature (IUCN) under the classification of vulnerable, while in appendix 1 of the international convention of "Endangered Plant and Animal Spices it remains listed under "Endangered or threatened Species". The Ministry of the Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries (SEMARNAP) is the agency responsible for the administration, regulation, protection, surveillance and enforcement of the law to guarantee the sustainment of ecosystemsand natural resources. In such sense, the National Institute of Ecology (INE) is the entity in charge of the emission of rules and provisions to which the use and conservation of wild life have to abide. Therefore the activity of whale watching is regulated by means of the emission of authorizations for such purpose. The National Institute of Fisheries (INP) is in charge of conducting the fishing biological evaluations of marine mammals in order to get to know aspects of the reproduction, abundance and distribution of each species. On the other hand, the federal Attorney Office for the protection of the Environment (PROFEPA) is in charge of the task to inspect and verify the fulfillment of the established rules. Remember that when you visit the humpback whale it remains forbidden to:
Integrate at the natural environment of the Humpback whale at Bahía de Banderas and watch from a distance with respect as well as whit care. Whales belong to everyone and everyone has the obligation to protect them. You can be a participative guardian of our natural marine resources. Adopt a Whale Wildlife Connections invite you to participate in the study and conservation of the whales. Wildlife Connection has the first real Adopt-A-Whale Program, called RADAR. For more information please visit Wildlife Connection Website or contact them at: info@wildlifeconnection.com or at: cetacea@prodigy.net.mx |
The bay is bounded in the north by Punta Mita and in the south by Cabo Corrientes, altogether adding up to 32 Kms in a straight line through the ocean, as well as to a surface of 42 Kms from east to west, between the coast and the ocean. 
At birth, a whale calf is between 4 and 5 meters long and weights between 1,300 and 1,400 Kgs. It has the size of a scow. Whale calf are born in tropical and subtropical waters. 
Their main feed is based on planktonic and pelagic crustaceans (6 cms), as well as on small schools of fish such as mackerel, herring, capellin, anchovies and artic cod fish. they get such feed at depths which rank between 5 and 100mts. 
Humpback whales can be found both hemispheres, in the Pacific Ocean as well as in the North Atlantic ocean , from the equator to 70o north latitude. In the Southern hemisphere they are distributed from the Equator to the ice waters of Antartica.
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