Day 6 - 1/14/2024 Whale Watching (Rachel)

We started our day early with a delicious breakfast of plantain and corn vegan pancakes. We had various topping options like baked coconut, palm hearts, hummus, and homemade marmalade, so everyone was able to customize their own unique pancake! After breakfast, we set out for Costa Marino Ballena in the Innoceana boat to look for whales. This time of year, the Southern humpback group from the Arctic is visiting Costa Rican waters. The females come to give birth and raise their calves, and the males come to sing the songs they have been honing all year to attract a prospective mate. 

After about an hour on the water, we got lucky: another boat in the area radioed out that they had spotted a mother and her calf. We and several other boats arrived at the location, and all the boats had to stop a few hundred meters away from where the baby was visible. Whale protection regulations prevent the use of a motor that close to a whale, both to prevent potential collisions and because they primarily navigate and communicate through sound. The sound of a motor could be anywhere from confusing to painful, especially for young calves. 

After a few minutes of waiting in the boat and watching the water, the mother and calf both surfaced and logged (rested at the surface with blowholes above water). They chilled in the same spot for a while, spouting air and water in a big spray every few minutes. The mother was often not visible; because she can hold her breath for much longer, she spent periods holding the calf up to the surface on her back, so the baby has a chance to rest and take a breath. We stayed with the pair for over an hour, and then the whales had finished their rest time and began to swim around. The baby even practiced fluking (lifting its tail flukes out of the water to dive deeper after taking a breath). We got some awesome pictures of the baby showing off! 

After the whales, we drove the boat to Playa Ventanas and anchored next to some beautiful rock cliffs and caves. We took a break there to swim in the clear water, and lots of us practiced their dives off of the boat. We had lunch and coconut peanut cocoa balls for dessert on our way back up the river to dock. We finished our day with a lesson on corals (identification, types, importance, threats) for our coral lab tomorrow morning. 

Pura Vida!

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