Kayaker paddles to within 40 yards of breaching humpback whales off Cabo San Lucas (video)

 

A mother humpback whale and her calf attracted lots of attention by breaching multiple times recently off Cabo San Lucas, near the famous arch at Baja California's tip.

While this is not major news, kayak angler Dave Maynard provided a unique perspective in the footage he uploaded Tuesday. In the video he paddles closer and closer to the breaching cetaceans, ultimately deciding that about 40 yards is close enough.

Some are sure to consider this to be too close for safety's sake, and many might regard the proximity of Maynard and the bigger boats simply to be too close to the breaching whales. But there are some spectacular closeups in the footage.

For the sake of brevity, I've started Maynard's video (posted above) at the 1-minute mark because that's when he begins to get close to the whales. Those who want to watch the entire version (3:15) can click here.

"Was that cool, or what?" Maynard says afterward, as the camera pans toward Land's End to show how close to the peninsula this impressive event occurred.

Maynard is host of Fish the Baja.

--Pete Thomas

Comments

[Ivy Bennett]

I was just in Cabo in early February and it seems that the whales and schools of dolphin are everywhere! We were out fishing and went really close to a whale who was lying just under the surface. It wasn't hard to look around and see whale activity. Then the captain of the boat would shout, "whale!" and we would slow down and divert. It seemed to me the whales and dolphin didn't seem to be afraid of the people! They would stay and play! Almost like they were showing off! This particular area is not really very large.....as he shows the famous arch at the end. There are always a lot of people out there as it is a HUGE tourist and fishing area and the whales remain!

[Corine Sutherland]

Even just watching this on YouTube I felt like it was too close for comfort. People have a natural tendency to want to be up close, but the whales have a natural tendency to just go about their business. People say these whales can just swim away, perhaps, but boaters could just as well stay away.

[Teresa Wagner]

Does Mexico not have any marine mammal protection laws? There were an awful lot of boats near those two whales. And two were moving quite fast. This did not seem safe or respectful for the whales.