Paul Jones answers…
“No one knows why gray whales come so close as to let us touch them and their newborn calves. It’s one of the greater mysteries in the natural world. No other wild mammal—or other large vertebrate—brings its offspring close enough to people for physical contact. It’s awe inspiring. No matter how often I go back to San Ignacio, I’m filled with the same sense of wonder and exuberance.
What does it feel like to touch a whale?
A gray whale feels like tons of solid rubbery wonder, punctuated by large, sharpish shells of barnacles and patches of gritty little whale lice. It’s taut, like a wetsuit on solid muscle. At the same time, it’s smooth and resilient. Should you be lucky enough to touch a follicle, it feels hairy— invoking its mammalian ancestry. To me, gray whales feel like all those wondrous, wet, and wild things.”
Paul will be a naturalist on the February 2011 tour
