Humpback Whales: Banderas Bay, Mexico

In preparation for the December newsletter article on humpback whales in Banderas Bay, Mexico we had a Q&A session with Oscar Frey of Ocean Friendly Tours (www.oceanfriendly.com). Here's an excerpt from the interview.

PT: How long have you been studying whales and what species do you study?
OF: I have been studying whales for 14 years and I am focused on Humpback whales and Gray whales.

PT: What was it about whales that drew you to them over other marine life?
OF: In the first place, their size and scale relative to the ocean and to me created a very special impact on me as a child. Later, what increased my interest was their gentleness and the wide repertoire of vocalizations.


PT: How do you conduct your business differently from your competitors?
OF: I am focused on responsible whale watching. I make longer tours than my competitors. I use specialized hydrophones to listen to the whales' vocalizations and I involve the guests in the quest for whale sightings and in data collection for research. I provide lunch on board and I do not push the tour to accomplish a fixed itinerary aside from the departure and arrival schedule. I modify the itinerary according to the presence, the distribution and the behaviors of whales observed.

PT: Regarding KAP (kite aerial photography), what gave you the idea to use kites and cameras? What style of cameras and lenses do you use?
OF: The Drachen Foundation (www.drachen.org) gave me the idea to use KAP to enhance my research with whales and provided grants to develop the methodology. I use mainly Rokkaku kites and Nikon Digital cameras such as the Nikon D50 SLR camera with Nikon digital lenses such as 35mm lens and a 10.5mm fish eye lens.


PT: How do you insure the safety of the animals that you observe? What other measures do you take to minimize your impact on the environment?
OF: The minimium distance from the whale pods is 100 feet and for no longer that 30 minutes. We also respect that no more than two boats should be observing the same whale or pod. A very important measure for conservation is to avoid running more than one tour everyday on each boat. The way we manage to limit tours is by raising our price a little so that we can raise funds without the need of running two tours a day. The result is a higher price than our competitors but running less boats out on the water per season, therefore less impact on the whales and their environment.

PT: Where and when are the best locations to observe whales in Mexico?
OF: For Humpback Whales, Bahia de Banderas (Banderas Bay) is the best location in Mexico from early December through March. For Gray Whales, Scammon´s Lagoon and San Ignacio Lagoon (Baja) are the best areas from January through early April.


PT: You obviously have had a lot of interactions with whales and other marine species, but do you have a favorite memory of a specific interaction?
OF: I have a memory of a whale that came to me in a very friendly manner. She circled the boat and kept on diving under it, coming back out very slowly and spyhopping at all of us on board. It was like she was trying to tell us something. She made eye contact with me repeatedly and finally approached me so carefully, and allowed me to pet her.

PT: Is there anything else that you would like us to know about you, your research or some new ideas that you are exploring?
OF: Whales have allowed me to learn about the ocean and learn about myself. My research has given me understandings about the challenges that whales face in the modern world and how to minimize the impact of human activities around the whales and other marine species. Environmental education is key for conservation.