Whales, Turtles and Rays...Oh My!

Looks like something dead, doesn't it?

Adventure stories abound in which some unfortunate sailor, marooned on a desert island, manages to make his escape by lassoing two sea turtles together and either rides them or is towed to safety by them. A fanciful solution to an impossible problem. Most people have never even glimpsed one sea turtle, let alone two. However, on a recent passage from Tenacatita to La Cruz, it crossed my mind that it just might not be so far fetched. 

It was a glorious February day aboard S/V Faith as we made our way north from the anchorage at Chamela where we'd spent the night. Traveling fromTenacatita to Chamela the day before, we had not really encountered an abundance of wildlife. Although Lord knows we tried! It's amazing how long one can sit and stare out at the ocean, hoping for just a glimpse of something above the surface. Any suspicious little splash of water will do. On this day, we were handsomely rewarded for our efforts. Everywhere we looked we were spotting whales, rays and turtles! 

The humpback whales were mostly making their way north, like us, but we never assume. Once we see one break the surface, we try to determine which direction they are swimming. Wouldn't do to run over one, of course. We'd hate to harm a whale, and have heard some grizzly stories of the damage that hitting one could do to the boat! Only a few came remotely close to the boat. Personally, I consider them "close" when we can hear them blow out their air at the surface. That's close enough for me! It's exciting to see them no matter where they are. 

The water was exceptionally clear which could be one reason we saw so many rays that day! They were easily spotted near the boat, swimming just below the surface, usually in synchronized formations. Two or three would glide, turn, dive or jump (Yes, jump!) in unison. The Blue Angels have nothing on these guys! When they swim at the surface, you can see just the tips of their wings above the water. From a distance,  they look like dolphin dorsal fins. Only as they move closer to the boat can you see their broad bodies slipping by. Generally, the boat startles them and they immediately dive. What I didn't know about rays is they like to jump... as in clear out of the water! And they don't just jump once and then disappear. They jump, maybe fly would be a better word, time after time after time. Once, as we were having lunch in Puerto Vallarta at this lovely restaurant with a view, Sandy and I watched one leapfrog its way almost clear across the Banderas Bay. At first we thought it was a fish, which would have been strange enough. But then we realized it was a ray, and of course, since we'd had a couple margaritas, we thought THAT was hysterical!

Believe me, turtles don't do any leaping! The first time I saw a turtle I thought it was the bloated body of something dead in the water. Only when they lift their little head and take a peek at the above water world can you see any sign of life. When the ocean is calm, you can see them from pretty far away. They are the only dark spot in an otherwise smooth, blue surface. When the water is choppy, you can't see them until you're right on top of them. The turtles we saw were Olive Ridley Turtles. They are sort of a light green color. I think the best one I saw, was one who was surprised by the boat going overhead. He came zooming up from under the boat on the starboard side, took one look around, and immediately ran for cover. His little flippers were going a mile a minute in his effort to get the heck out of there! As the day went on, we saw an amazing number of turtles. Of course after about the twentieth one, we thought, "Gee. We should have been counting them!" I would venture to say we probably saw 40 turtles. I'm not making this up! It was amazing. And I think, if the occasion had called for it, since there were so many around, we probably COULD have caught two or three and escaped from a deserted island! Really. We could have.  :)