On this episode of Big Blend Radio’s Before They Vanish Podcast, explorer and author James Michael Dorsey returns to talk with host Lisa D. Smith about the gray whales he has spent decades getting to know in Baja’s San Ignacio Lagoon, and about his book, The Lagoon: Encounters with the Whales of San Ignacio. Once hunted to the edge of extinction, these forty-ton animals now swim right up to the boats to be petted, and James explains why he calls the lagoon the only place on earth where wild animals in their natural habitat routinely seek out human contact.

Watch the episode below or listen/download the audio version on Podbean:

James traces his love of whales back to June 12, 1996, when he and his wife celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary with an eight-day sea kayaking trip off the coast of British Columbia, knowing nothing about kayaking or whales. Within the first hour on the open ocean, a pod of three orcas swam close enough to touch. He was hooked, started working as a naturalist on whale-watching boats, and made his first trip to Baja in 1998 as a client. By 2000 he was working there as a guide and naturalist, and today he leads Travel with the Author trips to the lagoon.

James describes what it is like to be in a sea kayak among whales: with three quarters of your body below the waterline, you can hear whales clicking and squealing through the hull. He also explains how gray whales find their way along the coast without echolocation, navigating by underwater geography, and why the lagoon works as a nursery where newborn calves are taught how to be whales. Mothers push their calves to swim day and night to build stamina, then bring the tired youngsters over to the boats to play. As James puts it, we are the reward.

The conversation also turns to the challenges the whales face. James discusses warming waters and the loss of the krill and amphipods gray whales depend on, whales washing ashore starved, and a traditional migration that is now in flux. He shares his concern about the steep decline in the population in recent years, the ship strikes that threaten these slow swimmers, and why he believes the Marine Mammal Protection Act needs real enforcement. He also talks about Mexico’s protection of the lagoon within the Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, and what listeners can do to help, from supporting research to writing to their elected officials.

Along the way, James and Lisa cover the difference between whales and dolphins, why orcas are so playful, how researchers are using AI to study whale communication, why a whale can’t swallow a person (only a sperm whale could), and what science says about the story of Jonah. They also talk about why whales don’t belong in captivity and about the whale-human connection that reaches back at least ten thousand years, to cave paintings in Baja.

🐳 Get James’s book, The Lagoon: Encounters with the Whales of San Ignacio

🌎 Travel to San Ignacio Lagoon with James: visit BajaEcoTours.com and look for the James Dorsey Trip

🎙️ Listen to more episodes of Before They Vanish: BigBlendMediaHouse.com/p/before-they-vanish-podcast

📚 Learn more about James Michael Dorsey on his Big Blend Expert Page

🌍 Visit James’s website: JamesMichaelDorseyAuthor.com

Have a Question for James? Ask us on our Contact Page.