The Natural Beauty and Wildlife of Mexico

Mexico is absolutely breath taking. From the moment I arrived here I was blown away by the beautiful views of the Sierra Madre Mountains and the jungle on my drive in from the airport. Wildlife is also everywhere—from the scorpion I found in my house, to the roosters I hear at all hours of the night and I see crossing the street on my way to school.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of enjoying the beauty and wildlife of Mexico even more by going on a whale-watching excursion with my friend Jack. We decided to go through a travel group called “Chica Loca.” Our goal was to see some whales, but in addition to that we also got food, fun, snorkeling, and a visit to the Marieta Islands.

The entire group on the trimaran. 

The boat tour was absolutely amazing—I highly recommend it. Upon leaving the marina we spotted a swarm of blue-footed boobies. The long-winged seabirds were studied extensively by Charles Darwin. After seeing them, it is no surprise to me because they are fascinating creatures. They are easy to recognize because of their bright blue feet, which are a sexually selected trait. The mating ritual requires the males to display their feet by lifting their feet up and down while strutting before a female. Although I wasn’t able to see this in action, I was able to watch them feed. They were attracted to the part of the ocean we were sailing on because there was a bunch of fish near and around our boat. The blue-footed boobies soared through the sky and once they spotted a fish they wanted they would free-fall into the water and snatch their prey.

Blue-footed boobies soaring through the sky.

Blue-footed boobies free-falling 

into the water to catch some fish!

As if watching these amazing birds in action wasn’t enough, we soon began spotting Humpback whales. They are amazingly large creatures and can get up to 60 feet in length, which was the size of the trimaran we were traveling on. The tour guides were extremely knowledgeable and told us that there are different patterns in which the whales travel: individually, with a mate, as mother and child, and as mother and child accompanied by a male escort, or possible multiple male escorts. We had two sightings of solo whales. They are such beautiful creatures, and waved to us with their fins.

Waving to us with a fin!

Our boats destination was the Marieta Islands, a group of small, uninhabited islands. The islands host abundant marine life populations because the Mexican governments has declared the islands a National Park, which means it is protected from fishing, hunting, and other human activity. Once we anchored our boat there were a few options: relax, kayak, paddleboard, swim, or snorkel. Jack and I decided to snorkel to the Marieta Islands. Geared up with flippers, snorkel masks, and life jackets we swam, or rather, floated our way to the islands. At first everything was dark because we were in deep waters. But as it became shallower we could see the ocean floor, including beautiful rocks and reefs, along with tropical fish I have only seen in captivity at the zoo or my dentist’s office. Some fish were dull in color, while others had beautiful stripes and spots with neon colors. Even though we were floating past them, they lived their lives as if we were not there.

A view of Marieta Islands.

Being able to explore part of the Marieta Islands was also a special experience. The islands were formed thousands of years ago by volcanic activity. The history of the island is fascinating. In the early 1900s the Mexican government used them to conduct military testing since they were uninhabited. Many bombings and large explosions took place, which caused amazing caves and rock formations to be created. However, in the 1960s the islands became a national park. We went to a part of the island that used to be a cave. For some reason the cave sunk in and now there is a small beach with little cave-like trails surrounding it. There are two theories for why the cave sunk in: 1) The result of some sort of bomb, or 2) For natural reasons. Whatever the reason, the beach was gorgeous and a pleasure to explore.

A view of the beach at Marieta Islands, which

has been nicknamed "Playa del Amor."

On each side of the beach were different cave-like trails. Jack and I went through the first trail with no problem. It was a bit dark and we had to feel around to get through it, but it was not too difficult. The other trail, which our tour guides called the “G.I. Joe and G.I. Jane Trail” was a completely different story. Parts of it were pitch black, and the whole trail was really narrow. During certain parts I was submerged in water, which made me panic because the guides told us not to swim at all on the trails. The darkness also made me worry that I would step on some sort of sea-creature like a crab without realizing it. At the end of the trail there was this small circular rock formation that we had to pull ourselves through. The lady in front of me joked about not being able to fit through it—which would have been terrible because so many people were following behind us that there is no back-tracking. The only way out is completing the trail!

Jack looking for whales!

Jack and I ecstatic about our wonderful day trip.

Our trip boat trip back from the Marietta Islands was spectacular. We experienced multiple whale sightings. It was amazing to see a mother whale with her baby, and we even saw a male escort! At one point are boat was only about 20-30 feet away from the whales. I can’t believe the whales let us get so close to them. We didn’t frighten them, in fact, I think they were showing off for us. They kept waving at us with their fins, and breached numerous times. Breaching is when whales leap out of the water. Because Humpback whales are so large I don’t think they can actually completely leap out of the water, but they get about 40% of their bodies out. I’m not sure why whales breach but they are more likely to do so in groups, which suggests social reasons such as asserting dominance, sending a message of danger, or play. The loud “smacking” sound they produce when re-entering the water also makes breaching a way to scare prey. It might also allow the whale to breathe in air that is not close to the surface, which helps them breathe when travelling in rough seas. Or it could also be a way to get rid of parasites in their skin. 

A group of 3 whales swimming past us--

mom, baby, and male escort.

An amazing view of the whale breaching!

Doing a turn while breaching.

The entire whale watching adventure lasted 8 hours. Even though it was long and I was exhausted afterwards, I went home feeling so invigorated. I know all about wildlife from science classes, reading, and watching TV programs. But actually being able to see the wildlife for yourself in their natural habitat is absolutely amazing and surreal.

Waving goodbye with a tail!