Kings of the deep: Gray and humpback whales vacation on Mexico's Pacific coast, to the delight of tourists and oceanographers alike. (Living in Mexico).

Whales, more than other creatures of the sea, have been surrounded by an aura of mystery from time immemorial. Their enormous size, for example, frightened mariners of old who dubbed them "sea monsters." A classic example of this can be found in the Herman Melville masterpiece Moby Dick, where the American author pits a valiant sea captain against an ominous water beast. Melville, like his contemporaries, spoke of whales as formidable foes when, in truth, they are among the most gentle and docile mammals of the sea.

People who have shared any time with a whale will agree it approaches a near transcendent experience. Those who have gone on whale-watching tours report that the air becomes charged with emotion as the animal circles closer and closer to the boat. Outweighing its fellow humans and the boat by tons, the whale will dive smoothly and slowly under the watercraft, causing nary a ripple in the water. On some occasions, it will even allow itself to be petted. Its curiosity satisfied, it once again swims off into the deep blue sea.

KNOW YOUR WHALE

Mexico's most common whale species are the gray and the humpback. The grays, which are more numerous, favor the Pacific side of the Baja Peninsula. The humpbacks migrate further south to the Nayarit/Jalisco coast or to the remote Islas Revillagigedo, a few hundred miles west off Cabo San Lucas. One of their most popular breeding grounds, however, is Banderas Bay, which lies off the rugged point of land called Punta Mita about an hour-and-a-half by road north of Puerto Vallarta. It's also the easiest one to get to during whale-watching season.

Here, the briny creatures start arriving in October after swimming thousands of miles from the frigid Bering Sea where they spend the summer. They come to mate and give birth to their young in the warm, shallow, tropical waters of the bay. By April, with the young calves in tow, they begin swimming back to Alaska. The mere fact that they choose shallow water for breeding makes the whales accessible to researchers. Other whale species prefer the high seas and are much harder to study.

The Mexican humpbacks may not be as well known as the gray whale, but they certainly are more fun to watch during the mating season because of their playful, acrobatic nature. Among their more dazzling feats is "breaching" where the animal lifts all 50 tons or so of itself into the air in a stunning vertical leap.

It's also the only whale species with black and white markings on its tail and dorsal fins, which it throws up in the air before diving. As the markings vary from whale to whale like fingerprints on a human, scientists find it fairly easy to track individuals by studying photographs of the tails. Whale centers in Hawaii, Alaska, and Mexico send their photos to the main Pacific coast research unit in Seattle, where the bulk of the work takes place.

The whales swim in groups or pods of up to a dozen at the calving grounds, and in smaller groups of three or four during their migration. When the humpback dives, it "humps" its back, thus giving it its name. Its scientific name, however, is Megaptera, which means "large-winged" and refers to its long wing-like fins.

ROMANCING THE WHALE

The mating dance of the humpback is most unusual among sea creatures. The courtship ritual begins during the season of reproduction after the male stakes out a specific territory for himself and his intended. His so-called "nuptial" song--haunting tonal sounds emitted underwater--lasts about a half hour and can be heard as far as three miles away. It can be repeated over a period of 10 hours or more during the day or night and is referred to as the "song session." Researchers have discovered that males in the same community sing the same song but that each whale has a distinct voice, just like humans. For example, the song of the Punta Mita whales will be different from the Hawaiian Island ones. The song will change year to year and all males will sing the new version. The spectacular breaching performed by the males is also believed to either enhance his attractiveness to a female or demonstrate his virility to other suitors.

When a female enters his domain, he usually has to contend with other males for her favors and this is where the boys are separated from the men, so to speak. The aggressive behavior associated with male humpbacks is no more than ceremonial fighting with lots of head and tail lashings in lieu of fighting to the death. It's true that blood may be spilled but the damage is minimal.

They're also known for their affectionate behavior while courting. They give each other love pats and play around in the water for several hours before copulating, which takes a mere 30 seconds. The dominant male maintains his position beside the female during her 15-20 days of fertility. Unlike ducks, though, whales are not monogamous and a female will have multiple partners during her years of sexual maturity. She will often be seen with an "escort" of three or four males for long periods of time that insures that she gets pregnant. Pregnancy occurs early in the season and females return to Mexico the following year to give birth.

The gestation period is around 12 months long. Calves have to be born in warm, tropical waters because they come into the world without the protective layer of blubber that they need to insulate them from the cold. And the first few seconds of a newborn's life depend on the strong support the mother whale receives from the rest of the community.

When the mammal goes into labor, a group of female "midwives" gather around so that when the calf emerges, they can push it to the surface for it's first hungry gulf of air. The baby is born tail first and weighs about 4.5 tons. When it reaches maturity, males will weigh between 30 and 50 tons. Females are bigger and weigh up to 70 tons and measure as long as 54 feet. The calf is nursed for around seven months, starts growing blubber and is ready to swim back to Alaska when it's three months old. It reaches sexual maturity at five years. Females breed every two years.

BUBBLE-ICIOUS!

The humpbacks have a unique way of feeding, which is another example of community spirit. Rather than feeding alone, they join forces and feed in a group. One or several whales blow a ring of bubbles from their blowholes to encircle a school of fish. This creates a "bubble net" effect and traps the fish. The whole group lunges into the net with mouths agape to gulp down their dinner. Whales feed all summer before arriving in Mexico where they abstain from food.

As many as 200 whales can be spotted during the season at Punta Mita, says Isabel Cardenas, an oceanographer who runs Open Air Expeditions in Puerto Vallarta. One hundred have already been identified by their tail markings and the population is increasing despite new tourism developments near the Bay.

Mexico passed a whale-watching initiative two years ago, which prohibits harassment of the whales and establishes guidelines for approaching them, said Cardenas.

"Excursion boats take turns approaching when a whale is spotted," she added.

Cardenas also noted that the season has shifted. Before, the whales appeared at the beginning of October and stayed until the end of March. Now, instead, they appear in late October and stay until the end of April. She attributed this to a change in weather patterns. The official whale-watching season in Puerto Vallarta runs from Dec. 15 to March 31, when the whales are most plentiful.

The humpbacks live off stored blubber during their Mexico sojourn and can lose as much as one-third their body weight. The pregnant female, once she heads north again, literally eats her way to the Bering Sea to replace the lost blubber. The spring departure coincides with longer days of sunlight, which means that their meals of shrimp and plankton are more plentiful. The biological cycle of the female also depends on the long migration from the frozen north to warm Mexico.

Cardenas noted that the gray whales off the Baja Peninsula do their own share of "human watching", and the mother will sometimes push her baby towards a boat of sightseers for closer contact. The gray whales get the credit for coming alongside boats to be petted. The humpbacks are not as social with humans. On the other hand, the grays are the most aggressive when it comes to protecting their young if they perceive danger--they were often called "devil fish" in olden times.

So, far from the images presented in Moby Dick, Mexico's whale lovers now recognize their salt-water friends as an indispensable part of the country's ecological system. With careful protection and management of the whale population, the relationship between man and beast has every possibility of continuing to improve as time goes on.

Patricia Alisau is a travel editor and writer who used to live in Mexico City. She now makes her home in Atlanta, Georgia.

RELATED ARTICLE: * Whale-watching excursions

Open Air Expeditions is operated by a team of Mexican oceanographers and marine biologists. It also hosts graduate research students from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) of Mexico City, who travel to Punta Mita, near Puerto Vallarta, each year to collect data on the humpbacks. Almost all proceeds from the excursions benefit the local Humpback Whale Research Project.

"We have to offer other excursions to support our whale watching ones," says team member Isabel Cardenas. Open Air's programs include other conservation-oriented tours like bird watching, kayaking, and a sea turtle rescue project.

The whale watching takes place aboard 12-seat Zodiak boats with covered roofs. A briefing on the whales and how to approach them is given before each four-hour run. It includes bilingual guides, hydrophones to listen to the humpback songs, insurance, snacks, and a commemorative t-shirt. The cost is $660 pesos for adults and children between 5 and 10 years old get a 40% discount. There are two departures daily. For information, phone [phone] in Puerto Vallarta or visit www.vallartawhales.com.

Ecotours, pioneers of Mexico's ecotourism industry, operates another whale excursion. Ecotours was founded in Mexico City but relocated to Puerto Vallarta in the 990s. It's run by Karel Beets, son of the founder, and his wife Astrid Frisch.

Tours kick off in eight-passenger motorboats, which have morning departures from Punta Mita beach. Prior to setting off, either Astrid or Karel will give an illustrated talk on the whales. Most humpbacks are sighted an hour offshore around the Marietta islands, which are small, rock islands inhabited by colonies of blue and brown-footed boobies. An optional activity is snorkeling around the island's caves and inlets. The gear is provided by Ecotours. The price is $770 pesos for adults and $455 pesos for children under 12. They can be reached at tel.: [phone], by fax at 3-224-7551, or by e-mail at [e-mail].