Recently, I had the good fortune to time travel back to when giants ruled the Earth. Well, sort of. I was down in Loreto, Mexico, and got to see the largest animals that have ever lived: blue whales. (By largest, this is in reference to heft and not to length, though there is some dispute about some fossilized beasts that may have outweighed the blue.) Like many northerners, blue whales take advantage of the calm, relatively warm, high diversity, food-abundant water to spend a couple months down in the Sea of Cortez.

Our whale watching trip began in the main marina of Loreto, amid a chaos of other whale-gawkers, tourists, and brown pelicans, the latter of whom were the most obnoxious, landing on the other tour boats, rustling through food bags, and pooping a plenty. With their yellowish head, white neck, and bright eyes, they were a curious site and fun to watch as these large, ungainly-on-a-boat birds attempted to find a delectable meal amid human food.

We quickly learned that the two best ways to note the location of a whale are blows and a scrum of boats. Unfortunately, neither guarantees success, as a blow (the spouts of warm whale breath that condense into water droplets (think of your breath on a cold day)) tends to indicate a whale that has come up for a breath; the leviathan will most likely dive soon and by the time a whale seeker arrives the whale is gone. The scrum also often signifies where the whale was and not where the whale will be seen. Whale watching is primarily about luck and patience and being in an area with many whales.

Fortunately, all three came together for us in the Vermillion Sea, another name for the Sea of Cortez. We saw dozens of blows, letting us know that we were in the presence of blue whales, as well as humpbacks, which also snowbird (snowwhale?) here. A couple of times we had the pleasure of being close enough to smell the humpback blows, a distinctly fishy aroma. Both blues and humpbacks filter feed through their baleen, the blues almost exclusively on krill, the humpbacks on krill, other plankton, and small fish. We also thrilled to hearing many blows. Not surprisingly, they sound like someone exhaling, except really really loud; a blue whale’s lung capacity is about 1,000 times ours.

Watching a blue whale blow and dive was astonishing. Play the video above and note how long the whale is arching her back (or is it her top?); it seems to go on forever. That is an incredibly huge animal, far, far beyond any I have ever encountered. The tail alone is between 20 and 25 feet wide, or about the size of the nine-seater boat that we were in. Total length, up to 100 feet. That an animal so big and massive, thrives in elegance is a testimony to the beauty of evolution. I am truly humbled and overjoyed to experience these giant animals, each individual a grace note of life.

Another highlight of seeing blue whales was that I have long wondered what it would be like to have lived in the time of dinosaurs and their kin. How would it feel to be on a hike and to come across an animal that could have eaten me in a single gulp or squished me with a single step? In some ways, we live in a pretty tame world of animals, at least on land. Certainly, a handful of large mammals exist that have the ability to dispatch us but the age of behemoths is basically gone. We are not about to become a meal or a splat. Perhaps that’s too bad. I don’t think it would hurt for our species to encounter such animals; perhaps they might help to teach us some humility, something that would go a long way to improving the planet.

Floating on the water and watching the numerous blows around us, I also realized that we were not alone. The handful of blue whales, as well as humpback whales—the other great spouter of the Sea of Cortez—who made their presence known to us were the tiniest indication of the life teeming beneath the surface. From the microscopic to the gargantuan, life abounds in the seas. As someone who spends little time on the water, and less time in it, I treasure such encounters. Not only am I in awe of these beautiful and majestic whales but I love being reminded of what they represent, the phenomenal diversity of beings that we are so lucky to share our planet with. And, for that I rejoice.

I cannot write about whales without another reference to Herman Melville. Here’s what he wrote about blue whales, or sulphur bottoms, as they were known then.

“Another retiring gentleman, with a brimstone belly, doubtless got by scraping along the Tartarian tiles in some of his profounder divings. He is seldom seen; at least I have never seen him except in the remoter southern seas, and then always at too great a distance to study his countenance. He is never chased; he would run away with rope-walks of line. Prodigies are told of him. Adieu, Sulphur Bottom! I can say nothing more that is true of ye, nor can the oldest Nantucketer.”

March 7, 2026 – Literary Lions – 5:00 P.M. – I am honored to be at this fine event supporting the King County Public Library System. Here’s some info.

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