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Backpacker Magazine – March 2009
The Gray Whale swims thousands of miles to mate- and you were complaining about picking up the dinner bill.
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What Every October, gray whales leave their feeding grounds in Arctic waters and swim up to 7,000 miles south along the Pacific coast, reaching a handful of Baja lagoons by December for two months of mating and giving birth to 1,500-pound calves. There, lucky boaters can get within a paddle length of a 45-foot-long, 40-ton giant that was almost hunted to extinction in the early 20th century (international protection granted in the 1940s allowed the population to rebound to more than 20,000 whales).
Where Baja California, Mexico. Scammon's Lagoon (aka Ojo de Liebre), San Ignacio Lagoon, and Magdalena Bay are Baja's big three–but you'll have to take a guided panga (boat) tour for up-close access. Nearby Laguna Manuela doesn't have as many whales, but kayaking and beach camping are allowed. kayakbaja.com

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READERS COMMENTS
I thought it was the artic tern tha has the longest migration...
Posted: Jan 12, 2010 Paulina Inigo
Hey Friends, get with the program. For 10 years, researchers have been documenting HUMPBACK WHALES leaving the Antarctic Peninsula and migrating to the waters off Central America (yes, across the equator) for a one way trip that beats the Gray Whale by a good 1000 - 2000 miles. Without digging through the scientific papers, I found this after an easy web search:
http://migration.wordpress.com/2007/04/10/the-longest-mammal-migration/
Good luck with the research...
G
Posted: Apr 21, 2009 Greg Meyer
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