Photo courtesy of Periodico De Frente
As most of know, Puerto Peñasco, is known for Whale Watching in winter, but today July 7, 2021, the city found a young Varada whale beached in front of Mi Playa. Apparently it came in with the high tide and then got stranded on the rocks and sand. This time of year it is unusual for whales to be in the Sea of Cortez . It has been several years since a whale has beached and we hope the whale will be alright after the rescue.
Because Puerto Peñasco is a a closely knit community that pulls together for emergencies, the city came to the aid of this young whale. With the help of the fire department, members of CEDO, the Marines and local residents, the whale was saved. The group surrounded the youngster and covered it with tarps and started pouring buckets of water on to keep it wet and alive.
Soon they realized that they needed more water, so the fire department brought out a pump and hose to keep the whale very wet. Members of the community began to move the rocks that the poor thing had gotten stuck on, in order for it to slide back to the water. Many people just kept gently touching it, perhaps to reassure it that everything would be alright. As the tide slowly started coming back in, nearly 30 people kept getting it pushed back to the Sea of Cortez. The rest of the crowd cheered them all on. Although it was a young whale, it was still a very large . It seemed that it knew the humans were there to help it as it remained calm and did not present any real danger to the rescuers. Once the tide started to come in it started to float. However, they still had to turn it around so the head was facing the Sea of Cortez and that took all of their effort. After nearly 4 hours, the tide was high enough to get it turned and sent off. You could see as it swam away, that it was giving blows of thank you to all of it’s new friends. For the rescuers, this will be one day that they will never forget.
When you come to vacation in Rocky Point and are staying on the beach, keep you eyes on the water as you never know what you will see. If you love whales, plan a trip starting in January to take one of our Whale Watching tours. It is truly an experience that you will not forget. They usually start coming the end of December and stay until end of March. There is a charter boat to fit your every need.
Come out and join the fun while enjoying the beautiful weather in Puerto Peñasco and the stunning Sea of Cortez views. Remember Rocky Point is only a 4 hour drive from Phoenix or Tucson.
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If you any questions Contact Us at Blog@Puerto-Penasco.com or nocomosi@msn.com.
