Joyful spectators greeted the annual migration of the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) to Bahía de Banderas, Mexico’s biggest bay, with spontaneous crowds cheering from Puerto Vallarta’s boardwalk as baby and mother humpbacks breached in near-shore waters. “It’s very impressive to see them,” said Nadia Cruz, a tourist from Mexico state, who along with her companions stood awestruck above Puerto Vallarta’s Camarones Beach beholding whales for the first time. “It’s very beautiful how they move. It appears they are playing. We had heard whales are here, but we hadn’t planned to see them.” Mexican marine biologist Astrid Frisch says this year’s population of North Pacific humpbacks in Banderas Bay, a prime breeding and birthing zone for the migratory whale, numbers in the “normal” range of 500 to 700. As of 2024, researchers and citizen scientists had documented about 3,800 individual humpbacks showing up in Banderas Bay since 1996, facilitating the... [Log in to read more]