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Exactly a year ago, the NRDC invited me down for a rare look at the Pacific gray whales mating in Baja, Mexico. Back then, Trump was dismantling every environmental protection he could get his hands on, and the NRDC was fighting back, suing the Trump administration over 100 times.
What a difference a year makes. In just under a month, President Biden has rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, rejected the Keystone XL Pipeline, and signed a sweeping package of executive actions aimed at building a clean economy and a sustainable future. Overseeing this agenda is our nation’s new climate czar, Gina McCarthy, who became the President of the NRDC after leading the EPA under Obama. McCarthy’s appointment is a boon for environmentalists, giving the NRDC a new wind in its sails.
In 1969, a young lawyer named John H. Adams was eating lunch outside his law offices in New York when he watched giant lumps of raw sewage float by on the Hudson River. When he learned how much toxic waste was dumped into the harbor, he and a horrified group of like-minded attorneys formed the NRDC, which stands for Natural Resources Defense Council. They have become like the Marvel Avengers of the environmental movement; an elite team of attorneys and volunteers who use policy making and the court system to win protection for the climate, the ocean, and wildlife. Since their formation, they’ve helped set the guidelines for much of America’s major clean air and water policy.
Which brings me back to gray whales. In 2000, Mitsubishi endangered the last breeding ground for the Pacific gray whale by planning an industrial salt factory in the San Ignacio Lagoon in Mexico. The NRDC successfully blocked it with an international coalition led by super lawyer Joel Reynolds. As a budding ocean educator, I was introduced to Joel and the NRDC through producer and activist Laurie David. They invited me on my last pre-pandemic trip deep in the heart of the Baja peninsula.
This week marks a year since this trip. While I’ve been staying home during the pandemic, I’ve used this breather to connect with other environmentally like-minded people. As the co-chair for the NYC hub of Oceanic Global, we created a hybrid-media discussion club—think “book club” but for documentaries and podcasts as well as books—that has allowed a wide range of activists to gather virtually in order to learn from one another. This time has allowed us to share, learn, and inspire each other towards environmental action. This sort of intimate weekly interaction would not have seemed possible in pre-pandemic life. Although looking through my photo journal of the gray whales makes me long to be in nature once again, I’m comforted knowing that these same whales are in the lagoon right now—breeding, playing with their newborns—just as I witnessed a year ago. I can’t help wondering if they miss curiously spyhopping to catch a glimpse of us?
Photo: Courtesy of Heidi Zumbrun for NRDC1/16After a rocky flight above the natural salt flats which we could see from the window, our prop planes landed on a dirt runway in a remote area of Baja. Strong winds had delayed us, and night fell fast as our 16-person team boarded small motorboats and crossed the San Ignacio lagoon by starlight. We moved slowly in the dark so as not to hit any sleeping whales.
Photo: Courtesy of Sarah Michler2/16When we arrived to shore, the staff brought us to our tents, each one lit from inside by a small solar-powered lamp that had charged throughout the day.
Photo: Courtesy of Heidi Zumbrun for NRDC3/16We woke at sunrise and could see the camp for the first time. The vegetation had been carefully lined with sea shells to avoid trampling. Each year, the camp is built in January, at the beginning of the whale’s breeding season, and deconstructed at the end of April, leaving nothing permanent. This allows for the lightest environmental footprint.
4/16Here I am using warm water to wash after using the toilet—in which we manually used cups of salt water to flush.
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Photo: Courtesy of Heidi Zumbrun for NRDC5/16Looking out from camp in any direction, you could see whales “spyhopping”—using their tails to pop their heads above water. Since their eyes point downwards at the sea floor, scientists believe that this is how they look at things above the waterline—like our boat. Led by naturalist Jim Peckarsky, we boarded pongas, or boats driven by the local fisherman.
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Photo: Courtesy of Heidi Zumbrun for NRDC6/16It didn’t take long for us to be surrounded by 50-foot gray whales.
Photo: Courtesy of Heidi Zumbrun for NRDC7/16The gentle mammals approached our boats and poked their heads out curiously.
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Photo: Courtesy of Heidi Zumbrun for NRDC8/16Researchers counted 77 single gray whales and 13 mother and calf pairs in the lagoon, which is only about a third the number of previous years. A possible reason for the low number of gray whales could be a lack of food in Alaska from warming waters.
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Photo: Courtesy of Heidi Zumbrun for NRDC9/16The mothers are known to nudge their baby calves towards humans, as if encouraging their curiosity.
Photo: Courtesy of Sarah Michler10/16One baby calf seemed particularly interested in us and allowed me to pet its long, smooth head. They feel firm yet soft to the touch, like an eggplant.
Photo: Courtesy of Heidi Zumbrun for NRDC11/16The baby calf continually rolled onto its side in order to look at us with his giant, grapefruit-sized eyes.
Photo: Courtesy of Heidi Zumbrun for NRDC12/16Each year, gray whales migrate from their feeding grounds in Alaska to their breeding grounds in this tiny lagoon in Baja, Mexico.
Photo: Courtesy of Sarah Michler13/16Back in camp, we were disconnected from cell service or wifi. Bags of water heated by the morning sun enabled us to take warm showers in the afternoon.
Photo: Courtesy of Sarah Michler14/16We each got used to using only a small bucket of water to wash up and brush our teeth.
Photo: Courtesy of Sarah Michler15/16The group congregated in a large military-style tent for meals and daily lectures like one from whale expert, Steven L. Swartz.
Photo: Courtesy of Sarah Michler16/16Here I am pictured with our trip leader Joel Reynolds as well as lawyer and long-time NRDC board member Sarah E. Cogan. Although the NRDC has fought and successfully protected this lagoon and many other wildlife sanctuaries throughout the world, the fight is ongoing. Find out how you can help the NRDC here.
