The city of Puerto Lopez in Ecuador is a poor community, definitely third world. Seventy percent of the economy of Puerto Lopez falls within the fishing industry but as more and more fish are hauled from the sea, the small fisherman such as in Puerto Lopez are being asked to do with less to survive as the waters are being depleted. It was sad to see that the other option besides the fishing industry for this community is the exploitation of the whales that exist in this area. Every year during the months of June through September a pod of humpback whales migrate to the waters off Ecuador. The waters of Machalilla National Park in Manabi are breeding grounds for the whales and a growing tourism industry is taking hold. I guess I can say I supported the community by going whale watching.
Noa and I, along with some tourists form France, Spain, and Ecuador, got on a small fishing boat. We headed out to sea. About 20 min. into the ride we saw our first glance of humpback whale. It was huge, enormous, blue/black with a white mouth. The whale came out of the sea, it was perpendicular to the horizon, and made for a great view. Everyone was is awe. From there on we spent the next three hours on a whale hunt. One thing that bothered me is that when we did find a whale or two, sometimes our driver came very close to them. I know that the laws of Ecuador prohibit this, however they did it, I still don’t understand why. We saw at least 5 whales, it was a brilliant experience!
Next stop, Montanita to meet up with Shane!
1 comment:
What an amazing experience! It´s such a delicate balance between making these experiences accessible to people and exploiting the very nature they are meant to admire.
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