Earth Day was last week and it got me thinking about this time last year and my lifelong love of whales. Smash that ❤️ if you’ve been in your love of something era too. Next week we’re headed back into the kitchen but this week, let’s take a little trip to Baja.
I went to Baja last spring to celebrate my honeymoon. My wife and I were exhausted and wanted to do less than nothing. We showed up at the resort ready for a little peace, but quickly realized that the establishment catered to tourists drunker than we could ever be. Parents and grandparents traveling together with a mess of children, all there to let go for a few, long overdue days. Half-dressed people covered in magenta burns stumbled around looking for oblivion. Kids splashed in the pools and changed the rules of their games as they went. Music thumped in the distance while teenage girls complained about their bodies. Everyone was trying to evaporate. All I wanted was to see a whale.
I’ve been obsessed with whales ever since a humpback, affectionately named Humphrey, got lost in the waters of the Bay Area when I was a kid. On this trip, I was looking for gray whales. The Western stock of gray whales is teetering on extinction with only an estimated 200 individuals left. The Eastern stock has rebounded faster from the ruthlessness of humans, with numbers nearing 22,000. A small miracle. They birth their calves in the warm safety of the Sea of Cortez, then travel up the western coast of North America to eat their weight in krill and small fish once they reach the Arctic. This trip of nearly 14,000 miles is one of the longest yearly migrations of any mammal on earth, and full of danger. Dr. Heidi Pearson, a marine biologist at the University of Alaska, says the major threats to whales are clear: "Climate change, ship strikes, fisheries entanglement and noise pollution." How can we keep animals safe when the whole ocean is littered with our indifference? It’s overwhelming.
Granting animals and nature rights isn’t new, but it is an increasingly successful way to combat climate collapse
The pool at the center of the resort was where most people congregated, all returning to the same loungers, same umbrellas each day as though they had been assigned. My wife and I perched on the farthest edge in a private cabana facing the ocean. It was our honeymoon, after all. I ate chips and salsa all day, and waited. The pools ran parallel with the Pacific Ocean lapping at the edge of the continent less than 500 feet away. Occasionally, a spray from the crashing waves would blow into our eyes as we watched the water, misting the backs of the sunbaked tourists as they floated so close to the real thing. The ocean at the tip of the Baja Peninsula is unusually deep just yards from the shore. The harbor is tucked away on the other side of the cape, away from the wild water. Red flags were planted in the sand at every vantage point, warning that the waves will suck you right out to sea. The message was clear: no one can help you if you risk your life.
Cabo is simulated luxury. Menus advertise burgers and fries in American dollars. The music favors classic rock — people pretend they still care about Sammy Hagar. Nothing is real — at least, not where the tourists go. But every spring, gray whales and their calves make the journey to colder waters, passing the Pacific side of the peninsula. The deepness of the water is then a blessing; the whales feed and play so close to shore that their slapping flukes and waterspouts are visible to anyone facing the ocean. I yelped at my first sighting; my wife grabbed her phone. I couldn’t believe our luck. The drunk tourists fell silent; nature asked for attention.
There’s a growing movement around the world to grant legal personhood to animals in an effort to better protect them. The law has used conceptual versions of “people” — like universities and corporations — for a long time, allowing them to act as though they were singular human beings. So why not whales? Indigenous leaders in New Zealand, Tahiti, Tonga, and the Cook Islands signed a treaty recently to grant legal personhood to whales. Mere Takoko, a Māori conservationist and leader of the Hinemoana Halo Ocean Initiative, says the goal is to protect whales regardless of whose waters they are in. “Those rights include the right to freedom of movement, natural behavior, development, cultural expression – which includes language – to a healthy environment, healthy oceans, and indeed the restoration of their populations.” Granting animals and nature rights isn’t new, but it is an increasingly successful way to combat climate collapse. Bangladesh and New Zealand have granted rivers personhood. In 2008 Ecuador became the first country to grant legal personhood to nature. In the US the White Earth Band of Ojibwe are using this idea to try and stop oil pipelines. Currently Manoomin, the Ojibwe word for wild rice, is suing the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, for infringing on its right to live and thrive. The case is being watched closely to see if environmental personhood will become law in the US. There’s a great episode of 99% Invisible outlining the whole case if you want to learn more. It’s worth considering. If Amazon has legal personhood, why not the Amazon?
A gray whale was spotted this spring off the coast of New England after being extinct in the Atlantic for 200 years. We thought they were gone for good. That day in Baja, everyone at the resort was finally on the same page. Magic was happening. We all stood quietly, eyes fixed on the horizon, looking for anything that would signal the location of the undersea creatures — a fluke, a flipper? Every waterspout was a thrill. Then, suddenly, a breach, a graceful thrust against gravity. The smallest of the whales, a calf, leaped highest, but the waves generated by its mother caused the most involuntary cries on shore. It was a rare moment in modern life when everyone's attention was fixed on the same point. As the gray whale and her calf luxuriated in the sun before their path I looked at my wife. This trip marked the beginning of our own lifelong journey together. “I got it!” she said, showing me her phone. I watched the footage over and over. I got to see a whale. I hope we all do.
This week in the Sunday Recipe Club we’re leaving Baja and jumping over to Puebla to make a new take on an old classic: Jackfruit Tinga. It’s perfect for tostadas, burritos, tacos, sopes, nachos, or just you and a fork. Never cooked with jackfruit before? Don’t worry, I walk you through how to buy and prep it for all of my recipes in this week’s Pot-cast. Not a part of the club? Let’s fix that huh?
xoxo,
Michelle
What a beautiful moment. Thank you for capturing on camera and sharing with us. This wonderfully written piece is inspiring and reminding of us to enjoy nature. Thank you
... and after years of buying your cookbooks and reading your awesome blog posts, this post did it. I'm now also a paid subscriber... and proud pothead :) Thanks, Michelle, for being such an awesome cook and human being (not necessarily in that order). Love what you do and that you combine people (and yes, whales are indeed people too) and planet so beautifully in your posts and recipes. Also love everyone in this community. Rock on, potheads!