Source: Maria Salinas Adventures.
The sea between La Ventana Bay and Isla Cerralvo became popular internationally, four years ago, as an area for sighting and swimming with orcas in Baja California Sur. However, because it was not a regulated activity, tourism became a threat to the species.
What at first were unforeseen encounters with orcas turned into harassing tours. To guarantee the encounter with cetaceans, tourist service providers rely on light planes to go to them; or if a group of orcas were found sailing, they notified other vessels by radio, to the point of gathering up to 34 boats around them.
Faced with this scenario, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) published the Type Management Plan that will now regulate the activity of sighting and swimming with orcas in La Ventana and which is the first in all of Mexico.
“The objective is to protect the species and to ensure that the activity is carried out in an orderly manner without the harassment that is already happening. The plan is also safety for the people who carry out the activity,” said Cristina González Rubio, delegate of Semarnat in Baja California Sur.
Conditions for sighting and swimming with orcas
On July 24, Semarnat published the Type Management Plan (PMT) for the conservation and non-extractive use of orcas for the 2025-2026 season, which establishes guidelines to prevent accidents and ensure safe interaction for humans and killer whales.
The industrial estate for carrying out the activity has an area of 110,906 hectares that are associated with five coastal towns: El Sargento, La Ventana, Agua Amarga, Ejido General Juan Domínguez Cota and Los Planes.
On a daily basis, only 24 boats will be allowed to enter the park for sighting, divided into three shifts of four hours each and eight boats will leave per shift, explained Natalia Ruffo, director of Municipal Tourism of La Paz.
There will also be two departure points for boats: Central Beach in La Ventana and Bay of the Dead, which will make it possible to verify that those who do activities with orcas have their authorization.
The management plan states that you can swim at a distance of 20 meters from the species when they feed or when social behavior is recorded; not when they are resting, on the road or hunting.
Only two boats are allowed per group or family of orcas; a maximum of four swimmers and a guide at sea, while the maximum sighting time per boat is 30 minutes.
“It's an extremely intelligent and social species. If captains respect the code of ethics and act responsibly when doing this activity, it can be achieved. The case here is that it was being done in an uncontrolled, irresponsible and unwise manner. So, instead of banning, this plan dictates the conditions for how swimming can be done, and I think it's a great success,” Ruffo said.
The pilot plan
During this season, 50 permits will be granted and currently the Semarnat delegation in Baja California Sur receives requests and provides advice to anyone who requires it for this process. In the end, the person in charge of granting the permits will be the General Directorate of Wildlife (DGVS) of Semarnat.
This management plan is effective for one year from August 1, 2025 to July 31, 2026. At the end of this period, service providers are required to submit an Annual Activity Report that will serve to adjust the management plan.
“It's the first management plan and although all the precautions and precautions have been taken to make everything flow and take place in a safe environment, maybe there are adjustments such as restricting the season to just three or four months. We are going to know that with data from a regulated activity for a year,” said González Rubio.
He added that the management plan is an instrument to which those who want to do the activity of sighting and swimming with orcas must adhere, but also any person or organization has the possibility of proposing their management plan to carry out the activity in the same polygon and submit it to evaluation to the DGVS, who will decide if it is feasible or not.
Use of technology for implementation
Collaboratively, the Semarnat, the Port Authority and the City Council of La Paz will work on the implementation of this plan, and will use GPS technology to monitor vessels in real time.
This way they will have control of the location of the vessels, the distances, times and speeds at sea.
“All vessels would be tracked in real time. First there will be a checkpoint where they board. The load capacity of the boat will be visually confirmed, the presence of an identified guide, and the route will be marked. From the control center there will be radio communication with the boats during the activity,” Ruffo said.
From being an activity without any type of regulation, to being fully regulated, is a change that will generate resistance among tourism service providers, González Rubio said.
However, because a management plan already exists, anyone who does not adhere to it would be committing a crime, and the Federal Attorney's Office for Environmental Protection (Profepa) will be responsible for monitoring compliance with this plan.
“Profepa is the actor empowered to initiate administrative proceedings if it determines that a crime has been committed. Among the most common faults are non-compliance with minimum distances, maximum speeds and dive times. Profepa is the one who will determine the type of sanction it imposes,” said González Rubio.
The start of regulation
In addition to orcas, in the area of La Ventana and Isla Cerralvo there are other species such as blue, finned and humpback whales; sperm whales; mule and common dolphins: whale sharks and giant manta rays, according to the Megafauna Marine Collective.
The current management plan only has an effect on swimming and killer whale watching, and not for the rest of the species, so tourism service providers are still making unregulated sightings.
“This management plan, although it marks a polygon, marks only activity with orcas. It does not mark the activity of other species or other activities such as fishing, and it does not interfere. But I think this is the beginning of the ordering of nautical activities in the La Ventana area. Baja California Sur is looking for ways to develop on the basis of order and balance. Everything has its time and its process, but this is the beginning,” Ruffo said.
The Semarnat delegate announced that she is exploring the possibility of promoting multi-specific management plans to regulate areas such as La Ventana where there is a great diversity of species.
“La Ventana is a community that is growing a lot in terms of tourism and has great potential, but it is very important to ensure that it is tidy and safe. La Paz is seeking to promote responsible tourism because its attractions are natural. So we have to find a balance that allows us to develop in a sustainable way for many generations,” says Ruffo.
Responsible promotion
Source: Courtesy.
In addition to the management plan, Semarnat and the Tourism Directorate of La Paz are going to encourage courses to help service providers to promote the services they offer responsibly and ethically, since the offer of tours for swimming exclusively with orcas has become popular on social networks, which has increased industry pressure on the species.
“The way in which tourist services are offered has to be regulated. You can't sell a tour that claims to see orcas, because from there you have already implanted and sold a harassing tour and you don't tell those people the truth about what are the chances of seeing them,” said Marielle Robles, a marine biologist and nature guide.
Among the best practices, according to María Salinas, nature guide, diving instructor and owner of an ecotourism company in La Ventana, is offering marine safaris where seeing a particular species is not encouraged.
“That's why I offer marine safaris and we don't talk about orcas specifically. If seeing orcas is a person's only objective, it's going to be problematic, because they're someone who doesn't care what conditions they see themselves in. I try to work to make it something responsible, with rules and set expectations with the customer, making it clear that no animal will be harassed for their enjoyment,” said Salinas.
Implementation Challenges
The management plan was discussed for about three years during which the City Council of La Paz provided talks and workshops with different authorities and members of the community, while the role of the Semarnat delegation in Baja California Sur was to send documents and proposals to the DGVS offices in Mexico City, who published the Type Management Plan for orcas.
On July 30, there was a meeting to socialize the management plan at the ejidal house in El Sargento where service providers and fishermen from the local communities stated that they were excluded from the preparation of the management plan.
“You have to understand that it's a process for them (fishermen and local tourism service providers) and that they don't have the resources of other companies. First (the authorities) have to help them understand this process, without leaving them out and without imposing the plan on them as they want to do now,” Robles said.
On the authorities' side, Ruffo said, they expect the community to trust the instrument, and the main challenge is for those first 50 sighting permits to be granted to local operators.
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