I’m picking up good migrations…

Our new, visually stunning series on how to make the most of seasonal travel, begins with our experts revealing when and where to see the world’s enigmatic species on the move – from wildebeest in the Serengeti to grey whales off the coast of Mexico

suggests, teaching their offspring that the small boats carrying whale watchers are not a threat.

Grey whales are gentle, unostentatious visitors, unlike the great humpbacks that are seen offshore in the same season, leaping and breaching with a lot of fuss and vigour. The greys seem more dignified, languidly diving and turning on one side to scoop up the bottom sediment to filter out crustaceans and other microscopic life.

Of all the types of whales I have seen above and below the surface, the greys seem especially communicative. They roll gently at the surface to peer at the little boats with one great moist eye. This peace and karmic grace is at odds with the perilous journey they have taken to get here.

Grey whales spend most of the year in the chilled waters off

Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula and the Bering Sea. To reach Baja they have swum almost 7,000 miles (one way) across the vast Pacific. Biologists agree that it’s the longest migration of any mammal on earth, with one tagged whale covering a staggering 13,700 miles. That homeward journey is not just long, but it will also put the helpless calves at risk of meeting killer whales, which cruise the Californian coast hoping for an easy meal. I wish them Godspeed.

Journey Latin America (020 3553 1773; journeylatinamerica. co.uk) has an 11-day Active Mexico: Camping and Kayaking in Baja California trip from £1,814pp including full-board accommodation, excursions and local transport. Excludes international flights.

WHALE OF A TIMEThe grey whale migration is the longest of any mammal