“The Way of the Whale” tells the untold story of an extraordinary interspecies bond — a connection so profound it feels like love — between humans and gray whales in a remote lagoon along the Pacific coast of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula.
Each year, after completing a 5,000-mile migration — the longest of any marine mammal — gray whale mothers and their calves arrive at Laguna San Ignacio, where they do something found nowhere else in nature: they seek out human touch. The “friendly gray whale” phenomenon represents one of the rarest expressions of trust between wild animals and people.
But Laguna San Ignacio is more than a sanctuary. It is also the site of one of the most significant environmental victories of the modern era. In the late 1990s, a proposed industrial salt factory backed by the Mitsubishi Corporation threatened to destroy the whales’ last pristine birthing ground. What began as local resistance by fishermen grew into a global movement — one of the first environmental campaigns to harness the power of the internet — culminating in a decision to protect the lagoon instead of exploiting it.
Directed and shot by Franco Campos-Lopez Benyunes, “The Way of the Whale” revisits this landmark moment while asking an urgent question: what is happening to the gray whales now? Through the voice of climate activist and producer Xiye Bastida, the film bridges past and present, tracing today’s threats — from LNG terminals and shipping traffic to accelerating climate disruption — along the whales’ migration from Baja to the Arctic.
I met Bastida and Campos-Lopez Benyunes at the Impact Lounge, a vibrant, thoughtfully curated space designed for connection, collaboration, and conversation. The Lounge brings together changemakers, creators, filmmakers, and thought leaders for inspiring panels, meaningful networking, and the kind of dialogue that extends far beyond the screen.
In that spirit, our conversation became not only about the film itself, but about what it means to protect what we love — and why stories like this one matter now more than ever.
At its heart, “The Way of the Whale” is a story about connection — between species, between generations, and between people and the living world. The interview that follows explores how that connection sparked one of history’s great environmental successes — and why it may be needed again, today.
*Please note that the film was not screening at Sundance, it was part of the the Impact Lounge conversations.
Can you talk about what inspired you to get involved with the film? You’re a producer on it, right? What was your entry point?
Xiye Bastida (XB): Yes. It’s been a long journey—almost three years now since I first got involved. The director, Franco Campos-Lopez Benyunes, reached out to me initially. I’ve been a climate activist for a long time, and there was a moment when youth activists were being invited into a lot of films and documentaries, but often in a tokenistic way—very much framed as “the kids,” without real agency.
After doing dozens of interviews where people came into my home and then told the story they wanted to tell—not honoring my voice—I was exhausted. So at first, I told Franco I couldn’t be part of the film. I just didn’t want to go through that experience again.
Then someone incredibly important to me reached out: Julia Carabias, the former Minister of the Environment of Mexico—the first woman to ever hold that position. She told me, “You have to do this project. I think it will be good for you, and I think you can help shape the story.”
So I went back to Franco and said, “Julia thinks I should talk to you—so let’s have a conversation.” After that discussion, he said, “Let’s do this as a team. Let’s reimagine the story so it makes sense for your generation and for today.”
The film tells the story of how, 25 years ago, a massive salt mine project by Mitsubishi was stopped in the Gulf of California. But today, we’re facing LNG terminals, gas pipelines, shipping traffic—projects that threaten biodiversity and would turn the region into a sacrifice zone. The lessons from the past are urgently needed by today’s leaders and future generations.
Can you share what led you into activism and how that’s shaped your work?
XB: It really started with my upbringing. I was lucky to grow up with parents who deeply cared about the planet. They wouldn’t have called themselves environmentalists, but they met at the first UN Earth Summit in 1992, when they were in their twenties.
I was also raised in an Indigenous community, where I learned values like reciprocity with Mother Earth, the responsibility to care for the land, and the seven-generation principle—protecting the future seven generations with the wisdom of the past seven generations.
Growing up, I understood more about the world than many of my peers. Then, when I was 13, my hometown flooded. That was the turning point when everything I had heard and felt became real and life-threatening. At the time, I wanted to be a veterinarian—but I realized I couldn’t ignore the climate crisis or the intergenerational injustice it represents.
Franco, how did you two meet?
Franco Campos-Lopez Benyunes (FCB): In 2022, after Xiye spoke at the Biden climate event, I reached out to Julia Carabias. I felt the film needed a stronger contemporary perspective to make it relevant today. I asked Julia if she could recommend a young activist in Mexico, and she immediately said, “You need to talk to her.”
We spoke, and the connection was immediate. This wasn’t about having her as a participant—it was about finding a central voice. We knew it would be a long journey, and we trusted each other from the start.
For someone who hasn’t seen the film yet, can you talk about the story you’re elevating and the call to action?
FCB: The first part of the film tells how an unlikely coalition—NGOs, local communities, and the Mexican government—came together to stop the Mitsubishi salt mine, which would have destroyed the last pristine birthing ground of the gray whale. Julia even took the Mexican president at the time to see the whales. After that experience, he canceled the project.
That raises the question: what’s happening to the gray whales now? From there, we follow their migration from Mexico to the Arctic—through San Francisco, Puget Sound, Alaska. Along the way, we see ship strikes, entanglements, starvation, and population collapse. The gray whale population has declined by 53% in the last decade.
They’re a keystone and umbrella species—protecting them protects entire ecosystems. The Gulf of California alone holds 39% of the world’s marine mammal species. Right now, it’s threatened by a massive fossil fuel project that would turn Mexico into a sacrifice zone for U.S. gas exports.
The call to action is simple: we protected this place once—we have to do it again.
XB: Hope is central to this film. We need to stay anchored in stories that show change is possible. Filming was incredibly challenging—working with Indigenous communities, gaining trust, securing permissions, filming in remote areas like Alaska. This wasn’t something you could rush or do without deep respect.
What mattered most was representing people and places truthfully, and creating something that moves audiences emotionally while informing them.
What do you hope audiences take away after watching?
Franco Campos-Lopez Benyunes:
We made a deliberate choice to treat the landscape and the whales as characters. The goal was to create a deep emotional connection between humans and nature. In screenings so far, we’ve seen that connection happen—and that’s powerful.
If people connect, they care. And when they care, they act.
What’s next for the film?
FCB: We’re beginning a six-month festival run, followed by a limited theatrical release. The priority is community screenings—bringing people together around the film.
Rebecca: And how can people support the project?
XB: The film is structured like a fair-trade model—profits are contractually redirected into community and climate initiatives. People can also support the impact campaign by donating to my nonprofit, Regeneración Initiative. We fund programs in Baja, support youth-led movements against LNG projects, and provide small grants to young organizers around the world—even $5 “for the whales” helps.
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