In the Book of Mormon account, the water in the river Sidon is always referred to as the “waters” of Sidon and never as “water.” In older English, waters can refer to the water flowing from springs or to stretches of water that are noticeably wider than the normal width of the river (see also, the definition of “borders,” in the sidebar, Borders). The Rio San Ignacio has three areas of some expanse—the elongated lagoon forming its head, the several pools of water along its course and the world-renown bay, Laguna San Ignacio, at its mouth on the Pacific side of the peninsula. This embayment, some four miles wide and extending nearly 20 miles inland, attracts whale watchers from around the world. Each winter, California gray whales migrate southward 5,000 miles along the western coastline of North America from their summer feeding grounds in Alaska and Canada to these warm, secluded waters. Whales give birth in the protected waters of this lagoon nursery, and the young calves benefit from the warmth, salinity and safety of the shallow ocean waters. The Laguna San Ignacio also serves as the mating waters of the whales.

Whales are mentioned in Moroni’s account of the Jaredite journey across “the great sea which divideth the lands” to their promised home (Ether 2:13). The Lord declared the Jaredite vessels “shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon [them]” (Ether 2:24). And the brother of Jared was commanded to “make a hole in the top [of their vessels], and also in the bottom; and when thou shalt suffer for air thou shalt unstop the hole and receive air. And if it be so that the water come in upon thee, behold, ye shall stop the hole, that ye may not perish in the flood” (Ether 2:20). This action of stopping and unstopping an air hole is the same as the breathing of whales by inhaling and exhaling air through their blowholes while partially submerged. And the Jaredite vessels “were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could break them, neither whale that could mar [hinder] them” (Ether 6:10). Moroni, Ether or the other record keepers would have had firsthand knowledge of the habitats and characteristics of whales and recorded this literary imagery (see also, our topic article, Jared, his Brother and their Friends: A Geographical Analysis of the Book of Ether).