Whale-watching, vicinity of Isla del Carmen/Isla Santa Catalina
At sunrise (and it was a beautiful one) we had a group of foraging common dolphins alongside the National Geographic Sea Bird. It was the beginning of a “whale” of a day. After breakfast we returned to the deck, spotting blows, backs and fins of large whales. First, a sly Bryde’s whale kept us busy guessing about its location, but we managed to get some good looks at its flanks and falcate dorsal fin. Shortly thereafter, we observed some large blows and with further investigation we identified blue and finback whales – the two largest creatures on the planet! The blue, with a mottled steely blue-gray coloration and small dorsal fin on a loooong back, was easily distinguishable from the dark body and prominent dorsal fin of the finback whale. All of these whales would take several breaths before going for a deeper dive, and one of the blue whales was in the habit of raising its flukes (tail) out of the water as it submerged. We noticed that most of its right fluke was missing, which could have been the result of an encounter with a killer whale or perhaps a ship. In between whale sightings we pointed out blue-footed and brown boobies, Craveri’s murrelets, eared grebes, brown pelicans, and yellow-footed gulls.
In the afternoon we anchored in Bahia Elefante (Elephant Bay) at Isla Santa Catalina. Our activities here included snorkeling and hiking. An isolated granitic island, Santa Catalina is known for its huge cardón cactus, giant barrel cactus, and many endemic reptiles, including the rattleless rattlesnake. Interesting land birds here included verdin, black-throated sparrow, ash-throated flycatcher, white-winged dove, Gila woodpecker, and loggerhead shrike. In the late afternoon light, the moon rose over the cacti through the cloudless blue desert sky.
At sunrise (and it was a beautiful one) we had a group of foraging common dolphins alongside the National Geographic Sea Bird. It was the beginning of a “whale” of a day. After breakfast we returned to the deck, spotting blows, backs and fins of large whales. First, a sly Bryde’s whale kept us busy guessing about its location, but we managed to get some good looks at its flanks and falcate dorsal fin. Shortly thereafter, we observed some large blows and with further investigation we identified blue and finback whales – the two largest creatures on the planet! The blue, with a mottled steely blue-gray coloration and small dorsal fin on a loooong back, was easily distinguishable from the dark body and prominent dorsal fin of the finback whale. All of these whales would take several breaths before going for a deeper dive, and one of the blue whales was in the habit of raising its flukes (tail) out of the water as it submerged. We noticed that most of its right fluke was missing, which could have been the result of an encounter with a killer whale or perhaps a ship. In between whale sightings we pointed out blue-footed and brown boobies, Craveri’s murrelets, eared grebes, brown pelicans, and yellow-footed gulls.
In the afternoon we anchored in Bahia Elefante (Elephant Bay) at Isla Santa Catalina. Our activities here included snorkeling and hiking. An isolated granitic island, Santa Catalina is known for its huge cardón cactus, giant barrel cactus, and many endemic reptiles, including the rattleless rattlesnake. Interesting land birds here included verdin, black-throated sparrow, ash-throated flycatcher, white-winged dove, Gila woodpecker, and loggerhead shrike. In the late afternoon light, the moon rose over the cacti through the cloudless blue desert sky.
