Gorda Banks, Cabo San Lucas & San Jose del Cabo
OMG (that’s texting for ‘oh my goodness!’) what a morning! It all began before the sun actually rose and continued through the entire morning, that is, whales, whales, dolphins and more whales! Early on we had quite a following sea and wind but that didn’t deter the whales or us. Breach after breach after breach: adults, babies and even two at a time…all humpback whales. We watched over 20 humpbacks cavorting alone or in small groups and sometimes we watched from less than a humpback length away. Flippers, flukes, barnacles, eyes and even hairs—we were that close! Then there were the dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, sometimes leaping eight feet or more into the clean, warm air off the southern tip of Baja. The water was so clear that we could also see them riding the bow in layers and then sliding off the free ride and disappearing into the crystal blue depths. Sometimes the dolphins were riding the bow of the humpback whales too. After spending hours with the humpbacks and then the dolphins, we spotted whales with a little different blow and color and body shape… gray whales. A group of 3 of these leviathans surfaced quite near the ship blowing their heart-shaped blow and showing us their barnacle-covered skin before throwing their flukes in the air and disappearing into the depths. What a morning indeed!
After lunch we were alongside the dock at Cabo San Lucas and had a choice of going birding at the estuary of San Jose del Cabo or snorkeling at Chileanos, a public beach east of the cape. The birders enjoyed a walk outside of San Jose and sighted 34 species, many big and flashy ones like white-faced ibis, an array of herons and stunning cinnamon teals and some unusual ones such as a Wilson’s warbler. The snorkelers went off the beach into water much warmer than the past two days, finding an array of the tropical fishes associated with this semi-tropical paradise. Everyone also had a chance to see a bit of Cabo San Lucas which we shared with two large cruise ships and lots of other folks.
After our busy day, the National Geographic Sea Bird again put to sea and we shared stories and margaritas on the deck as the sun began to set over the famous granite rocks at Land’s End. One more surprise awaited us, however, and that was a magnificent green flash sunset. Just as the upper limb of the sun reached the horizon a brilliant ball of translucent emerald green hovered above it for a few seconds to the loud cheers of all of us watching from the deck. What a glorious and fitting end to this spectacular day, our last day in the Gulf of California before we begin our next adventure, time in the Pacific lagoons with the gray whales.
OMG (that’s texting for ‘oh my goodness!’) what a morning! It all began before the sun actually rose and continued through the entire morning, that is, whales, whales, dolphins and more whales! Early on we had quite a following sea and wind but that didn’t deter the whales or us. Breach after breach after breach: adults, babies and even two at a time…all humpback whales. We watched over 20 humpbacks cavorting alone or in small groups and sometimes we watched from less than a humpback length away. Flippers, flukes, barnacles, eyes and even hairs—we were that close! Then there were the dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, sometimes leaping eight feet or more into the clean, warm air off the southern tip of Baja. The water was so clear that we could also see them riding the bow in layers and then sliding off the free ride and disappearing into the crystal blue depths. Sometimes the dolphins were riding the bow of the humpback whales too. After spending hours with the humpbacks and then the dolphins, we spotted whales with a little different blow and color and body shape… gray whales. A group of 3 of these leviathans surfaced quite near the ship blowing their heart-shaped blow and showing us their barnacle-covered skin before throwing their flukes in the air and disappearing into the depths. What a morning indeed!
After lunch we were alongside the dock at Cabo San Lucas and had a choice of going birding at the estuary of San Jose del Cabo or snorkeling at Chileanos, a public beach east of the cape. The birders enjoyed a walk outside of San Jose and sighted 34 species, many big and flashy ones like white-faced ibis, an array of herons and stunning cinnamon teals and some unusual ones such as a Wilson’s warbler. The snorkelers went off the beach into water much warmer than the past two days, finding an array of the tropical fishes associated with this semi-tropical paradise. Everyone also had a chance to see a bit of Cabo San Lucas which we shared with two large cruise ships and lots of other folks.
After our busy day, the National Geographic Sea Bird again put to sea and we shared stories and margaritas on the deck as the sun began to set over the famous granite rocks at Land’s End. One more surprise awaited us, however, and that was a magnificent green flash sunset. Just as the upper limb of the sun reached the horizon a brilliant ball of translucent emerald green hovered above it for a few seconds to the loud cheers of all of us watching from the deck. What a glorious and fitting end to this spectacular day, our last day in the Gulf of California before we begin our next adventure, time in the Pacific lagoons with the gray whales.
