Boca de Soledad to La Entrada, Magdalena Bay
Sunrise revealed an ethereal world around us, as fog wrapped the mangroves, the dunes and the calm waters, immersing the National Geographic Sea Bird into a small world. Nevertheless, we boarded the Zodiacs and headed out looking for the gray whales and their calves. Little by little the fog moved away and soon we were in the vicinity of those marvelous cetaceans. Young baby whales seemed a bit sleepy at first, not much unlike some of us, but after a little while they became more active, playing around their moms, and at least one entertained himself by pushing a Zodiac around! We spent several wonderful hours watching spy hopping adults and cavorting babies. We kept watching whales from onboard the ship after we pulled the anchor and headed south through the Hull Canal, as many more were seen been followed by the local whale-watching boats, spy hopping and even logging on the surface. Bottlenose dolphins, great blue herons, brant geese and white ibises were all around as we made our way through the mangrove-bordered canal.
Early in the afternoon we entered the more open waters of the central Magdalena Bay area and headed towards La Entrada, as the gap between Magdalena and Santa Margarita islands is known. There we saw from a distance the remnants of a former whaling station that reminded us that it was there where the commercial killing of the gray whales started in the winter of 1845-1846. Oblivious to that past, several adult gray whales were observed off the south end of Magdalena Island, some of them obviously preoccupied in making the next generation of baby whales. Large number of brown pelicans had more prosaic ideas in mind as they congregated around schools of small fish. Meanwhile, the sun slowly made its way into the open Pacific to the East, putting an end to another beautiful day in Baja California.
Sunrise revealed an ethereal world around us, as fog wrapped the mangroves, the dunes and the calm waters, immersing the National Geographic Sea Bird into a small world. Nevertheless, we boarded the Zodiacs and headed out looking for the gray whales and their calves. Little by little the fog moved away and soon we were in the vicinity of those marvelous cetaceans. Young baby whales seemed a bit sleepy at first, not much unlike some of us, but after a little while they became more active, playing around their moms, and at least one entertained himself by pushing a Zodiac around! We spent several wonderful hours watching spy hopping adults and cavorting babies. We kept watching whales from onboard the ship after we pulled the anchor and headed south through the Hull Canal, as many more were seen been followed by the local whale-watching boats, spy hopping and even logging on the surface. Bottlenose dolphins, great blue herons, brant geese and white ibises were all around as we made our way through the mangrove-bordered canal.
Early in the afternoon we entered the more open waters of the central Magdalena Bay area and headed towards La Entrada, as the gap between Magdalena and Santa Margarita islands is known. There we saw from a distance the remnants of a former whaling station that reminded us that it was there where the commercial killing of the gray whales started in the winter of 1845-1846. Oblivious to that past, several adult gray whales were observed off the south end of Magdalena Island, some of them obviously preoccupied in making the next generation of baby whales. Large number of brown pelicans had more prosaic ideas in mind as they congregated around schools of small fish. Meanwhile, the sun slowly made its way into the open Pacific to the East, putting an end to another beautiful day in Baja California.
