San Jose Channel, Gulf of California & Half Moon Bay, Isla San Francisco
The gentlest of breezes skimmed the sea this morning, leaving the surface calm, flat and devoid of distracting whitecaps. We sighted the blows of one, two then a third animal ahead of our ship. Closer inspection left us with more questions than answers. The shape of the dorsal fins and the coloration of the bodies were the only clues we had to decipher the species of these whales. The silhouette of one dorsal fin seemed to have a sleeker, finer cut and curve to it than the other two. These whales were moving at a rapid pace, which made keeping up and continuing to gather information a challenge. Their speed in of itself was an additional clue. Fin whales are called by some the “greyhounds of the sea.” Gathering and sorting through our observations, we decided our first whales this morning were two fins and one blue. We followed these animals south of Isla San Francisco. From there we were distracted by several tall columnar blows hanging in the air for tens of seconds. The color and the species of our next sighting was one and the same: simply, blue. There was not one, two or even three but four blue whales scattered along the eastern side of Isla San Jose. These whales were doing more than their required surfacing for air, they were surface feeding. Several times we watched in awe as a whale lunged sideways, inflating and exposing its throat pleats in a guppy-belly bloated shape. This activity was all about food. As they expressed and expelled the water, we could track their swimming underwater. Their mottled grey/blue skin turned into a bright turquoise silhouette as they swam sub-surface. They did not feed alone. Eared grebes were in the vicinity as well. As a whale surfaced the grebes scattered all about, sometimes sliding off the whale as it lunged and the waters parted. The diminutive birds and the great whales were quite likely eating the same food, krill.
As our day continued, we found ourselves at Isla San Francisco. A large flock of brown pelicans were busily diving the bay, feeding on huge schools of tiny fish. This was a tough day for being near the base of the food chain. Like the pelicans we too could see numerous schools of fish as we paddled our kayaks in Half Moon Bay. The afternoon progressed into a beach barbeque. A relaxing opportunity to reflect on our day of blue whales and pelicans, of krill and kayaking, of cactus and courting hummingbirds. This amazing day came to a close as we nestled close around the bonfire, dug our toes into the gritty warm sand and feasted on the sticky sweetness of carbon-crusted s’mores.
The gentlest of breezes skimmed the sea this morning, leaving the surface calm, flat and devoid of distracting whitecaps. We sighted the blows of one, two then a third animal ahead of our ship. Closer inspection left us with more questions than answers. The shape of the dorsal fins and the coloration of the bodies were the only clues we had to decipher the species of these whales. The silhouette of one dorsal fin seemed to have a sleeker, finer cut and curve to it than the other two. These whales were moving at a rapid pace, which made keeping up and continuing to gather information a challenge. Their speed in of itself was an additional clue. Fin whales are called by some the “greyhounds of the sea.” Gathering and sorting through our observations, we decided our first whales this morning were two fins and one blue. We followed these animals south of Isla San Francisco. From there we were distracted by several tall columnar blows hanging in the air for tens of seconds. The color and the species of our next sighting was one and the same: simply, blue. There was not one, two or even three but four blue whales scattered along the eastern side of Isla San Jose. These whales were doing more than their required surfacing for air, they were surface feeding. Several times we watched in awe as a whale lunged sideways, inflating and exposing its throat pleats in a guppy-belly bloated shape. This activity was all about food. As they expressed and expelled the water, we could track their swimming underwater. Their mottled grey/blue skin turned into a bright turquoise silhouette as they swam sub-surface. They did not feed alone. Eared grebes were in the vicinity as well. As a whale surfaced the grebes scattered all about, sometimes sliding off the whale as it lunged and the waters parted. The diminutive birds and the great whales were quite likely eating the same food, krill.
As our day continued, we found ourselves at Isla San Francisco. A large flock of brown pelicans were busily diving the bay, feeding on huge schools of tiny fish. This was a tough day for being near the base of the food chain. Like the pelicans we too could see numerous schools of fish as we paddled our kayaks in Half Moon Bay. The afternoon progressed into a beach barbeque. A relaxing opportunity to reflect on our day of blue whales and pelicans, of krill and kayaking, of cactus and courting hummingbirds. This amazing day came to a close as we nestled close around the bonfire, dug our toes into the gritty warm sand and feasted on the sticky sweetness of carbon-crusted s’mores.
