Puerto Gato, Baja California Peninsula
We cast our intentions to the winds today, and enjoyed all that settled in the lee from their swirling and scattering forces. Our morning surprise was a single blue whale, surfacing repeatedly between swells created by westerly winds which had sprung up during the night. We gathered the clues; mottled gray skin, an incredibly tall columnar-shaped blow, a dinky little dorsal fin perched far on the back, and as a bonus an additional color feature of glowing turquoise we could easily track under the waters surface. The naturalists declared in united chorus this was definitely a blue whale. As it bobbed in the swell, we bobbed as well and it was decided we should seek a gentler ride while we enjoyed breakfast.
In search of a protected lee, we navigated to Puerto Gato on the Baja California peninsula. This landing provided an incredibly diverse landscape for us to explore and become familiar with the denizens of the Sonoran desert. Larger tracks on the beach were of turkey vulture and gull. The soils inland were soft and powdery and held the impressions of recent passers-by. Along the protective edges of vegetation we found the tracks of mice, lizards, beetles and jackrabbits. Smaller tracks in the arroyo were of quail and the zygodactic X’s of roadrunners were stamped across the landscape as well. The footprint stimulating the most interest was a large hand-sized circular print of a mountain lion. An intriguing possibility to speculate upon as we skirted around the vegetation.
Countless years ago, winds had carried and deposited tiny grains of sand. They accumulated and became a series of sensuously curvaceous sand dunes. Today, there were still snowy-white dunes shifting their shapes on one shore, but on another they had morphed and transformed into a softly sculpted series of rosy-colored rounded steps. At the foot of these steps we took to the sea and immersed ourselves for an introduction to the fish and undersea flora. It was declared a productive but brisk introduction and many chilled snorkelers climbed the rocks to bask and warm themselves in the sun, like so many neoprene clad lizards.
While the winds from the west scattered our original plans for the day, we found in a protected lee a wondrous accumulation of delightful and memorable discoveries.
We cast our intentions to the winds today, and enjoyed all that settled in the lee from their swirling and scattering forces. Our morning surprise was a single blue whale, surfacing repeatedly between swells created by westerly winds which had sprung up during the night. We gathered the clues; mottled gray skin, an incredibly tall columnar-shaped blow, a dinky little dorsal fin perched far on the back, and as a bonus an additional color feature of glowing turquoise we could easily track under the waters surface. The naturalists declared in united chorus this was definitely a blue whale. As it bobbed in the swell, we bobbed as well and it was decided we should seek a gentler ride while we enjoyed breakfast.
In search of a protected lee, we navigated to Puerto Gato on the Baja California peninsula. This landing provided an incredibly diverse landscape for us to explore and become familiar with the denizens of the Sonoran desert. Larger tracks on the beach were of turkey vulture and gull. The soils inland were soft and powdery and held the impressions of recent passers-by. Along the protective edges of vegetation we found the tracks of mice, lizards, beetles and jackrabbits. Smaller tracks in the arroyo were of quail and the zygodactic X’s of roadrunners were stamped across the landscape as well. The footprint stimulating the most interest was a large hand-sized circular print of a mountain lion. An intriguing possibility to speculate upon as we skirted around the vegetation.
Countless years ago, winds had carried and deposited tiny grains of sand. They accumulated and became a series of sensuously curvaceous sand dunes. Today, there were still snowy-white dunes shifting their shapes on one shore, but on another they had morphed and transformed into a softly sculpted series of rosy-colored rounded steps. At the foot of these steps we took to the sea and immersed ourselves for an introduction to the fish and undersea flora. It was declared a productive but brisk introduction and many chilled snorkelers climbed the rocks to bask and warm themselves in the sun, like so many neoprene clad lizards.
While the winds from the west scattered our original plans for the day, we found in a protected lee a wondrous accumulation of delightful and memorable discoveries.
