Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur
The “rabbit in the moon” was standing on its ears within the glimmering orb that cast its glow across Magdalena Island and into the channel where we were anchored. Slowly and yet too swiftly the warm air was pushed aside by a chill from the cold Pacific. An invasion of fog worked its way up the Hull Canal and along the coast, first obscuring the moon and then eating away at the ship itself until we were engulfed by a thick blanket of moisture.
Undeterred by invisibility we set out in Zodiacs seeking whales, feeling our way between the shoals to the Boca itself, the exit to the Pacific. It must be magic, as there is no other explanation for how we were able to find these massive leviathans when we barely could find each other. Maybe they found us instead. But there they were, frolicking in the surf. Conical heads rose silently above the surface of the sea, higher than some had ever seen, with a giant eyeball seemingly peering about. Some moments all fell silent until an exhalation and rapid hollow inhale caused our heads to whorl about. Gray whale calves pounced upon mother’s backs or hitched rides upon their rostrums evoking images in our minds of toddlers bounding into bed in early morning pleading with parents to get up. When no adult agreed to romp, these two ton infants launched themselves horizontally in attempts to breach. As the sun finally chased the fog away we bid these mammals adieu and headed south again.
Mellow is the word for the afternoon for this is the mood that comes whenever surf and sand combine. Barchan dunes collected the shifting sands into arching repeating patterns sweeping across the land. Their graceful curves were interrupted periodically when flowering plants took hold and grasped the sediments, building conical mounds. But they too were ephemeral and in time would move on. The surf washed upon the shores of Bahia Santa Maria inviting toes to test the waters. Some of us lounged upon the beach or strolled the long flat playa. A time for reflection, a time for goodbye, for we must depart tomorrow.
The “rabbit in the moon” was standing on its ears within the glimmering orb that cast its glow across Magdalena Island and into the channel where we were anchored. Slowly and yet too swiftly the warm air was pushed aside by a chill from the cold Pacific. An invasion of fog worked its way up the Hull Canal and along the coast, first obscuring the moon and then eating away at the ship itself until we were engulfed by a thick blanket of moisture.
Undeterred by invisibility we set out in Zodiacs seeking whales, feeling our way between the shoals to the Boca itself, the exit to the Pacific. It must be magic, as there is no other explanation for how we were able to find these massive leviathans when we barely could find each other. Maybe they found us instead. But there they were, frolicking in the surf. Conical heads rose silently above the surface of the sea, higher than some had ever seen, with a giant eyeball seemingly peering about. Some moments all fell silent until an exhalation and rapid hollow inhale caused our heads to whorl about. Gray whale calves pounced upon mother’s backs or hitched rides upon their rostrums evoking images in our minds of toddlers bounding into bed in early morning pleading with parents to get up. When no adult agreed to romp, these two ton infants launched themselves horizontally in attempts to breach. As the sun finally chased the fog away we bid these mammals adieu and headed south again.
Mellow is the word for the afternoon for this is the mood that comes whenever surf and sand combine. Barchan dunes collected the shifting sands into arching repeating patterns sweeping across the land. Their graceful curves were interrupted periodically when flowering plants took hold and grasped the sediments, building conical mounds. But they too were ephemeral and in time would move on. The surf washed upon the shores of Bahia Santa Maria inviting toes to test the waters. Some of us lounged upon the beach or strolled the long flat playa. A time for reflection, a time for goodbye, for we must depart tomorrow.
