Loreto National Marine Park & Punta Gato on the peninsula, Baja California Sur
A gorgeous Gulf of California embraced us this morning while navigating in the waters of the Loreto National Marine Park, an area established to protect reefs and the diversity of marine life that thrives there. This marine park is located in a way that includes the islands of Coronados, Carmen, Danzante, Montserrat, Las Galeras and Santa Catalina. The distant peninsula of Baja California, and its beautiful red-ochre-green colored layers of volcanic sediments forming the dramatic Sierra de la Giganta, made us think of the tremendous Earth forces and intense volcanic activity that created that sierra many millions years ago.
Framed by this scenery, our National Geographic Sea Bird made its way southbound with us on the bow looking for whales. Very soon we encountered small loose groups of bottle-nose dolphins well concentrated in pursuing prey as we derived from their behavior. Also, a blow was sighted in the distance. It was a blue whale! The largest animal on the planet! The whale undertook various long-lasting deep dives alternating with breaths of tall blows at the surface. All on board the ship observed the gigantic fluke several times above the water surface when the animal leaned the whole body downward to dive. We followed it for a time and finally decided to leave it to continue our way for the afternoon activities, but before reaching our destination two more blue whales showed up. The huge backs and the tiny dorsal fin of the two whales were seen simultaneously, but separated by one or two miles.
After lunch we reached a beautiful place on the peninsula, called Punta Gato or Cat Point. The land there is part of a ranch that belongs to one of the oldest families on the peninsula. We disembarked on a beach of immense beauty and fine sand, and found many interesting things, like bones from a sperm whale and bones of sea turtles. The reddish cliffs that extended from the beach to the distant mountains were amazing too, and our guests learned from the naturalists that some of those structures are very old dunes “trapped” by layers of volcanic tuff.
On a very flat and gravely arroyo we hiked to observe the beautiful Sonoran Desert vegetation, the land birds (that included observation of California quails), and many animal tracks amongst which there were coyotes, black-tailed jackrabbits and snakes. Some of our guests also kayaked and snorkeled. The snorkelers found schools of mackerels, eels and many other marine creatures.
In the late afternoon, the crew from the National Geographic Sea Bird delighted us with a wonderful dinner served on the beach around a bonfire. After the dessert and marshmallows we heard a story on the Creation by Aztec gods and goddesses, and on the foundation of Mexico Tenochtitlan. This really was “another beautiful day in Baja.”
To view video footage from today's Baja expedition, click here.
