Bahia de Loreto National Park/Honeymoon Cove
Today is our first full day on the National Geographic Sea Bird. As the sun came up some guests shared their morning coffee on the bow, while others stretched on the bridge deck. We were entering the Bahia de Loreto National Park. There was a light cool breeze and the air temperature was warm. The sun was shining through a thin patch of clouds, and it gave us beautiful arrays of orange and pink colors streaming across the sky. Baja’s rich geological history was evident in the diverse layers of rock rising from the water’s edge providing a gorgeous backdrop in this Baja California landscapes.
Just before breakfast we spotted a Bryde’s whale! This elusive baleen whale had a sleek dark gray back. As it dove we noticed that its small dorsal fin and blowhole surfaced simultaneously.
As we continued north, bottlenose dolphins were in clear view and coming right toward us! Their close proximity to the ship gave us great views as they playfully jumped through the air. We could hear them taking breaths at the ocean’s surface. During this time we turned on our bow cam and enjoyed underwater footage of them surfing our bow wave. We were all happy to watch their graceful swimming and were astonished at their ability to launch themselves out of the water. Meanwhile, in the distance we could see brown pelicans and blue footed boobies in a feeding frenzy. We watched as they rapidly dove head first into schools of fish. Frigates also lingered nearby. It was wonderful to watch the way they mastered the wind’s current and didn’t need to flap their wings in order to navigate the sky.
Later, we arrived at Honeymoon Cove at the north end of Isla Danzante. Turquoise water and magnificent scenery suited our plans for kayaking and snorkeling perfectly. The kayakers quickly adapted to our operations. It was a peaceful experience and light winds made maneuvering the kayaks effortless and gave people the chance to witness various fish jumping and Sally lightfoot crabs crawling on the rocks, while enjoying the warm sun.
Many also chose to explore the vegetation nearby and took beautiful walks. We have a lot of young people on board. As they snorkeled, we could hear their screams of excitement through their snorkel mask as they were seeing many species including Mexican hogfish, Limbaugh’s Chromis, Cortez Angelfish, and Ballonfish. One young guest, Jonas Brown said he saw the “grandfather fish” which was actually a Scorpion fish that he thought resembled an elderly fish. We all smiled at the innocence of his comment and appreciated children’s way of seeing the world without prejudice, without the need to identify nature with proper names.
As we watched the sunset and had a delicious dinner we all agreed it was the perfect beginning to our expedition.
