The Capes Area
After having sailed south during the night and crossed the Tropic of Cancer, the National Geographic Sea Bird entered the tropics. Shortly before sunrise the first blows were spotted by eager observers on deck, the first humpback whales of many to follow. The waters around the southern portion of Baja California are a well-known wintering area for those humpback whales coming from Oregon, Washington and British Columbia to mate and give birth to their calves.
Throughout the morning we enjoyed the show of numerous whales in surface-active groups, where several males compete with each other trying to be the one closer to the female leading the whole group; such groups are very dynamic, with male whales lounging into each other and throwing their tails or pectoral fins in spectacular displays that might scrape their barnacles off and cut their opponent’s skin. Other whales were engaged in more leisurely activities, like the mother and calf couple that breached repeatedly just a few yards off the coast, or the singing males that we were able to listen to by dropping our hydrophone into the water.
We entered the protected waters of the newly built Puerto Los Cabos marina and divided into two groups to explore the old, quiet town of San Jose del Cabo or go bird-watching at the San Jose river. Founded by Jesuit missionaries during the early 1700’s, San Jose del Cabo is a true oasis in the desert due to the permanent fresh water flow of the short river that flows from the La Laguna range nearby. Numerous resident and migratory birds were observed there by our birding party, including some very young nestlings of the common moorhen, great blue and green herons, great, snowy, reddish and cattle egrets, a sharp-shinned hawk and the endemic Belding’s yellowthroat, among many more.
We returned to our floating home and made our way west towards the famous granitic rock formations at Land’s End with its famous arch; a beautiful sunset complete with a green flash (yes, it does exist!), marked our departure from the Sea of Cortez and welcomed us to the open Pacific Ocean.
