Boca de Soledad & Hull Canal
Our day started shortly after sunrise when several of us boarded the Zodiacs and went looking for gray whales; the rest would follow a bit later, during the “civilized” round. Despite the wind and the waves it produced, we were able to find and follow a couple of pairs of female gray whales and their calves.
Magdalena Bay is the southernmost of the gray whale’s calving lagoons in Baja California, and the one that the whales abandon first once they start their migration back to their northern feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi seas. The whales that we encountered today are possibly among the ones that gave birth late in the season in mid or late February and should be ready to depart soon, reminding us about their marvelous migration.
We also had the opportunity to watch a number of very interesting shore and marine birds, including brown pelicans, royal terns and magnificent frigatebirds. Double-crested cormorants were busy flying around, carrying nesting material with their beaks or sitting at their nests, whereas a yellow-crowned night heron watched its neighbors from a safe perch and a great blue heron concentrated along the shore, trying to capture his morning meal.
The National Geographic Sea Bird eventually made her way south through the Hull Canal under the expert hand of our pilot Alejandro Camacho and dropped anchor at the entrance of a series of channels and lagoons completely covered with mangroves, where we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the largest wetland in the southern portion of the peninsula, bringing an end to a wonderful week of exploration and marvelous experiences.
