Magdalena Bay & Into the Pacific
After a calm night at anchor just off the sand dunes at La Libertad, we awoke today under a beautiful mackerel sky, which lit up dramatically in the moments before sunrise. The early morning light beautifully defined the abstract shapes of the dunes we had been exploring yesterday afternoon. As breakfast was announced, we pulled anchor and headed to our morning’s destination, the mangroves of El Barril.
Once in the mangroves, some of us set off quietly in kayaks to explore this productive ecosystem, while others opted for photography and natural history Zodiac tours. In the mangroves we saw a variety of bird life with close views of great blue herons, as well as tricolor herons, reddish egrets,
and many whimbrels.
After lunch we set sail for La Entrada, the exit point from Magdalena Bay, then turning to a southern heading as we continued our voyage to the tip of the Baja California Peninsula. As we passed out of Magdalena Bay, we briefly encountered a small group of Pacific white-sided dolphins, an uncommon but very welcome sighting. As we continued on, our afternoon at sea brought many more marine mammals our way, with long-beaked common dolphins frequently coming in to ride our bow wake. Those out on deck were also rewarded with views of black-vented and pink-footed shearwaters.
As cocktail hour came, so did our first sightings of the magnificent blue whale, the largest animal on earth, and everyone was back out on deck to see this great sight. During the next 40 minutes we passed at least eight individual animals. Their towering blows were electrically illuminated in the golden light of the setting sun as another satisfying day onboard the National Geographic Sea Lion drew to a close.
After a calm night at anchor just off the sand dunes at La Libertad, we awoke today under a beautiful mackerel sky, which lit up dramatically in the moments before sunrise. The early morning light beautifully defined the abstract shapes of the dunes we had been exploring yesterday afternoon. As breakfast was announced, we pulled anchor and headed to our morning’s destination, the mangroves of El Barril.
Once in the mangroves, some of us set off quietly in kayaks to explore this productive ecosystem, while others opted for photography and natural history Zodiac tours. In the mangroves we saw a variety of bird life with close views of great blue herons, as well as tricolor herons, reddish egrets,
and many whimbrels.
After lunch we set sail for La Entrada, the exit point from Magdalena Bay, then turning to a southern heading as we continued our voyage to the tip of the Baja California Peninsula. As we passed out of Magdalena Bay, we briefly encountered a small group of Pacific white-sided dolphins, an uncommon but very welcome sighting. As we continued on, our afternoon at sea brought many more marine mammals our way, with long-beaked common dolphins frequently coming in to ride our bow wake. Those out on deck were also rewarded with views of black-vented and pink-footed shearwaters.
As cocktail hour came, so did our first sightings of the magnificent blue whale, the largest animal on earth, and everyone was back out on deck to see this great sight. During the next 40 minutes we passed at least eight individual animals. Their towering blows were electrically illuminated in the golden light of the setting sun as another satisfying day onboard the National Geographic Sea Lion drew to a close.
