Cape Region & San Jose del Cabo
Today was one of those days that one won’t easily forget. Long before sunrise, when the first rays of the sun had yet to paint the horizon with fierce reds and oranges, the first whale blows were spotted. Soon, we were completely surrounded by several humpback whales!
The southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula is one of the favorite breeding grounds in the eastern tropical Pacific for members of this very charismatic baleen whale species, as we had ample opportunity to see. For a long time we marveled at the extraordinary acrobatic displays of several competitive groups of males, with each individual trying to be the one escorting the female in turn. They were trying!
They pushed each other, swimming at a fast pace, exhaled huge burst of bubbles, and violently threw their flukes and tail-stocks out of the water in amazing displays of strength. They even breached several times, some so close to us that even the small barnacles on their heads and flippers were clearly visible with the naked eye! Their exertions and antics made their exhalations a very noisy display as well. I lost count of the number of whales we saw today, since we kept watching blows and flukes all morning during our transit towards San Jose del Cabo.
Shortly after noon, the National Geographic Sea Lion arrived to the new marina east of San Jose del Cabo. Originally founded by the Jesuit fathers in the early 1700’s, San Jose is still a nice town with a flavor of its own despite the influence of its bigger and more crazily developed neighbor, Cabo San Lucas. The Jesuit fathers decided to establish a mission there because of the presence of a permanent fresh water source, the San Jose River.
Still flowing to this day, the small river is a true oasis of greenery in a dry land and many of us had a great time birding along its shore. American coots and moorhens, red-tailed hawks, white-faced ibises, ospreys and great, snowy and cattle egrets were some of the birds that we observed.
After awhile we came back to our beautiful floating home and slowly, almost reluctantly, made our way towards Land’s End and the open Pacific. Tomorrow we will encounter new creatures and enjoy more adventures. I’m sure of that. I’m also sure that many of us will dream of breaching whales tonight.
Today was one of those days that one won’t easily forget. Long before sunrise, when the first rays of the sun had yet to paint the horizon with fierce reds and oranges, the first whale blows were spotted. Soon, we were completely surrounded by several humpback whales!
The southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula is one of the favorite breeding grounds in the eastern tropical Pacific for members of this very charismatic baleen whale species, as we had ample opportunity to see. For a long time we marveled at the extraordinary acrobatic displays of several competitive groups of males, with each individual trying to be the one escorting the female in turn. They were trying!
They pushed each other, swimming at a fast pace, exhaled huge burst of bubbles, and violently threw their flukes and tail-stocks out of the water in amazing displays of strength. They even breached several times, some so close to us that even the small barnacles on their heads and flippers were clearly visible with the naked eye! Their exertions and antics made their exhalations a very noisy display as well. I lost count of the number of whales we saw today, since we kept watching blows and flukes all morning during our transit towards San Jose del Cabo.
Shortly after noon, the National Geographic Sea Lion arrived to the new marina east of San Jose del Cabo. Originally founded by the Jesuit fathers in the early 1700’s, San Jose is still a nice town with a flavor of its own despite the influence of its bigger and more crazily developed neighbor, Cabo San Lucas. The Jesuit fathers decided to establish a mission there because of the presence of a permanent fresh water source, the San Jose River.
Still flowing to this day, the small river is a true oasis of greenery in a dry land and many of us had a great time birding along its shore. American coots and moorhens, red-tailed hawks, white-faced ibises, ospreys and great, snowy and cattle egrets were some of the birds that we observed.
After awhile we came back to our beautiful floating home and slowly, almost reluctantly, made our way towards Land’s End and the open Pacific. Tomorrow we will encounter new creatures and enjoy more adventures. I’m sure of that. I’m also sure that many of us will dream of breaching whales tonight.
