Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, Mexico
As the sun rose over the Magdalena plain this morning, big beautiful clouds created shafts of golden light and cast long shadows over the land. It was the kind of lighting that make kids wonder if that is where the gods live. Well, the answer is yes they live in those shafts of heavenly light but also they live in this place we call Baja California…and this day was all about exploring this place where the gods live.
After mandatory drills aboard ship we boarded our Zodiacs for the first time and landed on a remote beach on Magdalena Island, the barrier island that protects Magdalena Bay from the Pacific Ocean. Led by our naturalists across the ¼ mile of sand dunes that make up the island at this place, we reached the Pacific and one of the most beautiful, expansive and deserted beaches in the world. It goes by the name of Sand Dollar Beach because of the tens of thousands of sand dollars along the 30 miles of pristine shoreline. As far as the eye could see in both directions we were greeted by endless white sand. Certainly this must be a place where the gods live without disturbance from development and human encroachment.
Back aboard the good ship National Geographic Sea Lion, we had a delicious and hearty lunch in preparation for an afternoon on deck. We scanned the mangroves and sand dunes for wildlife as we wound our way northward through the sinuous Hull Canal in transit to the Gray whale sanctuary of Upper Magdalena Bay. It was a very low tide and the table was set on the mudflats for a host of birds: herons, egrets, sandpipers, plovers, osprey, terns, gulls, cormorants, pelicans and ibis…just to name a few! In addition to non-stop birding we also sighted three coyotes roaming the mangroves in search of a meal.
In the later afternoon, we participated in the “Great Gray Whale Count” as the ship passed along the magnificent barrier dunes. Here we had our first look at these incredible sea creatures that make a 5000 to 7000 mile migration each year to these protected lagoon waters. With unimaginable grace, the 40-ton leviathans passed nearby, many with newborn calves at their sides—big puffy blows alongside tiny pufflet blows. What a sight for us all. Certainly this must be a place where the gods live in peace with these creatures of the deep come to the lagoons to court, mate and give birth.
At the end of our 40-mile journey northward, we dropped anchor near the gray whale’s gateway to the sea at Boca de Solidad and watched distant whale blows backlit by the lowering sun.
After dinner many of us strolled around the deck in the light of the near-full moon that was softly illuminating the dunes and casting a streak of blue-white light on the water. We now were certain that this must be the place where the gods live among the moonlight and silence broken only by whale blows and the sound of distant waves pounding on a sandy beach.
As our Expedition Leader says with his morning wake-up call, “Another beautiful day in Baja!” – with the wildlife, the warm air, the beauty and the gods.
As the sun rose over the Magdalena plain this morning, big beautiful clouds created shafts of golden light and cast long shadows over the land. It was the kind of lighting that make kids wonder if that is where the gods live. Well, the answer is yes they live in those shafts of heavenly light but also they live in this place we call Baja California…and this day was all about exploring this place where the gods live.
After mandatory drills aboard ship we boarded our Zodiacs for the first time and landed on a remote beach on Magdalena Island, the barrier island that protects Magdalena Bay from the Pacific Ocean. Led by our naturalists across the ¼ mile of sand dunes that make up the island at this place, we reached the Pacific and one of the most beautiful, expansive and deserted beaches in the world. It goes by the name of Sand Dollar Beach because of the tens of thousands of sand dollars along the 30 miles of pristine shoreline. As far as the eye could see in both directions we were greeted by endless white sand. Certainly this must be a place where the gods live without disturbance from development and human encroachment.
Back aboard the good ship National Geographic Sea Lion, we had a delicious and hearty lunch in preparation for an afternoon on deck. We scanned the mangroves and sand dunes for wildlife as we wound our way northward through the sinuous Hull Canal in transit to the Gray whale sanctuary of Upper Magdalena Bay. It was a very low tide and the table was set on the mudflats for a host of birds: herons, egrets, sandpipers, plovers, osprey, terns, gulls, cormorants, pelicans and ibis…just to name a few! In addition to non-stop birding we also sighted three coyotes roaming the mangroves in search of a meal.
In the later afternoon, we participated in the “Great Gray Whale Count” as the ship passed along the magnificent barrier dunes. Here we had our first look at these incredible sea creatures that make a 5000 to 7000 mile migration each year to these protected lagoon waters. With unimaginable grace, the 40-ton leviathans passed nearby, many with newborn calves at their sides—big puffy blows alongside tiny pufflet blows. What a sight for us all. Certainly this must be a place where the gods live in peace with these creatures of the deep come to the lagoons to court, mate and give birth.
At the end of our 40-mile journey northward, we dropped anchor near the gray whale’s gateway to the sea at Boca de Solidad and watched distant whale blows backlit by the lowering sun.
After dinner many of us strolled around the deck in the light of the near-full moon that was softly illuminating the dunes and casting a streak of blue-white light on the water. We now were certain that this must be the place where the gods live among the moonlight and silence broken only by whale blows and the sound of distant waves pounding on a sandy beach.
As our Expedition Leader says with his morning wake-up call, “Another beautiful day in Baja!” – with the wildlife, the warm air, the beauty and the gods.
