Gulf of California & Isla San Francisco
A dramatic sunrise to the east. A full moonset to the west. Not a cloud in the sky. A soft, warm breeze out of the southeast. The low sun lighting the colourful volcanic cliffs of Cabeza de Mechudo. Leaping rays of the genus Mobula flashing black and white and smashing back into the deep-green water. And a huge school of long-beaked common dolphins moving with what can only be described as casual haste around our ship.
It is scenes like this that make the Sea of Cortes (or Gulf of California) one of the most magnificent bodies of water in the world. Rich in ocean nutrients and full of life forms that are rarely if ever found in other parts of the world, surprises are the rule here rather than the exception. We quickly learned to be on the watch for any movement, including an elongated marine invertebrate know as a siphonophore – many of them, drifting slowly past our bow. They are made up of colonies of cnidarians and are relatives of the Portuguese man-o-war. The members of the colony take on different responsibilities such as feeding and propulsion, but the colony moves more with the ocean currents than on its own.
The surprise this morning, though, was a blue whale, the largest animal species ever to inhabit this planet. This individual was perhaps 50 to 60 feet long, much shorter than the record of 110 feet recorded many years ago in the days of whaling fleets. Significantly, though, this individual showed what we concluded was a massive disfiguration. The back was markedly humped, arching higher by far than the rostrum and head, and the broad tail fluke was curved upward on the right side. Had this creature survived a devastating encounter with a ship? Or might it have been born with a spinal defect? We may never know, but we were satisfied that it was moving and breathing as most blue whales do, and diving to feed for up to 10 minutes at a time. The natural world is cruel at times, but the will to live is strong.
Snorkelers set off before lunch to explore life along the rocky shoreline of a small island. For the month of March, the water was pleasant. Others of us moseyed along a horseshoe beach, or swam in the clear water. More adventures on the island followed lunch, with many of us kayaking the shallow waters along rocky beaches, and others scaling the slope that rims the beach and salt plain. Could this be the remnants of an ancient caldera? We know that virtually the entire Baja peninsula is of volcanic origin, so millions of years of wind and water erosion may have all but eliminated the classic cone of a caldera.
An outdoor meal in an exotic land is always fun. The setting sun and calm air made for a perfect beach barbecue. Telescopic views of the planet Venus in a slender crescent phase, and of Saturn with its rings aligned with Earth ended our stay here. We would sleep well tonight.
A dramatic sunrise to the east. A full moonset to the west. Not a cloud in the sky. A soft, warm breeze out of the southeast. The low sun lighting the colourful volcanic cliffs of Cabeza de Mechudo. Leaping rays of the genus Mobula flashing black and white and smashing back into the deep-green water. And a huge school of long-beaked common dolphins moving with what can only be described as casual haste around our ship.
It is scenes like this that make the Sea of Cortes (or Gulf of California) one of the most magnificent bodies of water in the world. Rich in ocean nutrients and full of life forms that are rarely if ever found in other parts of the world, surprises are the rule here rather than the exception. We quickly learned to be on the watch for any movement, including an elongated marine invertebrate know as a siphonophore – many of them, drifting slowly past our bow. They are made up of colonies of cnidarians and are relatives of the Portuguese man-o-war. The members of the colony take on different responsibilities such as feeding and propulsion, but the colony moves more with the ocean currents than on its own.
The surprise this morning, though, was a blue whale, the largest animal species ever to inhabit this planet. This individual was perhaps 50 to 60 feet long, much shorter than the record of 110 feet recorded many years ago in the days of whaling fleets. Significantly, though, this individual showed what we concluded was a massive disfiguration. The back was markedly humped, arching higher by far than the rostrum and head, and the broad tail fluke was curved upward on the right side. Had this creature survived a devastating encounter with a ship? Or might it have been born with a spinal defect? We may never know, but we were satisfied that it was moving and breathing as most blue whales do, and diving to feed for up to 10 minutes at a time. The natural world is cruel at times, but the will to live is strong.
Snorkelers set off before lunch to explore life along the rocky shoreline of a small island. For the month of March, the water was pleasant. Others of us moseyed along a horseshoe beach, or swam in the clear water. More adventures on the island followed lunch, with many of us kayaking the shallow waters along rocky beaches, and others scaling the slope that rims the beach and salt plain. Could this be the remnants of an ancient caldera? We know that virtually the entire Baja peninsula is of volcanic origin, so millions of years of wind and water erosion may have all but eliminated the classic cone of a caldera.
An outdoor meal in an exotic land is always fun. The setting sun and calm air made for a perfect beach barbecue. Telescopic views of the planet Venus in a slender crescent phase, and of Saturn with its rings aligned with Earth ended our stay here. We would sleep well tonight.
