South of Isla Carmen & Isla Danzante
At 0630 AM, we awoke to pink light cascading down the tops of ‘Sierra de la Giganta,’ the mountain range that forms the spine of the Baja Peninsula. The tall, straight blows of fin whales, the second largest whales in the world, rose above calm waters. The Gulf of California is a magnificent place to greet dawn!
Our breakfast was pre-empted by enormous whales; before, during and following the day’s first meal, we lingered amongst four fin whales and three blue whales. Curiously, the fin whales had horrendously bad breath! We seemed to be downwind of the fin whales every time they surfaced, and none of us can recall ever smelling worse ‘whale breath.’ It was truly awful! Two sea lions surfaced near the planet’s largest mammals, and later in the morning, six bottlenose dolphins arrived. After hours of whale watching, we continued on our way, and Berit’s presentation on cetaceans gave us some background information on whales and dolphins of this region.
In mid-afternoon we arrived at cozy Honeymoon Cove on Isla Danzante. Many of us snorkeled in the green, plankton-rich waters, among fishes, sea stars and colorful worms. We also kayaked along the curving, steep-sided inlets. Later in the afternoon, many of us walked up the rocky, dry, red-rock hillsides, among scattered cacti and other desert plants. The late afternoon light inspired photographers among us, as it illuminated steep hills, and cast shadows from mountains.
At 0630 AM, we awoke to pink light cascading down the tops of ‘Sierra de la Giganta,’ the mountain range that forms the spine of the Baja Peninsula. The tall, straight blows of fin whales, the second largest whales in the world, rose above calm waters. The Gulf of California is a magnificent place to greet dawn!
Our breakfast was pre-empted by enormous whales; before, during and following the day’s first meal, we lingered amongst four fin whales and three blue whales. Curiously, the fin whales had horrendously bad breath! We seemed to be downwind of the fin whales every time they surfaced, and none of us can recall ever smelling worse ‘whale breath.’ It was truly awful! Two sea lions surfaced near the planet’s largest mammals, and later in the morning, six bottlenose dolphins arrived. After hours of whale watching, we continued on our way, and Berit’s presentation on cetaceans gave us some background information on whales and dolphins of this region.
In mid-afternoon we arrived at cozy Honeymoon Cove on Isla Danzante. Many of us snorkeled in the green, plankton-rich waters, among fishes, sea stars and colorful worms. We also kayaked along the curving, steep-sided inlets. Later in the afternoon, many of us walked up the rocky, dry, red-rock hillsides, among scattered cacti and other desert plants. The late afternoon light inspired photographers among us, as it illuminated steep hills, and cast shadows from mountains.
