Canal de San Jose & Isla San Francisco
On this cloudy and gray morning in the Gulf of California we never expected to change our plans of disembarking on San Jose Island for hikes, but we happily did so because we spotted a lot of bushy, short, diagonally-oriented blows while navigating northbound between this island and the peninsula, in the deep Canal de San Jose. In fact, as we got closer to some blows, we observed the magnificent backs, dorsal fins, wrinkled skin and flukes of sperm whales, or Cachalotes, as we call them in Mexico. Many adult females, young individuals and one-to-two month old babies were seen everywhere around our ship the National Geographic Sea Lion. Some decidedly were just traveling fast, but others simply logged at the surface or moved slowly towards the boat allowing us to appreciate their impressive heads and blow holes, and even heard the powerful sound of their exhalations. Our natural history staff immediately provided us with substantial and comprehensive information about the lives of these fascinating creatures.
There were times in which certain calves, with all of us in clear expectancy, performed their breaching behavior several times and for unknown reasons. Adults also delighted us showing their flukes in the preliminary moments before a long dive. The activity was so intense that our ship spent most of the morning with them. Literally we were navigating in a "soup" of sperm whales that came to the Gulf of California to feed on the Humboldt or "jumbo" squid, one of the largest species of squid in the world. This species, very abundant in the deep, cold and dark waters of the gulf, attracts an array of different creatures that prey on them, which includes sperm whales, sea lions, sharks and humans. Later, we moved to the little Isla San Francisco and hiked, snorkeled and kayaked (the whole afternoon) in the beautiful harbor known as Half Moon Bay. A delicious barbeque and a warming bonfire were set up on the beach. Stories about the Aztecs and the creation of the Fifth Sun crowned a full day of emotions and surprises.
On this cloudy and gray morning in the Gulf of California we never expected to change our plans of disembarking on San Jose Island for hikes, but we happily did so because we spotted a lot of bushy, short, diagonally-oriented blows while navigating northbound between this island and the peninsula, in the deep Canal de San Jose. In fact, as we got closer to some blows, we observed the magnificent backs, dorsal fins, wrinkled skin and flukes of sperm whales, or Cachalotes, as we call them in Mexico. Many adult females, young individuals and one-to-two month old babies were seen everywhere around our ship the National Geographic Sea Lion. Some decidedly were just traveling fast, but others simply logged at the surface or moved slowly towards the boat allowing us to appreciate their impressive heads and blow holes, and even heard the powerful sound of their exhalations. Our natural history staff immediately provided us with substantial and comprehensive information about the lives of these fascinating creatures.
There were times in which certain calves, with all of us in clear expectancy, performed their breaching behavior several times and for unknown reasons. Adults also delighted us showing their flukes in the preliminary moments before a long dive. The activity was so intense that our ship spent most of the morning with them. Literally we were navigating in a "soup" of sperm whales that came to the Gulf of California to feed on the Humboldt or "jumbo" squid, one of the largest species of squid in the world. This species, very abundant in the deep, cold and dark waters of the gulf, attracts an array of different creatures that prey on them, which includes sperm whales, sea lions, sharks and humans. Later, we moved to the little Isla San Francisco and hiked, snorkeled and kayaked (the whole afternoon) in the beautiful harbor known as Half Moon Bay. A delicious barbeque and a warming bonfire were set up on the beach. Stories about the Aztecs and the creation of the Fifth Sun crowned a full day of emotions and surprises.
