Isla Danzante and Isla del Carmen
Wispy clouds glowed a rich salmon and orange at sunrise. It was a beautiful morning with flat-calm sea conditions that provided ideal conditions for spotting marine life. We were not disappointed. Hundreds of long-beaked common dolphins appeared before breakfast. Their handsomely marked bodies glistened in the sunlight as they leapt around us. A number of animals moved back and forth just beneath the bow, catching a free ride on the pressure wave. A few remoras, baby blue in color, were tightly attached to several of the bow-riders.
A Bryde’s whale surfaced in the glassy water, showing the erect dorsal fin visible in the photo. After excellent looks at this individual, we motored on.
Seabirds flew about the ship, and we observed boobies, frigate birds, storm petrels, and hundreds of eared grebes. A Sabine’s gull mingled with the more common Bonaparte’s gulls. Then the fin whales surfaced. A cow and calf rose repeatedly and later others spouted as well, a beautiful scene against the volcanic cliffs of the Sierra de la Giganta mountains and Isla Danzante.
A white crescent beach was the perfect landing site for an afternoon of kayaking, swimming, and hiking ashore at Isla del Carmen. A broad arroyo lured us inland to explore the sand flats and rocky canyon. Today rock walls and an old cistern remain along the trail as evidence of previous human occupation from a time long ago when donkeys and mules carried salt from the far side of the island along this route. As the sun sank lower we returned to the ship for an evening at anchor in the quiet bay.
Wispy clouds glowed a rich salmon and orange at sunrise. It was a beautiful morning with flat-calm sea conditions that provided ideal conditions for spotting marine life. We were not disappointed. Hundreds of long-beaked common dolphins appeared before breakfast. Their handsomely marked bodies glistened in the sunlight as they leapt around us. A number of animals moved back and forth just beneath the bow, catching a free ride on the pressure wave. A few remoras, baby blue in color, were tightly attached to several of the bow-riders.
A Bryde’s whale surfaced in the glassy water, showing the erect dorsal fin visible in the photo. After excellent looks at this individual, we motored on.
Seabirds flew about the ship, and we observed boobies, frigate birds, storm petrels, and hundreds of eared grebes. A Sabine’s gull mingled with the more common Bonaparte’s gulls. Then the fin whales surfaced. A cow and calf rose repeatedly and later others spouted as well, a beautiful scene against the volcanic cliffs of the Sierra de la Giganta mountains and Isla Danzante.
A white crescent beach was the perfect landing site for an afternoon of kayaking, swimming, and hiking ashore at Isla del Carmen. A broad arroyo lured us inland to explore the sand flats and rocky canyon. Today rock walls and an old cistern remain along the trail as evidence of previous human occupation from a time long ago when donkeys and mules carried salt from the far side of the island along this route. As the sun sank lower we returned to the ship for an evening at anchor in the quiet bay.
