Boca de Soledad
As the sun rose over the waters of Boca de Soledad we spotted faint blows in the distance: a good omen for the day to come.
Some of us wandered over to the north end of Isla Magdalena. The mangrove forests harbored scrub jays, egrets and heron. The beach and dunes were filled with treasures as well. Weathered shells and turtle carapaces dotted the beach and we watched as a coyote scoured the dunes for a meal.
But the focus of the day was whale watching. Throughout the day we made several trips, and each seemed to have a completely different character. During the morning a group of whales mingled just inside the breakers. We watched with delight as these great giants rolled and turned with the swells.
In the afternoon, the tide and winds had changed and a whole new group of animals had moved in. A pod of bottlenose dolphin came in and traversed the channel. The mangroves provide a great bounty of fish and shrimp for these hungry toothed whales. Two mother and calf pairs and a young juvenile gray whale were spotted cavorting as well. Our local guides from Lopes Mateo mentioned that these calves were born during the past two weeks.
The changing of the guard throughout the day in terms of the sights we saw showed the great tapestry of experiences that Magdalena Bay has to offer.
