Magdalena Bay
From the singles bar, to the maternity ward, and back to the singles bar, in a single day!
We awoke this morning on the Pacific Ocean to common dolphins, Craveri’s murrelets, and gray whales near “La Entrada” to Magdalena Bay. This is where many of the gray whales end their 10,000 mile journey from the arctic to their sheltered breeding grounds. This southern entrance to the bay is one of the places where single females come to mate, and where a host of willing male partners come to escort them. As we entered the bay we were treated to numerous adult whales with many showing their flukes and even a couple of breaches, all somehow essential in the courtship behavior. Our appetite for gray whales was huge and this show was the appetizer for the rest of the day.
Around lunchtime, we picked up our local pilot to guide the ship through the mangrove lined Hull canal. Our ship was escorted by bowriding bottlenose dolphins as passed through an area filled with herons, egrets, cormorants, and shorebirds. After passing the “Devil’s elbow,” we entered a wider part of the channel know as “La Florida.” This, in stark contrast to the singles bar we had seen earlier, was the maternity ward. “La Florida” is an extremely sheltered area where mother gray whales give birth to their fifteen foot, two thousand pound calves, and practice swimming in these protected waters. We were quickly saturated with mom-calf pairs as at least six of these newborns and their ever-attentive mothers were in view at one time. Frame after frame of photos were snapped of the pairs as we passed through this nursery and some mothers delighted the audience with breaches.
As we passed the Mexican village of Lopez Mateos, we left the nursing pairs behind and entered a second area of singles looking for some action. We were surrounded by six adult whales, and they were definitely on the prowl. Some spyhopped, possibly for a look around, while others grouped into threes and rolled around showing possible breeding behavior. We anchored the Sea Bird near La Boca and many passengers went ashore to stretch their legs and enjoy the magical dunes of Isla Magdalena. As the sun set over the ever changing dunes, the air was filled with the exhalations of gray whales as they bid us goodnight and “Hasta Manana.”
From the singles bar, to the maternity ward, and back to the singles bar, in a single day!
We awoke this morning on the Pacific Ocean to common dolphins, Craveri’s murrelets, and gray whales near “La Entrada” to Magdalena Bay. This is where many of the gray whales end their 10,000 mile journey from the arctic to their sheltered breeding grounds. This southern entrance to the bay is one of the places where single females come to mate, and where a host of willing male partners come to escort them. As we entered the bay we were treated to numerous adult whales with many showing their flukes and even a couple of breaches, all somehow essential in the courtship behavior. Our appetite for gray whales was huge and this show was the appetizer for the rest of the day.
Around lunchtime, we picked up our local pilot to guide the ship through the mangrove lined Hull canal. Our ship was escorted by bowriding bottlenose dolphins as passed through an area filled with herons, egrets, cormorants, and shorebirds. After passing the “Devil’s elbow,” we entered a wider part of the channel know as “La Florida.” This, in stark contrast to the singles bar we had seen earlier, was the maternity ward. “La Florida” is an extremely sheltered area where mother gray whales give birth to their fifteen foot, two thousand pound calves, and practice swimming in these protected waters. We were quickly saturated with mom-calf pairs as at least six of these newborns and their ever-attentive mothers were in view at one time. Frame after frame of photos were snapped of the pairs as we passed through this nursery and some mothers delighted the audience with breaches.
As we passed the Mexican village of Lopez Mateos, we left the nursing pairs behind and entered a second area of singles looking for some action. We were surrounded by six adult whales, and they were definitely on the prowl. Some spyhopped, possibly for a look around, while others grouped into threes and rolled around showing possible breeding behavior. We anchored the Sea Bird near La Boca and many passengers went ashore to stretch their legs and enjoy the magical dunes of Isla Magdalena. As the sun set over the ever changing dunes, the air was filled with the exhalations of gray whales as they bid us goodnight and “Hasta Manana.”
