Isla San Marcos and the Sea of Cortez
What an amazing day for marine mammals! After a leisurely morning of hiking and kayaking at Isla San Marcos, we raised anchor and headed south into the abundant waters of the Sea of Cortez. Only moments after leaving terra firma, a sperm whale was spotted swimming on the surface of the rolling sea. We thrilled at the sight because sperm whales are elusive creatures, not readily showing themselves with a fluke or a breach. But distinguished by its slanted blow, this whale couldn’t hide for long from our keen-eyed naturalist, Jack Swenson.
Little did we know this was only the beginning; we were graced with a series of sperm whales. As excitement subsided when the sperm whales continued on their way, we wandered down to the lounge for a geology lecture by Stewart Aitchison. In keeping with Sea Bird tradition, the starting minutes of the lecture produced magnificent wildlife outside. Seemingly from nowhere, more than one thousand common dolphins skipped and soared above the waves. Poised with cameras and binoculars, the lucky of us captured the circus on film.
Certain that our day was complete, we were surprised by Mother Nature yet again. A brilliant sunset replete with reds, yellows, and blues, framed a lone blue whale logging on the surface in front of our bow. We gazed in awe at this creature, the largest of all whales. As the sun sank behind the Baja peninsula, we committed to memory a dazzling day.
What an amazing day for marine mammals! After a leisurely morning of hiking and kayaking at Isla San Marcos, we raised anchor and headed south into the abundant waters of the Sea of Cortez. Only moments after leaving terra firma, a sperm whale was spotted swimming on the surface of the rolling sea. We thrilled at the sight because sperm whales are elusive creatures, not readily showing themselves with a fluke or a breach. But distinguished by its slanted blow, this whale couldn’t hide for long from our keen-eyed naturalist, Jack Swenson.
Little did we know this was only the beginning; we were graced with a series of sperm whales. As excitement subsided when the sperm whales continued on their way, we wandered down to the lounge for a geology lecture by Stewart Aitchison. In keeping with Sea Bird tradition, the starting minutes of the lecture produced magnificent wildlife outside. Seemingly from nowhere, more than one thousand common dolphins skipped and soared above the waves. Poised with cameras and binoculars, the lucky of us captured the circus on film.
Certain that our day was complete, we were surprised by Mother Nature yet again. A brilliant sunset replete with reds, yellows, and blues, framed a lone blue whale logging on the surface in front of our bow. We gazed in awe at this creature, the largest of all whales. As the sun sank behind the Baja peninsula, we committed to memory a dazzling day.