Isla San Jose and Puerto Gato
It’s New Year’s Eve, and the marine animals of the Gulf of California had a celebration planned for us today. A Bryde’s whale was first to arrive a few minutes after sunrise. In typical Bryde’s whale fashion, it surfaced sporadically and always where it was least expected. (Bryde’s whales do this; they are predictably unpredictable.) The sun was still waking up, stretching its first warming rays our way when two hundred long beaked common dolphins arrived. Full of energy and exuberance, they chased fish. We delayed breakfast while we watched them catch theirs.
We anchored just off Punta Colorado on Isla San Jose where a natural amphitheater of smooth pink rock curves towards a performance stage of turquoise water. Beneath the surface, a flamboyant Moorish idol swam about, while schools of blue and gold snappers loitered near coral heads. Above the water, ancient whale bones were imbedded in the pink rocks, and countless mollusk shells dotted the curving pink cliffs.
As we finished lunch and ice cream sundaes on the sundeck, a whale shark was sighted! The world’s largest fish can grow to be over fifty feet long; this individual was about 18 feet in length . . . a very impressive fish! We peered over the rails as the fish swam slowly at the surface. We were so close, and the water so clear that we could see its beautiful pattern of white lines and large dots covering its blue gray skin. Our undersea specialist Alberto jumped into the water with the underwater video camera; as he swam alongside the enormous plankton-feeding shark, Alberto looked very, very small.
Nearby, hundreds of long beaked common dolphins jumped and chased small fish. They rode the ship’s bow wave then surfed and jumped in the ship’s stern wake. They may have been feeding, but it was hard to imagine they weren’t doing some of this for the pure enjoyment of it, too. We certainly enjoyed watching them, and when we finally moved away, National Geographic researcher Greg Marshall gave a presentation about his innovative Crittercam projects.
In the waning afternoon light, we went ashore at Puerto Gato. On land, curving, soft-looking pink and red cliffs were the day’s backdrop. Here at Puerto Gato the large rocks had the appearance of soft, inflated red pillows. We photographed, strolled as the sun dipped behind the hills. At 10pm, we celebrated the new year with champagne and a small ceremony. Following maritime tradition, our oldest guest rang out the old year with four rings of the ship’s bell, and our youngest guest rang it four times to ring in the new. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! May all of 2006 be as wonderful as this day.
It’s New Year’s Eve, and the marine animals of the Gulf of California had a celebration planned for us today. A Bryde’s whale was first to arrive a few minutes after sunrise. In typical Bryde’s whale fashion, it surfaced sporadically and always where it was least expected. (Bryde’s whales do this; they are predictably unpredictable.) The sun was still waking up, stretching its first warming rays our way when two hundred long beaked common dolphins arrived. Full of energy and exuberance, they chased fish. We delayed breakfast while we watched them catch theirs.
We anchored just off Punta Colorado on Isla San Jose where a natural amphitheater of smooth pink rock curves towards a performance stage of turquoise water. Beneath the surface, a flamboyant Moorish idol swam about, while schools of blue and gold snappers loitered near coral heads. Above the water, ancient whale bones were imbedded in the pink rocks, and countless mollusk shells dotted the curving pink cliffs.
As we finished lunch and ice cream sundaes on the sundeck, a whale shark was sighted! The world’s largest fish can grow to be over fifty feet long; this individual was about 18 feet in length . . . a very impressive fish! We peered over the rails as the fish swam slowly at the surface. We were so close, and the water so clear that we could see its beautiful pattern of white lines and large dots covering its blue gray skin. Our undersea specialist Alberto jumped into the water with the underwater video camera; as he swam alongside the enormous plankton-feeding shark, Alberto looked very, very small.
Nearby, hundreds of long beaked common dolphins jumped and chased small fish. They rode the ship’s bow wave then surfed and jumped in the ship’s stern wake. They may have been feeding, but it was hard to imagine they weren’t doing some of this for the pure enjoyment of it, too. We certainly enjoyed watching them, and when we finally moved away, National Geographic researcher Greg Marshall gave a presentation about his innovative Crittercam projects.
In the waning afternoon light, we went ashore at Puerto Gato. On land, curving, soft-looking pink and red cliffs were the day’s backdrop. Here at Puerto Gato the large rocks had the appearance of soft, inflated red pillows. We photographed, strolled as the sun dipped behind the hills. At 10pm, we celebrated the new year with champagne and a small ceremony. Following maritime tradition, our oldest guest rang out the old year with four rings of the ship’s bell, and our youngest guest rang it four times to ring in the new. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! May all of 2006 be as wonderful as this day.
