Canal De San Jose and Isla San Francisco, Baja California Sur, Mexico
The strong wind notwithstanding, we saw a whale. And then another. And then we noticed that they were humpback whales, not all that common this deep in the Gulf of California. Early in the morning, we had been watching a huge pod of common dolphins feed at the surface, in great waves, probably pushing the fish towards the surface. Many of them jumped clear out of the water as seen in this photograph. A good number of seabirds were partaking in the feast, which in Mexico we call a “bochinche.” The dolphins surged back and forth, and then suddenly a cry “Whale! Over there!” And our morning adventure (after the dolphin adventure) began. We soon noticed that these were two young animals, probably about 10 meters in length, which came to the surface to blow almost one after the other. And then, as they approached us, we saw the underside of the fins, which were drastically different in color. But we know that this is one of the characteristics of the humpback whale.
As the wind did not die down, we promptly protected ourselves from this meteorological trouble in the lee of the island of San Francisco, where a group of other ships were anchored, protected from the wind in Half Moon Bay. Here we kayaked to our heart’s content, and many of us hiked up into the hills surrounding the bay where we had a fantastic view of the small island, as well as the neighboring Isla San Jose, a giant by comparison.
The strong wind notwithstanding, we saw a whale. And then another. And then we noticed that they were humpback whales, not all that common this deep in the Gulf of California. Early in the morning, we had been watching a huge pod of common dolphins feed at the surface, in great waves, probably pushing the fish towards the surface. Many of them jumped clear out of the water as seen in this photograph. A good number of seabirds were partaking in the feast, which in Mexico we call a “bochinche.” The dolphins surged back and forth, and then suddenly a cry “Whale! Over there!” And our morning adventure (after the dolphin adventure) began. We soon noticed that these were two young animals, probably about 10 meters in length, which came to the surface to blow almost one after the other. And then, as they approached us, we saw the underside of the fins, which were drastically different in color. But we know that this is one of the characteristics of the humpback whale.
As the wind did not die down, we promptly protected ourselves from this meteorological trouble in the lee of the island of San Francisco, where a group of other ships were anchored, protected from the wind in Half Moon Bay. Here we kayaked to our heart’s content, and many of us hiked up into the hills surrounding the bay where we had a fantastic view of the small island, as well as the neighboring Isla San Jose, a giant by comparison.
