Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, Mexico
It was a rock n roll night on our way north along the Pacific coast of Baja from Cabo San Lucas to La Entrada, the entrance to Magdalena Bay. Once inside the protection of the 60 mile long barrier island of Isla Magdalena, the wave height dropped to zero although a strong northwest wind continued. It was a bit cool out, however most of us were on deck for our transit of the Hull Canal which connects Magdalena Bay proper with upper Magdalena Bay, our home for the next few days. As we passed along the mangrove lined canal, our birders called out the exotic names of the species as they came into view: white ibis, great egret, great blue heron, royal tern, snowy egret, reddish egret, osprey, frigate bird, willet, brant goose, scaup duck and on and on. What a treat to find ourselves in an area with so many species of birds, especially since most were easily seen and colorful to boot.
As we passed Devil’s Bend and the “incredible sucking place” and came into the upper bay, all aboard were asked to come up on deck and join in the “Great Gray Whale Count.” We kept track of all the whales sighted, counted them as we passed them and tried to determine if they were single animals or cows with calves. The total was 18 cow/calf pairs and 15 single animals. As is expected at this time of year, the count is down from the Smithsonian trip 2 weeks ago where we tallied 28 cow/calves and 31 single whales. It was incredible to be steaming along with the thickets of mangroves on our starboard side, the vast and beautiful sand dunes on our port side and the bay spotted with spouts of blowing whales. Sometimes in the distance and sometimes very close, we watched whales breaching, spy hopping, throwing their flukes and rolling about in addition to mother gray whales side by side with their young calves.
Once anchored near Boca de Solidad, the uncharted entrance to Upper Magdalena Bay used only by gray whales and veteran sardine boat captains, many of us took the opportunity to go ashore for a short leg stretch and dune scramble. The remainder of the day was filled with a talk on gray whales, a preview of the video chronicle of our trip so far, a wonderful recap by our naturalist staff and another scrumptious dinner aboard the good ship Sea Bird. Having wet our whistle with all the whale sightings today, we go to bed this evening anticipating with relish our time in the Zodiacs with the whales tomorrow.
It was a rock n roll night on our way north along the Pacific coast of Baja from Cabo San Lucas to La Entrada, the entrance to Magdalena Bay. Once inside the protection of the 60 mile long barrier island of Isla Magdalena, the wave height dropped to zero although a strong northwest wind continued. It was a bit cool out, however most of us were on deck for our transit of the Hull Canal which connects Magdalena Bay proper with upper Magdalena Bay, our home for the next few days. As we passed along the mangrove lined canal, our birders called out the exotic names of the species as they came into view: white ibis, great egret, great blue heron, royal tern, snowy egret, reddish egret, osprey, frigate bird, willet, brant goose, scaup duck and on and on. What a treat to find ourselves in an area with so many species of birds, especially since most were easily seen and colorful to boot.
As we passed Devil’s Bend and the “incredible sucking place” and came into the upper bay, all aboard were asked to come up on deck and join in the “Great Gray Whale Count.” We kept track of all the whales sighted, counted them as we passed them and tried to determine if they were single animals or cows with calves. The total was 18 cow/calf pairs and 15 single animals. As is expected at this time of year, the count is down from the Smithsonian trip 2 weeks ago where we tallied 28 cow/calves and 31 single whales. It was incredible to be steaming along with the thickets of mangroves on our starboard side, the vast and beautiful sand dunes on our port side and the bay spotted with spouts of blowing whales. Sometimes in the distance and sometimes very close, we watched whales breaching, spy hopping, throwing their flukes and rolling about in addition to mother gray whales side by side with their young calves.
Once anchored near Boca de Solidad, the uncharted entrance to Upper Magdalena Bay used only by gray whales and veteran sardine boat captains, many of us took the opportunity to go ashore for a short leg stretch and dune scramble. The remainder of the day was filled with a talk on gray whales, a preview of the video chronicle of our trip so far, a wonderful recap by our naturalist staff and another scrumptious dinner aboard the good ship Sea Bird. Having wet our whistle with all the whale sightings today, we go to bed this evening anticipating with relish our time in the Zodiacs with the whales tomorrow.
