Los Cabos & Gorda Banks
As the sun rose in the east over the Gulf of California, we acknowledged our presence both in the Gulf and in the tropics (now that we had crossed the Tropic of Cancer) with eyes and binoculars keenly watching the rays as they bent over the horizon, beginning the day with a green dash of color. Land’s End with calm seas and sea lions soon turned busy with the fishermen from Cabo San Lucas heading out for the day. After breakfast we spread out going all in many directions; snorkelers saw amazing numbers and varieties of fish, one of the most outstanding being the Clarion angelfish, found only here, on the very tip of the Baja Peninsula and a few off-shore islands (and I mean off-shore)!
Birding in San Jose del Cabo, a few miles north of Cabo San Lucas, was spectacular. Black-necked stilts and cinnamon teals, ospreys and egrets were all found along a slender waterway, itself the “raison d’être” for the original human settlement. Today however, the shoreline between the two “Cabos” or “capes” is filled with construction, a favorite destination for many folks up north looking to get away from the cold winter. A half-day here was enough to see what we desired, and before lunch we were content to head out, on deck with margaritas in hand to see the famous arch slide by on our way north.
We weren’t allowed to be too lazy after lunch however, because as the ship reached the area known as “Gorda Banks” (an undersea mound which rises off shore) the blows of whales became more and more numerous, until finally we started to see them in groups. These turned out to be humpback whales, mostly males with perhaps a few females involved in dominance displays. These in turn take the form of pushing and shoving, most action taking place underwater out of our sight. On the surface though, spouts in tight formation, heads, backs and a few flukes would show, indicating travel with frequent direction changes.
Finally some action closer to the shore drew us into water not much over one hundred feet deep, and there we followed a female humpback whale with a new-born calf of not more than three weeks of age. A few male humpbacks had the same idea, and followed her closely for the longest time, despite her tactics of abrupt direction changes in efforts to apparently discourage them.
It was drama on the high seas all afternoon, and only the on-coming dusk tore us away at sunset to place our bow into the wind and waves, headed for more adventure. Tomorrow we shall be further inside the famed Gulf of California and will choose a couple of her unusual islands for our attentions, in true exploration style.
As the sun rose in the east over the Gulf of California, we acknowledged our presence both in the Gulf and in the tropics (now that we had crossed the Tropic of Cancer) with eyes and binoculars keenly watching the rays as they bent over the horizon, beginning the day with a green dash of color. Land’s End with calm seas and sea lions soon turned busy with the fishermen from Cabo San Lucas heading out for the day. After breakfast we spread out going all in many directions; snorkelers saw amazing numbers and varieties of fish, one of the most outstanding being the Clarion angelfish, found only here, on the very tip of the Baja Peninsula and a few off-shore islands (and I mean off-shore)!
Birding in San Jose del Cabo, a few miles north of Cabo San Lucas, was spectacular. Black-necked stilts and cinnamon teals, ospreys and egrets were all found along a slender waterway, itself the “raison d’être” for the original human settlement. Today however, the shoreline between the two “Cabos” or “capes” is filled with construction, a favorite destination for many folks up north looking to get away from the cold winter. A half-day here was enough to see what we desired, and before lunch we were content to head out, on deck with margaritas in hand to see the famous arch slide by on our way north.
We weren’t allowed to be too lazy after lunch however, because as the ship reached the area known as “Gorda Banks” (an undersea mound which rises off shore) the blows of whales became more and more numerous, until finally we started to see them in groups. These turned out to be humpback whales, mostly males with perhaps a few females involved in dominance displays. These in turn take the form of pushing and shoving, most action taking place underwater out of our sight. On the surface though, spouts in tight formation, heads, backs and a few flukes would show, indicating travel with frequent direction changes.
Finally some action closer to the shore drew us into water not much over one hundred feet deep, and there we followed a female humpback whale with a new-born calf of not more than three weeks of age. A few male humpbacks had the same idea, and followed her closely for the longest time, despite her tactics of abrupt direction changes in efforts to apparently discourage them.
It was drama on the high seas all afternoon, and only the on-coming dusk tore us away at sunset to place our bow into the wind and waves, headed for more adventure. Tomorrow we shall be further inside the famed Gulf of California and will choose a couple of her unusual islands for our attentions, in true exploration style.
