Bahia Magdalena
Bejeweled. The lagoons of Baja California harbor many treasures. Some may be gold or riches lost by pirates of long ago or maybe pearls worn by a fine senorita. Who would have thought of a barnacle in those terms? But once uttered by a lovely lady, the thought rambled about in our minds and now we see how fitting the description really is. The wildlife here wear their barnacles like most luxurious jewels.
Fog rolled in slowly, wrapping the mangrove lagoon and the tip of Magdalena Island and hiding them away. Four Zodiacs drifted serenely, isolated from the rest of the world. Nothing existed outside of ourselves; except for the whales. Proud mothers were defined by their adornments, each different than the other. Fan shaped white tattoos were penned on a pewter body or star shaped patterns were splashed on dorsum or tail stalk or fluke. The jewels, like opals in circular settings of calcium carbonate secreted by the living crustacean inside, were worn like crowns on some, necklaces on others or just scattered here and there. We examined them closely; so closely that it might have seemed that we were looking at them through a jewelers loop. Their offspring were not so highly decorated yet but they splashed and played alongside, periodically leaping into the sky as if they were trying to fly or pirouette. Their tiny jaws separated to show white baleen plates. Were they laughing at our antics, our splashing on the sea or simply filling their mouths with water to squirt it back gleefully? The fog rolled back. The world returned and we said goodbye to the gray whales.
The sand, fine and white, formed itself into patterns. Curving barchan dunes sat upon the land like giant croissants, their horns pointing away from the prevailing winds. Succulent vegetation grasped the particles, stilling them, halting their movement for years on end until with the death of the plant they were released, free again to march from ocean to bay. The strength of the sea cast more treasures upon the curving beach of Bahia Santa Maria for our examination. Pink and white swirling patterns painted overlapping plates that were united into matching cones. Barnacles of a different sort, these too chose never to be alone. Groups or colonies clustered here and there like jewels on the shell of a scallop.
Some may value diamonds or rubies or emeralds but today we learned the beauty of the gems of the natural world.
Bejeweled. The lagoons of Baja California harbor many treasures. Some may be gold or riches lost by pirates of long ago or maybe pearls worn by a fine senorita. Who would have thought of a barnacle in those terms? But once uttered by a lovely lady, the thought rambled about in our minds and now we see how fitting the description really is. The wildlife here wear their barnacles like most luxurious jewels.
Fog rolled in slowly, wrapping the mangrove lagoon and the tip of Magdalena Island and hiding them away. Four Zodiacs drifted serenely, isolated from the rest of the world. Nothing existed outside of ourselves; except for the whales. Proud mothers were defined by their adornments, each different than the other. Fan shaped white tattoos were penned on a pewter body or star shaped patterns were splashed on dorsum or tail stalk or fluke. The jewels, like opals in circular settings of calcium carbonate secreted by the living crustacean inside, were worn like crowns on some, necklaces on others or just scattered here and there. We examined them closely; so closely that it might have seemed that we were looking at them through a jewelers loop. Their offspring were not so highly decorated yet but they splashed and played alongside, periodically leaping into the sky as if they were trying to fly or pirouette. Their tiny jaws separated to show white baleen plates. Were they laughing at our antics, our splashing on the sea or simply filling their mouths with water to squirt it back gleefully? The fog rolled back. The world returned and we said goodbye to the gray whales.
The sand, fine and white, formed itself into patterns. Curving barchan dunes sat upon the land like giant croissants, their horns pointing away from the prevailing winds. Succulent vegetation grasped the particles, stilling them, halting their movement for years on end until with the death of the plant they were released, free again to march from ocean to bay. The strength of the sea cast more treasures upon the curving beach of Bahia Santa Maria for our examination. Pink and white swirling patterns painted overlapping plates that were united into matching cones. Barnacles of a different sort, these too chose never to be alone. Groups or colonies clustered here and there like jewels on the shell of a scallop.
Some may value diamonds or rubies or emeralds but today we learned the beauty of the gems of the natural world.
