Loreto Bay & Carmen Island
Even before the raising sun painted the magnificent Sierra de la Giganta mountains in the west purple, we searched the waters of the Loreto Bay National Park for signs of marine life. We had high expectations, as the area is extremely productive and well known for its abundance of krill winter blooms. Soon, we spotted several tall blows in the distance, followed by long, massive shapes breaking the mirror-like appearance of the surface: blue whales! At least seven individuals of the largest animal species that have ever lived on the planet were scattered over a big area looking for krill patches to feed on. Lunging themselves to the surface on their right sides, they opened their massive mouths wide, their distended throats engulfing forty to fifty-five tons of sea water in their pursuit of breakfast. Filtering the water out through their baleen, they fed on the minute shrimp-like creatures while tiny eared grebes desperately flew away from them. The whales performed their spectacular feeding technique repeatedly, many times right next to the Sea Bird! More than once the whales came so close to us that we were able to observe them as they swam just below the surface, their incredibly massive bodies glowing in aquamarine tones. And all this before breakfast!
We continued watching the whales throughout the morning. The day was still young and many more wonderful experiences awaited us in Carmen Island, including kayaking, hiking and a delicious barbecue dinner on shore. The day ended with a strange trembling. Was it just our pulses after so much excitement? No, an earthquake rocked the land beneath our feet!
Even before the raising sun painted the magnificent Sierra de la Giganta mountains in the west purple, we searched the waters of the Loreto Bay National Park for signs of marine life. We had high expectations, as the area is extremely productive and well known for its abundance of krill winter blooms. Soon, we spotted several tall blows in the distance, followed by long, massive shapes breaking the mirror-like appearance of the surface: blue whales! At least seven individuals of the largest animal species that have ever lived on the planet were scattered over a big area looking for krill patches to feed on. Lunging themselves to the surface on their right sides, they opened their massive mouths wide, their distended throats engulfing forty to fifty-five tons of sea water in their pursuit of breakfast. Filtering the water out through their baleen, they fed on the minute shrimp-like creatures while tiny eared grebes desperately flew away from them. The whales performed their spectacular feeding technique repeatedly, many times right next to the Sea Bird! More than once the whales came so close to us that we were able to observe them as they swam just below the surface, their incredibly massive bodies glowing in aquamarine tones. And all this before breakfast!
We continued watching the whales throughout the morning. The day was still young and many more wonderful experiences awaited us in Carmen Island, including kayaking, hiking and a delicious barbecue dinner on shore. The day ended with a strange trembling. Was it just our pulses after so much excitement? No, an earthquake rocked the land beneath our feet!
