Blue seas, blue skies, blue tails, blue whales…. these are the blues on board the Sea Bird
Sailing northward in San Jose Channel, we make a landing at Playa Encantada on Isla San Jose. By 9 a.m. all are ashore exploring a rich desert arroyo full of blooming palo blanco trees, palo verdes and ironwoods; meeting the animals living among the trees and cacti. Both long and short–distant explorers are treated to good looks of the colorful whiptail lizards: turquoise-tailed and striped in contrasting warm colors. They hunt the shadows and branches for insects, dodging in and out of the light.
Collectively we amass a list of fine desert birds from the Gila Woodpecker hiding in the cardons to the endemic Xantus Hummingbird taking nectar at palo adan’s tubular red flowers. Ash-throated Flycatchers work the air from high cactus and shrub perches while California Gnatcatchers glean insects from tiny mesquite leaves. The beauty is in the details, as we move attentively through the morning.
Our afternoon takes us from the tiny to the immense. As we sail north again we see tall blows and everyone grabs binoculars and cameras to enjoy the blue whales in sight. Our first whale is joined by a second and moves so close by the ship we are awed. Appearing blue underwater, once they break the surface the animals are pigmented a mottled gray. The thrill of the afternoon is the seemingly endless parade of passing blue whales….more than twenty, as we move north through San Jose Channel. Our attention is diverted to a huge but distant male sperm whale, then redirected to a closer gathering of perhaps 1000 or more leaping common dolphins, punctuated by more blue whales. What a rare day of sheer numbers and tonnage of marine mammals, and a worldwide endangered species at that. Day ends with a warm sunset and moonrise over the desert lands surrounding our blues.
Sailing northward in San Jose Channel, we make a landing at Playa Encantada on Isla San Jose. By 9 a.m. all are ashore exploring a rich desert arroyo full of blooming palo blanco trees, palo verdes and ironwoods; meeting the animals living among the trees and cacti. Both long and short–distant explorers are treated to good looks of the colorful whiptail lizards: turquoise-tailed and striped in contrasting warm colors. They hunt the shadows and branches for insects, dodging in and out of the light.
Collectively we amass a list of fine desert birds from the Gila Woodpecker hiding in the cardons to the endemic Xantus Hummingbird taking nectar at palo adan’s tubular red flowers. Ash-throated Flycatchers work the air from high cactus and shrub perches while California Gnatcatchers glean insects from tiny mesquite leaves. The beauty is in the details, as we move attentively through the morning.
Our afternoon takes us from the tiny to the immense. As we sail north again we see tall blows and everyone grabs binoculars and cameras to enjoy the blue whales in sight. Our first whale is joined by a second and moves so close by the ship we are awed. Appearing blue underwater, once they break the surface the animals are pigmented a mottled gray. The thrill of the afternoon is the seemingly endless parade of passing blue whales….more than twenty, as we move north through San Jose Channel. Our attention is diverted to a huge but distant male sperm whale, then redirected to a closer gathering of perhaps 1000 or more leaping common dolphins, punctuated by more blue whales. What a rare day of sheer numbers and tonnage of marine mammals, and a worldwide endangered species at that. Day ends with a warm sunset and moonrise over the desert lands surrounding our blues.
