Another magical day in Baja began with dolphins surrounding our ship at sunrise. It was an immense group of long-beaked common dolphins numbering in the hundreds and leaping from a serenely calm sea all around the ship. The sun rose just to the south of Isla San Lorenzo as we watched the dolphins and also many seabirds that were in the area. There were brown pelicans, brown & blue-footed boobies, Heermann’s gulls, eared grebes, and rare Craveri’s murrelets among others. After spending some hours with the dolphins we turned again to the north and headed towards Isla Rasa. Arriving at the island after breakfast we were surprised to find that there were no birds occupying the island. This island is home to most of the world’s breeding populations of elegant terns and Heermann’s gulls, but neither species were occupying the island this year as expected. Seabird researcher, and long-time Lindblad friend, Enriqueta Velarde and four of her graduate students came out from the island to join us on the ship for lunch. They had arrived at the island just yesterday to begin their annual research on the breeding seabirds. Enriqueta gave us a slide-illustrated lecture about her work, explaining that because of the unusual oceanographic effects of El Nino, the seabirds were not breeding on Rasa as they typically would be at this time of year.
We bid the researchers farewell, and with an accompanying host of nagging bobitos we headed north. There were many flocks of tiny phalaropes swooping over the calm waters, some groups being chased by a speedy peregrine falcon trying to catch its dinner on the wing. We were cruising in an area known as the Canal de Ballenas (“whale canal”). Befitting of its name, we were soon surrounded by numerous large fin whales, the second largest whales on earth. We watched the whales surfacing time and again, as the evening sun dropped low over the mountains of the Baja peninsula to the west. Each time we tried to pull ourselves away, another whale would surface unexpectedly just off of the bow, prompting us to linger with them until the final traces of daylight dwindled from the sky.Eventually, another day in Baja filled with beautiful sights came to a peaceful close.
