Baja California
The morning began auspiciously with a glorious sunrise over the Sea of Cortez, and a school of long-nosed common dolphins feeding beside our ship. Diving boobies joined the dolphins as the school of fish they were preying upon neared the surface -- there we were in the middle of this sea's abundance as described by Steinbeck in The Log to the Sea of Cortez. A short time later as we completed our own feeding frenzy in the dining room, the call came over the public address system that large whales had been sighted. Some of us brought our remaining breakfast up on deck and we all oohed and awed as a mother and calf fin whale surfaced so near the ship that we could hear the wonderful sound of their explosive exhalation. These whales are part of a population of fin whales that live exclusively in the Sea of Cortez and are genetically distinct from other north Pacific "finners".
The rest of our morning was spent in the Zodiacs touring the beautiful little island of Ildefonso, just off the Baja coast. This island has been recently been set aside as a protected area and a haven for breeding sea birds. Hundreds of blue-footed and brown boobies dotted the hillsides and frigate birds, cormorants and brown pelicans crowded some of the shorelines. There was also an abundance of Sally Lightfoot crabs along the rocky shore and water clear enough that we could watch king angelfish cruising near the bottom at 20 feet.
And then there were pilot whales!! In the distance, splashes and large leaping bodies caught our eye. Soon we were surrounded by sleek, black whales and listening to their calls and creaky echo location pulses over the P.A. system. Surfacing in small groups, slapping the water with tail flukes and flippers and poking their bulbous heads out prior to spouting and diving, these mammals of the sea completely captivated us. With flat calm seas and clear, sunny skies and encircled by pilot whales, most of us felt like we had died and gone to heaven this afternoon. Only our BBQ on a deserted Baja beach in the light of the full moon could have possibly put a cap on such an extraordinary day -- and it did!
The morning began auspiciously with a glorious sunrise over the Sea of Cortez, and a school of long-nosed common dolphins feeding beside our ship. Diving boobies joined the dolphins as the school of fish they were preying upon neared the surface -- there we were in the middle of this sea's abundance as described by Steinbeck in The Log to the Sea of Cortez. A short time later as we completed our own feeding frenzy in the dining room, the call came over the public address system that large whales had been sighted. Some of us brought our remaining breakfast up on deck and we all oohed and awed as a mother and calf fin whale surfaced so near the ship that we could hear the wonderful sound of their explosive exhalation. These whales are part of a population of fin whales that live exclusively in the Sea of Cortez and are genetically distinct from other north Pacific "finners".
The rest of our morning was spent in the Zodiacs touring the beautiful little island of Ildefonso, just off the Baja coast. This island has been recently been set aside as a protected area and a haven for breeding sea birds. Hundreds of blue-footed and brown boobies dotted the hillsides and frigate birds, cormorants and brown pelicans crowded some of the shorelines. There was also an abundance of Sally Lightfoot crabs along the rocky shore and water clear enough that we could watch king angelfish cruising near the bottom at 20 feet.
And then there were pilot whales!! In the distance, splashes and large leaping bodies caught our eye. Soon we were surrounded by sleek, black whales and listening to their calls and creaky echo location pulses over the P.A. system. Surfacing in small groups, slapping the water with tail flukes and flippers and poking their bulbous heads out prior to spouting and diving, these mammals of the sea completely captivated us. With flat calm seas and clear, sunny skies and encircled by pilot whales, most of us felt like we had died and gone to heaven this afternoon. Only our BBQ on a deserted Baja beach in the light of the full moon could have possibly put a cap on such an extraordinary day -- and it did!
