Bahia Magdalena
A streaky sky shifted hues in the rising sun as the Sea Lion skated over a placid Pacific Ocean proving Balboa true. The blows of whales erupted near three rustic Mexican fishing vessels actively dragging nets near the western shores of Magdalena Bay's Isla Margarita. The boats were overwhelmed by birds - Magnificent frigatebirds, gulls and pelicans perched in the rigging and swarming the edges of the nets. Three humpback whales synchronously surfaced and lunged sideways shifting direction, indicating feeding behavior in an obviously productive environment. It is highly unusual to observe humpbacks feeding near their low latitude breeding grounds; it is thought these animals fast through these winter months.
A few hundred common dolphins soon appeared in the smooth seas and we enjoyed their bowriding, wakesurfing and acrobatic antics. Observers saw mothers with calves, dolphins with remoras attached and even mating behavior, during our long encounter. We eavesdropped on the small toothed whales' world with our hydrophone listening to their kissy whistling calls. The dolphins broke into feeding bouts but took breaks to visit our ship. Someone commented that her kids also play while they are eating.
More humpback whales made themselves obvious by volleys of tail slaps and flipper slaps, repeatedly throwing these body parts against the surface. We were privy to an exciting humpback whale social dynamic as we observed bubbling, head lunging, tail throwing, pectoral fin slaps and repeated breaching by these three whales! Off in the periphery a large billfish leaped out of the water repeatedly.
Outside La Entrada, the entrance to Magdalena Bay's lagoon complex, we discovered the heart-shaped blows and knuckling vertebrae of a pair of gray whales. We traveled to anchorage off Isla Magdalena's protected eastern shore and rode Zodiacs ashore for hikes across surreal undulating sand dunes.
We crossed barchan and transversed dunes layered with rippling waves of windblown sand and passed hearty succulent flowering vegetation to a dreamy twenty-mile stretch of deserted beach. Along the way we examined mounds of once-harvested shell animals and the recent tracks of a variety of creatures. Desert mice, black-eared rabbits, lizards, coyotes and ring-tailed cats left shifting footprints for us to ponder. A well-camouflaged lizard sped across the sand to relative cover under a sand verbena plant. A tawny coyote ran near us across waves of sand dunes going in and out of sight as we stopped our traverse of the island's width to watch.
A treasury of sun-bleached sand dollars lay everywhere along the long ocean beach. Some of these flattened echinoderms lay alive in the shallows, displaying their spines much shortened compared to those of their spiny sea urchin cousins. Beachcombers discovered a phantasmagoria of shells and skeletal remains of sea turtles, dolphins and whales. Just outside the breakers a mother and newly-born gray whale calf swam by, beckoning us to our next days' whale watching adventures in this beautiful habitat.
A streaky sky shifted hues in the rising sun as the Sea Lion skated over a placid Pacific Ocean proving Balboa true. The blows of whales erupted near three rustic Mexican fishing vessels actively dragging nets near the western shores of Magdalena Bay's Isla Margarita. The boats were overwhelmed by birds - Magnificent frigatebirds, gulls and pelicans perched in the rigging and swarming the edges of the nets. Three humpback whales synchronously surfaced and lunged sideways shifting direction, indicating feeding behavior in an obviously productive environment. It is highly unusual to observe humpbacks feeding near their low latitude breeding grounds; it is thought these animals fast through these winter months.
A few hundred common dolphins soon appeared in the smooth seas and we enjoyed their bowriding, wakesurfing and acrobatic antics. Observers saw mothers with calves, dolphins with remoras attached and even mating behavior, during our long encounter. We eavesdropped on the small toothed whales' world with our hydrophone listening to their kissy whistling calls. The dolphins broke into feeding bouts but took breaks to visit our ship. Someone commented that her kids also play while they are eating.
More humpback whales made themselves obvious by volleys of tail slaps and flipper slaps, repeatedly throwing these body parts against the surface. We were privy to an exciting humpback whale social dynamic as we observed bubbling, head lunging, tail throwing, pectoral fin slaps and repeated breaching by these three whales! Off in the periphery a large billfish leaped out of the water repeatedly.
Outside La Entrada, the entrance to Magdalena Bay's lagoon complex, we discovered the heart-shaped blows and knuckling vertebrae of a pair of gray whales. We traveled to anchorage off Isla Magdalena's protected eastern shore and rode Zodiacs ashore for hikes across surreal undulating sand dunes.
We crossed barchan and transversed dunes layered with rippling waves of windblown sand and passed hearty succulent flowering vegetation to a dreamy twenty-mile stretch of deserted beach. Along the way we examined mounds of once-harvested shell animals and the recent tracks of a variety of creatures. Desert mice, black-eared rabbits, lizards, coyotes and ring-tailed cats left shifting footprints for us to ponder. A well-camouflaged lizard sped across the sand to relative cover under a sand verbena plant. A tawny coyote ran near us across waves of sand dunes going in and out of sight as we stopped our traverse of the island's width to watch.
A treasury of sun-bleached sand dollars lay everywhere along the long ocean beach. Some of these flattened echinoderms lay alive in the shallows, displaying their spines much shortened compared to those of their spiny sea urchin cousins. Beachcombers discovered a phantasmagoria of shells and skeletal remains of sea turtles, dolphins and whales. Just outside the breakers a mother and newly-born gray whale calf swam by, beckoning us to our next days' whale watching adventures in this beautiful habitat.
