Cabo San Lucas
Anyone in a forward one or two hundred level cabin that had their window open this morning at 0630 would have been awakened by the scream, BREACH, coming from excited guests already gathered on the bow. A humpback whale had leapt nearly completely out of the water and landed with a half-twist and a huge splash a short distance in front of the ship. After only two days together aboard the Sea Lion , we had learned that a slowing of the engines means that something important is happening outside and soon the bow was filled with anxious whalewatchers. And what a show we had! We saw single whales, escort pairs, chasing whales, cows with calves, breaching and flipper slapping--all humpback whales. By mid-morning we had to begin our journey toward Cabo San Lucas but were stopped along the way by more humpbacks. In this case, four whales were chasing each other but soon disappeared while a short distance away a young calf was breaching repeatedly near the shoreline. The first mate maneuvered the Sea Lion slowly toward the cow and calf and we watched in amazement as the calf performed her aerial acrobatics. As we sat still in the water, the pair swam right under our bow and the calf lay her head and her long, delicate pectoral flipper over her mother. It was an endearing moment that few of us will ever forget and an incredible ending to our morning with humpback whales.
Lunchtime found us entering the harbor at Cabo San Lucas, where the Sea Lion actually tied up to a dock in the middle of this bustling resort. What a contrast to our morning on an empty sea shared only with humpback whales, leaping mobula rays, two red-billed tropic birds and the occasional Mexican fishing panga! Some of us spent part of the afternoon snorkeling from Chilenos beach about 13 kilometers outside Cabo and others took the opportunity to look at some of the birds and plants of this unique sub-tropical desert at a reserve, also to the east of town. And everyone had a chance to explore the curious behavior of humans at leisure in a resort setting, visit some of the very interesting shops on the "Sea Lion shopping tour", have a cold drink at a local watering hole or just relax aboard ship for the afternoon.
All aboard was set for 1700 and our captain skillfully maneuvered the ship out of the crowded harbor, past the old sardine cannery that Steinbeck wrote about in The Log from the Sea of Cortez and out to the famous arch at Finestera, or Land's End. With a glass of sangria in one hand and a binocular in the other, most of us gathered on deck as we entered the peaceful, rolling swells of the Pacific Ocean and watched a glorious green flash sunset. We ended the day as it had begun, with screams of joy--beginning with a humpback breach and ending with the green flash and the Scottish legend promise that whosoever witnesses the green ray "shall see clearly into his own heart and into that of others".
Anyone in a forward one or two hundred level cabin that had their window open this morning at 0630 would have been awakened by the scream, BREACH, coming from excited guests already gathered on the bow. A humpback whale had leapt nearly completely out of the water and landed with a half-twist and a huge splash a short distance in front of the ship. After only two days together aboard the Sea Lion , we had learned that a slowing of the engines means that something important is happening outside and soon the bow was filled with anxious whalewatchers. And what a show we had! We saw single whales, escort pairs, chasing whales, cows with calves, breaching and flipper slapping--all humpback whales. By mid-morning we had to begin our journey toward Cabo San Lucas but were stopped along the way by more humpbacks. In this case, four whales were chasing each other but soon disappeared while a short distance away a young calf was breaching repeatedly near the shoreline. The first mate maneuvered the Sea Lion slowly toward the cow and calf and we watched in amazement as the calf performed her aerial acrobatics. As we sat still in the water, the pair swam right under our bow and the calf lay her head and her long, delicate pectoral flipper over her mother. It was an endearing moment that few of us will ever forget and an incredible ending to our morning with humpback whales.
Lunchtime found us entering the harbor at Cabo San Lucas, where the Sea Lion actually tied up to a dock in the middle of this bustling resort. What a contrast to our morning on an empty sea shared only with humpback whales, leaping mobula rays, two red-billed tropic birds and the occasional Mexican fishing panga! Some of us spent part of the afternoon snorkeling from Chilenos beach about 13 kilometers outside Cabo and others took the opportunity to look at some of the birds and plants of this unique sub-tropical desert at a reserve, also to the east of town. And everyone had a chance to explore the curious behavior of humans at leisure in a resort setting, visit some of the very interesting shops on the "Sea Lion shopping tour", have a cold drink at a local watering hole or just relax aboard ship for the afternoon.
All aboard was set for 1700 and our captain skillfully maneuvered the ship out of the crowded harbor, past the old sardine cannery that Steinbeck wrote about in The Log from the Sea of Cortez and out to the famous arch at Finestera, or Land's End. With a glass of sangria in one hand and a binocular in the other, most of us gathered on deck as we entered the peaceful, rolling swells of the Pacific Ocean and watched a glorious green flash sunset. We ended the day as it had begun, with screams of joy--beginning with a humpback breach and ending with the green flash and the Scottish legend promise that whosoever witnesses the green ray "shall see clearly into his own heart and into that of others".
