Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, Mexico
From sunrise to sunset! In beautiful Baja California there is always something to grab our emotions. Today the special sensations began for the many who sought this adventure not to sleep, but to experience all that can be offered by a hot desert surrounded by a rich sea. The Sea Lion was still well out into the relatively placid Pacific Ocean, off Isla Santa Margarita, as the sun broke the horizon somewhere over the now distant Sierra de la Giganta on the Gulf of California side of the Baja peninsula. The flaming sun framed the island. Our reward was a smashing red glow, which lit a sky full of thin morning clouds. Like its neighbor to the north (Isla Magdalena), Isla Santa Margarita was not originally part of North America. These barrier islands are known to geologists as "exotic terranes", their rocks having originated somewhere far to the south and having been scraped off the Pacific Plate as it subducts under the North American Plate. We had learned about tectonic activity and plate movement on the previous day, through a timely slide lecture.
Topping the sunrise was a close encounter with a massive pod of common dolphins, many of which just could not resist a free ride on the bow wave of our ship. We leaned over the bow to look down on these sleek cetaceans. They ride the wave much as a surfer rides a shore wave - sliding downhill on an endless slope. One can only conclude that they have as much fun doing it as we have watching it. Seabirds abounded here, as well. They had spotted the morning feeding activities of the dolphins and took advantage of sardines, herring and other schooling fish driven to the surface by the speedy mammals.
Once inside the calm waters of Magdalena Bay, the thrills continued - adult gray whales, this time. Roiling surface action and slashing tail flukes led us to assume that this was sexual activity. The deeper waters of Magdalena Bay, near La Entrada (the Entrance) attract females that have traveled thousands of miles from the Bering Sea and north coast of Alaska. They are ready to breed. Naturally, the randy males soon find them. We watched as three of these 45-foot baleen whales frolicked in surface courtship. Tail flukes rose high. Pectoral flippers slapped down. Was that heavy breathing we heard, or just our imagination?
Our next sensation was our exploration of the endless sand dunes on Isla Magdalena. A birding group walked the soft shoreline as the tide receded and quietly approached a resting flock of 43 American Oystercatchers. Surprise! Among them was a single Black Oystercatcher, a close relative that inhabits the northwest coast of North America and rarely finds its way this far south. All of us trudged expectantly across the shifting sand to the open Pacific, to be greeted by one of the most spectacular untouched beaches in the world. Miles of surf and sand extend in both directions. The skeletons of sand dollars, shells of thousands of colourful clams and tracks of coyotes were about the only things breaking the smooth surface of the wave-sculpted sand.
Curlews, egrets, herons, ibises, whimbrels, terns, cormorants, plovers, harriers, pelicans, godwits, ospreys, coyotes, dolphins. They were all there for us to puzzle over and admire as we headed north in the warm, protected channel of northern Magdalena Bay. Then, more Gray Whales! This time it was the mothers with young calves that kept our emotions high.
As a finale, the sunset was extraordinary and a full moon shimmered on the rippling waters as we lay at anchor near Boca de Soledad. Filtering out of the darkness were the ethereal sounds of spouting whales.
Tomorrow, we look forward to even closer and more exciting encounters with the creatures and secrets of this mysterious desert-sea.
From sunrise to sunset! In beautiful Baja California there is always something to grab our emotions. Today the special sensations began for the many who sought this adventure not to sleep, but to experience all that can be offered by a hot desert surrounded by a rich sea. The Sea Lion was still well out into the relatively placid Pacific Ocean, off Isla Santa Margarita, as the sun broke the horizon somewhere over the now distant Sierra de la Giganta on the Gulf of California side of the Baja peninsula. The flaming sun framed the island. Our reward was a smashing red glow, which lit a sky full of thin morning clouds. Like its neighbor to the north (Isla Magdalena), Isla Santa Margarita was not originally part of North America. These barrier islands are known to geologists as "exotic terranes", their rocks having originated somewhere far to the south and having been scraped off the Pacific Plate as it subducts under the North American Plate. We had learned about tectonic activity and plate movement on the previous day, through a timely slide lecture.
Topping the sunrise was a close encounter with a massive pod of common dolphins, many of which just could not resist a free ride on the bow wave of our ship. We leaned over the bow to look down on these sleek cetaceans. They ride the wave much as a surfer rides a shore wave - sliding downhill on an endless slope. One can only conclude that they have as much fun doing it as we have watching it. Seabirds abounded here, as well. They had spotted the morning feeding activities of the dolphins and took advantage of sardines, herring and other schooling fish driven to the surface by the speedy mammals.
Once inside the calm waters of Magdalena Bay, the thrills continued - adult gray whales, this time. Roiling surface action and slashing tail flukes led us to assume that this was sexual activity. The deeper waters of Magdalena Bay, near La Entrada (the Entrance) attract females that have traveled thousands of miles from the Bering Sea and north coast of Alaska. They are ready to breed. Naturally, the randy males soon find them. We watched as three of these 45-foot baleen whales frolicked in surface courtship. Tail flukes rose high. Pectoral flippers slapped down. Was that heavy breathing we heard, or just our imagination?
Our next sensation was our exploration of the endless sand dunes on Isla Magdalena. A birding group walked the soft shoreline as the tide receded and quietly approached a resting flock of 43 American Oystercatchers. Surprise! Among them was a single Black Oystercatcher, a close relative that inhabits the northwest coast of North America and rarely finds its way this far south. All of us trudged expectantly across the shifting sand to the open Pacific, to be greeted by one of the most spectacular untouched beaches in the world. Miles of surf and sand extend in both directions. The skeletons of sand dollars, shells of thousands of colourful clams and tracks of coyotes were about the only things breaking the smooth surface of the wave-sculpted sand.
Curlews, egrets, herons, ibises, whimbrels, terns, cormorants, plovers, harriers, pelicans, godwits, ospreys, coyotes, dolphins. They were all there for us to puzzle over and admire as we headed north in the warm, protected channel of northern Magdalena Bay. Then, more Gray Whales! This time it was the mothers with young calves that kept our emotions high.
As a finale, the sunset was extraordinary and a full moon shimmered on the rippling waters as we lay at anchor near Boca de Soledad. Filtering out of the darkness were the ethereal sounds of spouting whales.
Tomorrow, we look forward to even closer and more exciting encounters with the creatures and secrets of this mysterious desert-sea.
