Hull Canal, Isla Magdalena
After a night heading north on the Pacific Ocean swell, we awoke to bow riding common dolphins and several pelagic bird species. Although the seas provided the challenge of remaining standing while steadying binoculars, we succeeded in identifying pink-footed and black-vented shearwaters andwestern gulls to name a few. As we neared the north end of Isla Margarita, we were spectators to a courtship group of humpback whales. Baja California is one of the southern migration destinations for humpback whales. It is here they court and calf their young.
As the ship turned eastward into La Entrada, the entrance to Magdalena Bay, the sea was stained red and dotted with bobbing birds. A band of pelagic red crabs provided both the red coloring and food for the birds. A plankton tow was taken and we were able to examine these zooplankton up close.
Upon entering the Hull Canal, we encountered our first gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus), a juvenile. Magdalena Bay is southernmost of the three calving bays for the gray whale. Its shores are a dynamic contrast of sand dunes and mangroves. Early afternoon was spent scanning the mangroves for species of wading birds. Great blue heron, long-billed curlew, royal tern, white ibis and large nesting colonies of double-crested cormorants were among the many species observed. In the late afternoon, a hike to the Pacific Ocean, over the sand dunes, was undertaken. The challenging sand walk was rewarded with the discovery of a gray whale skeleton, bleached white by the sun and strewn about the beach by the power of the ocean. The massiveness of whales is difficult to comprehend; pictured below are the rib bones of the gray whale, easily framing the people below.
After a night heading north on the Pacific Ocean swell, we awoke to bow riding common dolphins and several pelagic bird species. Although the seas provided the challenge of remaining standing while steadying binoculars, we succeeded in identifying pink-footed and black-vented shearwaters andwestern gulls to name a few. As we neared the north end of Isla Margarita, we were spectators to a courtship group of humpback whales. Baja California is one of the southern migration destinations for humpback whales. It is here they court and calf their young.
As the ship turned eastward into La Entrada, the entrance to Magdalena Bay, the sea was stained red and dotted with bobbing birds. A band of pelagic red crabs provided both the red coloring and food for the birds. A plankton tow was taken and we were able to examine these zooplankton up close.
Upon entering the Hull Canal, we encountered our first gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus), a juvenile. Magdalena Bay is southernmost of the three calving bays for the gray whale. Its shores are a dynamic contrast of sand dunes and mangroves. Early afternoon was spent scanning the mangroves for species of wading birds. Great blue heron, long-billed curlew, royal tern, white ibis and large nesting colonies of double-crested cormorants were among the many species observed. In the late afternoon, a hike to the Pacific Ocean, over the sand dunes, was undertaken. The challenging sand walk was rewarded with the discovery of a gray whale skeleton, bleached white by the sun and strewn about the beach by the power of the ocean. The massiveness of whales is difficult to comprehend; pictured below are the rib bones of the gray whale, easily framing the people below.
