I loved this day!
Just after a beautiful, orange sunrise, the Sea Lion headed toward the dawn-lit coastline of Isla Carmen and came across a traveling school of common dolphins. They were busy with dolphin business and only rode the bow for a short time, but long enough for us to jointly welcome the new day on the Sea of Cortez. After breakfast we came upon another school of common dolphins that were feeding and allowed our little ship to share an hour of their lives with them. They just kept about their herding of fish and munching them up while we watched and cheered in awe. The biggest treat, however, were the large number of tiny ones. Many were very recently born with pink bellies, traveling very close to their mothers and riding through the water on her mid-flank. The young will stay with their mother and nurse for one to two years while they learn to fend for themselves and learn the intricacies of being a member of this highly complex dolphin social system. As soon as we tried to leave this school and head south in search of other species of marine mammals, a school of bottlenose dolphins showed up. Although we had spent some time with bottlenose dolphins a few days back, it was especially interesting to observe the differences and similarities between these and the common dolphins.
We spent the mid-morning scanning the waters between Isla Carmen and the Loreto coast of Baja for more marine mammals. Then, within minutes of beginning a slide illustrated talk about the marine mammals of the Sea of Cortez in the lounge (and with a slide of a fin whale on the screen), the call came from the deck that fin whales had been spotted nearby. So, of course, we leapt from our seats and gathered on deck to watch one sleek, dark-backed fin whale surface and blow several times within a hundred feet of the bow. We could see the beautiful chevron-blaze behind the blowhole and even a worm-like crustacean, a panella, hanging from the tip of its dorsal fin. But the excitement came to a peak when the whale was just about to sound and a large, red-brown cloud of whale poop covered the surface of the water--for a moment we thought the naturalists were going to dive over to retrieve it, they were so thrilled!
The Sea Lion anchored off Isla Carmen during lunch and we spent the afternoon exploring this remarkable island both on foot and by kayak. Hikers went up hauntingly beautiful Arroyo Rojo and enjoyed the lush plant life (by Baja standards!) and the twisting, red-rock canyon. Tidepoolers found a bounty of intertidal organisms, including a lovely nudibranch with striking orange and blue markings. Kayakers paddled along the undulating coast watching fish in the clear water below them and a variety of shoreline creatures, including the famous Sally Lightfoot crab. Back aboard the ship, I wanted more information about the Sally Lightfoot and would have normally gone to our best resource in the library, "Common Intertidal Invertebrates of the Gulf of California". However, it turns out that the author, Rick Brusca, is actually aboard the ship as a guest lecturer and is available to answer our endless questions about the creatures of the seashore, including the creature he calls Ms. Lightfoot.
After a brief time back aboard, we reboarded the Zodiacs and landed in a beautiful cove in the white rocks of nearby Arroyo Blanco for a BBQ dinner ashore. The crew of the Sea Lion had set up chairs around a bonfire and a sumptuous buffet with freshly grilled fish and ribs. After dinner, many of us stayed ashore to gaze at the stars, look at the rings of Saturn through the telescope, sing by the fire or just enjoy the company of our companions in these glorious surroundings. Like I said, I loved this day!
