Arroyo Rojo, Isla del Carmen, Baja California
We were just off the south side of Isla del Carmen as a bright orange sky produced a great sunrise over the distant island of Isla Santa Catalina. We found a small group of bottlenose dolphins that came into our bow for a free ride. The tip of the ship’s bow pushes an area of water outward into a pressure wave that allows dolphins to position their flukes downward and be pushed along. All of us who wanted to could hang their heads and shoulders over the rail and look straight down onto the dolphins. Their large bodies were scratched and scarred from dominance battles. It was amazing to see how quickly they could inhale and exhale with a blink of their blowholes. Later we watched another group surf in on small waves rolling from the north as we rounded the island. Oh, to be a dolphin if only for an hour!
The M.V. Sea Lion went all the way around the island. Soon after a program by Dr. William Lopez-Forment on plants of Baja California, we encountered an unusual creature. It was less than 20 feet long, black, with the head of a small baleen whale and the dorsal fin of a dolphin. It took a few surfacings to realize it was a very young whale calf. We watched it for about 10 minutes wondering where the adult was. Then we saw the water’s surface become slick, turn black, and fill with the head of a large fin whale. Mom was back. The riddle was solved as this beautiful creature blew and slipped silently past us.
The afternoon was filled with activities as well. We kayaked along a cliff of volcanic and sedimentary rocks complete with caves, and poked into one with a ceiling of fossilized sand dollars. We also hiked up a beautiful canyon called Arroyo Rojo, as pictured in the accompanying photograph. The canyon’s steep reddish walls rise up from a sandy wash lined with beautiful palo blanco, ironwood, and torchwood trees. The sun seemed to shoot across the sky and quickly dove into a sunset; our day passed too quickly.
We were just off the south side of Isla del Carmen as a bright orange sky produced a great sunrise over the distant island of Isla Santa Catalina. We found a small group of bottlenose dolphins that came into our bow for a free ride. The tip of the ship’s bow pushes an area of water outward into a pressure wave that allows dolphins to position their flukes downward and be pushed along. All of us who wanted to could hang their heads and shoulders over the rail and look straight down onto the dolphins. Their large bodies were scratched and scarred from dominance battles. It was amazing to see how quickly they could inhale and exhale with a blink of their blowholes. Later we watched another group surf in on small waves rolling from the north as we rounded the island. Oh, to be a dolphin if only for an hour!
The M.V. Sea Lion went all the way around the island. Soon after a program by Dr. William Lopez-Forment on plants of Baja California, we encountered an unusual creature. It was less than 20 feet long, black, with the head of a small baleen whale and the dorsal fin of a dolphin. It took a few surfacings to realize it was a very young whale calf. We watched it for about 10 minutes wondering where the adult was. Then we saw the water’s surface become slick, turn black, and fill with the head of a large fin whale. Mom was back. The riddle was solved as this beautiful creature blew and slipped silently past us.
The afternoon was filled with activities as well. We kayaked along a cliff of volcanic and sedimentary rocks complete with caves, and poked into one with a ceiling of fossilized sand dollars. We also hiked up a beautiful canyon called Arroyo Rojo, as pictured in the accompanying photograph. The canyon’s steep reddish walls rise up from a sandy wash lined with beautiful palo blanco, ironwood, and torchwood trees. The sun seemed to shoot across the sky and quickly dove into a sunset; our day passed too quickly.
