Canal de San Jose and Isla San Francisco, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Do you want to see an excellent variety of whales (also called cetaceans), incredible sunrises and sunsets, and really magnificent hikes? Come to Baja California! As a morning starter, we had two different groups of dolphins, one a-fishing, and one bow riding us. After this hilarious enjoyment, we sighted another pod of very rare marine mammals: false killer whales. For most of us it was the first time ever! These animals are larger than a dolphin and loaded with teeth. The guests delighted at observing one even jumping in the air and doing a complete flip backwards! Every single time they surfaced to breathe, they created a big splash. We calculated approximately 50 individuals, as we followed them along the Canal de San Jose. These animals have not yet been the subject of focused, long-term field studies, and most of what scientists know about them comes from strandings. They are very gregarious, and are versatile predators, consuming different species of fish and cephalopods.
Isla San Francisco offered us good snorkeling and interesting hikes along some ridges on the hills. Earlier we had crossed the narrow band of the island to a beach with rich tide pooling, where we saw different echinoderms (sea-stars, urchins and sea cucumbers) as well as small crabs and worms.
Do you want to see an excellent variety of whales (also called cetaceans), incredible sunrises and sunsets, and really magnificent hikes? Come to Baja California! As a morning starter, we had two different groups of dolphins, one a-fishing, and one bow riding us. After this hilarious enjoyment, we sighted another pod of very rare marine mammals: false killer whales. For most of us it was the first time ever! These animals are larger than a dolphin and loaded with teeth. The guests delighted at observing one even jumping in the air and doing a complete flip backwards! Every single time they surfaced to breathe, they created a big splash. We calculated approximately 50 individuals, as we followed them along the Canal de San Jose. These animals have not yet been the subject of focused, long-term field studies, and most of what scientists know about them comes from strandings. They are very gregarious, and are versatile predators, consuming different species of fish and cephalopods.
Isla San Francisco offered us good snorkeling and interesting hikes along some ridges on the hills. Earlier we had crossed the narrow band of the island to a beach with rich tide pooling, where we saw different echinoderms (sea-stars, urchins and sea cucumbers) as well as small crabs and worms.
