Blue whale flukes, Gorda Banks, BCS, Mexico
This week’s expedition aboard the Sea Lion has really been living up to its name—Among the Great Whales. After the incredible excitement of having gray whales right beside our Zodiacs yesterday, we had the tremendous good fortune to come across the most massive animal ever to grace the earth—the blue whale. But that wasn’t until later in the day. We had a full morning of activities prior to find the giant cetacean.
After leaving the gray whales in Magdalena Bay, we sailed to the cape region for a stop in Los Cabos. Guests chose one of several options for their morning. Some decided to go birding along an estuary in San Jose del Cabo. Our efforts were richly rewarded as we were able to identify nearly 60 species including many wading birds and ducks, osprey, flycatchers, warblers, woodpeckers and finches. Others went snorkeling and got to see an abundance of fish and other undersea creatures. Of course, for those who are so inclined, there were excellent shopping and sightseeing opportunities in both Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo.
We left Cabo around lunchtime, cruised the famous Land’s End batholiths and made our way toward Gorda Banks to look for marine mammals. Before we even got there, we spotted the unmistakably high, columnar blow, the light body color and the endless rolling back of a blue whale. This was one of the less common blue whales in that it fluked up several times as the bridge officers skillfully kept us apace with this astounding creature for numerous surfacings. Given the low populations numbers for this species worldwide, approximately 3500 according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), we counted ourselves as tremendously lucky to have had this encounter.
This week’s expedition aboard the Sea Lion has really been living up to its name—Among the Great Whales. After the incredible excitement of having gray whales right beside our Zodiacs yesterday, we had the tremendous good fortune to come across the most massive animal ever to grace the earth—the blue whale. But that wasn’t until later in the day. We had a full morning of activities prior to find the giant cetacean.
After leaving the gray whales in Magdalena Bay, we sailed to the cape region for a stop in Los Cabos. Guests chose one of several options for their morning. Some decided to go birding along an estuary in San Jose del Cabo. Our efforts were richly rewarded as we were able to identify nearly 60 species including many wading birds and ducks, osprey, flycatchers, warblers, woodpeckers and finches. Others went snorkeling and got to see an abundance of fish and other undersea creatures. Of course, for those who are so inclined, there were excellent shopping and sightseeing opportunities in both Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo.
We left Cabo around lunchtime, cruised the famous Land’s End batholiths and made our way toward Gorda Banks to look for marine mammals. Before we even got there, we spotted the unmistakably high, columnar blow, the light body color and the endless rolling back of a blue whale. This was one of the less common blue whales in that it fluked up several times as the bridge officers skillfully kept us apace with this astounding creature for numerous surfacings. Given the low populations numbers for this species worldwide, approximately 3500 according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), we counted ourselves as tremendously lucky to have had this encounter.
