Sand Dollar Beach, Isla Magdalena/Hull Canal, Magdalena Bay
A beautiful sunrise introduced us to Magdalena Bay and the two islands that enclose this protected waterway, Isla Santa Margarita and Isla Magdalena, where we went ashore this morning. From our anchorage, Zodiacs transported us to the east side of this long island, and many of us then proceeded through interesting desert vegetation and archaeological middens, across the island to Bahia Santa Maria on the Pacific Ocean. Here we could swim, surf in the breakers, walk the beach, and play in the sand. It is aptly named Sand Dollar Beach for the myriad flattened echinoderms that are washed up there. The young and young-at-heart found high sand dunes to jump from. Many of these dunes are crescent-shaped barchans, formed by the predominant northwest wind. A gradually sloping windward side drops steeply at the slip-face.
Birdwatchers chose to stay on the bay side, walking to a tidal flat and mangrove marsh. Sanderlings, black-bellied plovers, dunlins, oystercatchers and great blue herons were here, as were a mockingbird, a loggerhead shrike and three black-tailed jackrabbits.
Cruising northward in a narrowing mangrove channel, Lee introduced the (Baja) California gray whale, in a presentation detailing the physical characteristics, behavior and life history of the mammal that is thought to have the longest migration of all. Magdalena Bay is this species’ southernmost mating and calving habitat along the Baja California coast. They feed through the summer in Arctic seas, where they sift through the shallow sediments in search of amphipods and other small crustaceans.
Mangroves are a buffer between the ocean and the shore. They provide protection against storms and nurture a multitude of species. It is an incongruous surprise to see lichens clinging to the mangroves and even to cacti that grow nearby, their growth encouraged by the common Pacific Fog.
Magdalena Bay is a haven for migratory birds escaping harsher climates and scarce food in the north, including brant geese, which feed on the abundant eelgrass here. Cormorants and herons nest in the mangroves alongside roosting frigatebirds. As we approached Devil’s Elbow, we spotted a peregrine falcon perched on a look-out, watching for an unwary shorebird.
Soon after we emerged from the narrow channel, we encountered our first gray whales, their spouts shining in the distance as the late afternoon light offered photographic contrasts between the dunes, mangroves, sky and water. We counted 57 whales before reaching our anchorage beside Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, including many calves born here only a few weeks ago and still swimming alongside their mothers.
This evening Captain Carden hosted a cocktail party, with a recap of the day by the staff and introductions to the ship’s officers. What an exciting first day “Among the Great Whales.”
A beautiful sunrise introduced us to Magdalena Bay and the two islands that enclose this protected waterway, Isla Santa Margarita and Isla Magdalena, where we went ashore this morning. From our anchorage, Zodiacs transported us to the east side of this long island, and many of us then proceeded through interesting desert vegetation and archaeological middens, across the island to Bahia Santa Maria on the Pacific Ocean. Here we could swim, surf in the breakers, walk the beach, and play in the sand. It is aptly named Sand Dollar Beach for the myriad flattened echinoderms that are washed up there. The young and young-at-heart found high sand dunes to jump from. Many of these dunes are crescent-shaped barchans, formed by the predominant northwest wind. A gradually sloping windward side drops steeply at the slip-face.
Birdwatchers chose to stay on the bay side, walking to a tidal flat and mangrove marsh. Sanderlings, black-bellied plovers, dunlins, oystercatchers and great blue herons were here, as were a mockingbird, a loggerhead shrike and three black-tailed jackrabbits.
Cruising northward in a narrowing mangrove channel, Lee introduced the (Baja) California gray whale, in a presentation detailing the physical characteristics, behavior and life history of the mammal that is thought to have the longest migration of all. Magdalena Bay is this species’ southernmost mating and calving habitat along the Baja California coast. They feed through the summer in Arctic seas, where they sift through the shallow sediments in search of amphipods and other small crustaceans.
Mangroves are a buffer between the ocean and the shore. They provide protection against storms and nurture a multitude of species. It is an incongruous surprise to see lichens clinging to the mangroves and even to cacti that grow nearby, their growth encouraged by the common Pacific Fog.
Magdalena Bay is a haven for migratory birds escaping harsher climates and scarce food in the north, including brant geese, which feed on the abundant eelgrass here. Cormorants and herons nest in the mangroves alongside roosting frigatebirds. As we approached Devil’s Elbow, we spotted a peregrine falcon perched on a look-out, watching for an unwary shorebird.
Soon after we emerged from the narrow channel, we encountered our first gray whales, their spouts shining in the distance as the late afternoon light offered photographic contrasts between the dunes, mangroves, sky and water. We counted 57 whales before reaching our anchorage beside Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, including many calves born here only a few weeks ago and still swimming alongside their mothers.
This evening Captain Carden hosted a cocktail party, with a recap of the day by the staff and introductions to the ship’s officers. What an exciting first day “Among the Great Whales.”
