Magdalena Bay and La Entrada
How does a gray whale pass time? This morning we observed this: mothers and calves swam slowly at the surface, disappeared into green water, and surfaced one to two minutes later to breathe. Calves probably nursed as we waited for them to reappear, but we can only speculate. A couple of bottlenose dolphins swam near the whales.
In late morning, our local pilot Alejandro came aboard, and he carefully piloted the Sea Lion fifty miles southward. (The channel is so narrow and shallow the Mexican government deems it ‘not navigable!’) By late afternoon, we were at La Entrada, Magdalena Bay’s primary opening to the Pacific Ocean. Where the vast bay meets the far vaster Pacific Ocean, there is upwelling, and the water is gray-green, loaded with plankton, and fish, too. Pacific white-sided dolphins, long-beaked common dolphins, California sea lions, and birds, birds, and more birds crowded the area. The ship nosed out into the gently rolling Pacific Ocean swells. Birds continued to be abundant around us. What was that brilliant red streak on the surface of the water?! Pelagic red crabs!!! We quickly collected some in the plankton net for all to examine.
It has been ‘another beautiful day in Baja California’ among gray whales, bottlenose dolphins, long beaked common dolphins, Pacific white-sided dolphins, California sea lions, countless sea birds and millions upon millions of pelagic red crabs.
How does a gray whale pass time? This morning we observed this: mothers and calves swam slowly at the surface, disappeared into green water, and surfaced one to two minutes later to breathe. Calves probably nursed as we waited for them to reappear, but we can only speculate. A couple of bottlenose dolphins swam near the whales.
In late morning, our local pilot Alejandro came aboard, and he carefully piloted the Sea Lion fifty miles southward. (The channel is so narrow and shallow the Mexican government deems it ‘not navigable!’) By late afternoon, we were at La Entrada, Magdalena Bay’s primary opening to the Pacific Ocean. Where the vast bay meets the far vaster Pacific Ocean, there is upwelling, and the water is gray-green, loaded with plankton, and fish, too. Pacific white-sided dolphins, long-beaked common dolphins, California sea lions, and birds, birds, and more birds crowded the area. The ship nosed out into the gently rolling Pacific Ocean swells. Birds continued to be abundant around us. What was that brilliant red streak on the surface of the water?! Pelagic red crabs!!! We quickly collected some in the plankton net for all to examine.
It has been ‘another beautiful day in Baja California’ among gray whales, bottlenose dolphins, long beaked common dolphins, Pacific white-sided dolphins, California sea lions, countless sea birds and millions upon millions of pelagic red crabs.
