San Pedro Martir Island and Salsipuedes Channel
Not a single ripple disturbed the waters of the Salsipuedes channel as the sun raised beyond San Lorenzo Island. The Sea Voyager seemed immersed into an ethereal atmosphere when the first fin whales were spotted long before breakfast. The beautiful low light of the early morning were just perfect, as it was the expert driving of our captain on the bridge who positioned the ship in the best possible place so that the whales themselves swam just off our port side. Most of the time, fin whales seem to be mostly dark creatures, but today we were able to really admire their subtle and complex coloration, with patterns of whitish chevrons and black blazes. The whales were so close, and the water so calm, that even their white right lower jaws were perfectly clear!
After spending a long time with the numerous fin whales, we sailed south through the Salsipuedes channel towards the most isolated island in the Sea of Cortez, San Pedro Martir. The mirror-like waters were so calm that we were able to spot many different kinds of small sea creatures from far away, like phalaropes or Craveri’s murrelets. Black terns and sooty shearwaters were added to our voyage’s bird list before much bigger inhabitants of the open waters were discovered: sperm whales! Yes, many of them were spending “quality time” at the surface, some just “logging.” One of them even seemed engaged into some more athletic endeavors as it breached several times!
Early in the afternoon, we arrived to San Pedro Martir Island and soon went close and personal with its very interesting coastline by exploring it with the Zodiacs. The incredible number of blue-footed and brown boobies flying around or perched on the high cliffs was overwhelming! The whole place seemed full of energy as the boobies rivaled the California sea lions and brown pelicans for a place on the rocks or in our camera’s viewfinders. Meanwhile, as the sun slowly set behind the Baja California peninsula, we all got the feeling that today was not only the last day of our expedition, but most importantly, a truly beautiful one!
Not a single ripple disturbed the waters of the Salsipuedes channel as the sun raised beyond San Lorenzo Island. The Sea Voyager seemed immersed into an ethereal atmosphere when the first fin whales were spotted long before breakfast. The beautiful low light of the early morning were just perfect, as it was the expert driving of our captain on the bridge who positioned the ship in the best possible place so that the whales themselves swam just off our port side. Most of the time, fin whales seem to be mostly dark creatures, but today we were able to really admire their subtle and complex coloration, with patterns of whitish chevrons and black blazes. The whales were so close, and the water so calm, that even their white right lower jaws were perfectly clear!
After spending a long time with the numerous fin whales, we sailed south through the Salsipuedes channel towards the most isolated island in the Sea of Cortez, San Pedro Martir. The mirror-like waters were so calm that we were able to spot many different kinds of small sea creatures from far away, like phalaropes or Craveri’s murrelets. Black terns and sooty shearwaters were added to our voyage’s bird list before much bigger inhabitants of the open waters were discovered: sperm whales! Yes, many of them were spending “quality time” at the surface, some just “logging.” One of them even seemed engaged into some more athletic endeavors as it breached several times!
Early in the afternoon, we arrived to San Pedro Martir Island and soon went close and personal with its very interesting coastline by exploring it with the Zodiacs. The incredible number of blue-footed and brown boobies flying around or perched on the high cliffs was overwhelming! The whole place seemed full of energy as the boobies rivaled the California sea lions and brown pelicans for a place on the rocks or in our camera’s viewfinders. Meanwhile, as the sun slowly set behind the Baja California peninsula, we all got the feeling that today was not only the last day of our expedition, but most importantly, a truly beautiful one!
