San Pedro Mártir and offshore waters
We woke up this morning listening to the California sea lions, whose constant vocalizations filled the atmosphere at San Pedro Mártir Island. Located pretty much in the middle of the Gulf of California, about 40 miles from the Baja California peninsula or mainland Mexico, this island is an epicenter of life in the region. It is close to the three most important upwelling areas in the gulf, and the waters around it are very productive. We soon experienced it up close and personal by exploring its coastline by Zodiacs and saw the incredible numbers of sea birds and sea lions. As the third-largest nesting colony of blue-footed bobbies in the world and Mexico´s biggest one of brown bobbies, the island was teeming with them. Red-billed tropicbirds, brown pelicans and Brandt´s cormorants were also present and photographed.
After visiting San Pedro Mártir, we raised the anchor and sailed the deep waters around it. The glassy-calm waters were perfect for spotting marine animals, and it wasn’t long before we discovered a variety of wonderful creatures. Long-beaked common dolphins entertained us before the first sperm whales entered the scene. Many sperm whales were seen, and we all saw their huge, square heads and wrinkled bodies as they slowly swam at the surface, showing their flukes before a long dive. Some of them even approached the Sea Voyager and swam just off her bow!
Sailing from one sperm whale to the other, we also saw numerous Mobula rays, flying fish, bottlenose dolphins and even a solitary fin whale. A second and larger group of long-beaked common dolphins added a note of excitement to an already exciting evening; their jumps and fast swimming over glassy waters were a joy to watch and the perfect ending for a wonderful day!
We woke up this morning listening to the California sea lions, whose constant vocalizations filled the atmosphere at San Pedro Mártir Island. Located pretty much in the middle of the Gulf of California, about 40 miles from the Baja California peninsula or mainland Mexico, this island is an epicenter of life in the region. It is close to the three most important upwelling areas in the gulf, and the waters around it are very productive. We soon experienced it up close and personal by exploring its coastline by Zodiacs and saw the incredible numbers of sea birds and sea lions. As the third-largest nesting colony of blue-footed bobbies in the world and Mexico´s biggest one of brown bobbies, the island was teeming with them. Red-billed tropicbirds, brown pelicans and Brandt´s cormorants were also present and photographed.
After visiting San Pedro Mártir, we raised the anchor and sailed the deep waters around it. The glassy-calm waters were perfect for spotting marine animals, and it wasn’t long before we discovered a variety of wonderful creatures. Long-beaked common dolphins entertained us before the first sperm whales entered the scene. Many sperm whales were seen, and we all saw their huge, square heads and wrinkled bodies as they slowly swam at the surface, showing their flukes before a long dive. Some of them even approached the Sea Voyager and swam just off her bow!
Sailing from one sperm whale to the other, we also saw numerous Mobula rays, flying fish, bottlenose dolphins and even a solitary fin whale. A second and larger group of long-beaked common dolphins added a note of excitement to an already exciting evening; their jumps and fast swimming over glassy waters were a joy to watch and the perfect ending for a wonderful day!
