“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” –William Shakespeare
“Good Morning…. Good morning aboard the National Geographic Sea Bird,” came the expedition leader’s voice over the PA. “It is 7 a.m. and the temperature is currently 68 degrees Fahrenheit, 21 degrees Celsius. We are anchored at Los Titeres, the north end of the Hull Canal, just south of the Boca de Soledad.”
The skies were partly overcast, as is typical in the morning in this region, with the sun still rising, setting aglow the dunes along the shoreline. Outside on deck one need only listen for a moment to hear the magical “PFFFTT”,“ppfttt”, the sounds of momma and baby gray whales breathing. The excitement aboard the ship was palpable, for today we would be getting into expedition landing craft with the naturalists and local Pangeros to get a closer look at these magnificent creatures. Every year the gray whales come down to this bay—one of three—to mate, birth, and raise their young to become big and strong enough to make the long migration north in April. Many of the pregnant females have given birth in the last few weeks, thus the calves we saw were a week or maybe two-weeks old. Tiny! What a treat to see these energetic miniature whales swimming alongside their huge moms. They embodied the cuteness that seems to come with the young of all creatures. Some of the whales seem as curious about us as we are of them, coming up to the boats and rolling on each other, maybe coming under or alongside the boats close enough to be touched by outstretched hands. The experience of this friendly engaging behavior is hard to describe, touching the heart and mind in a way that can be surprising.
In addition to our time with the whales, many opted to go ashore to walk along the shoreline, or amongst the dunes, and some to cross over to the Pacific on the other side. Wind and water and sand continuously produce these dynamic living sculptures with varying geometric patterns. In some places the sand was dense and firm, crusty underfoot. In other areas the feet “post-holed” through to the ankle or even part-way up the calf. And yet other areas the sand was powder-fine, shifting this way and that. It was fun to walk along the ridge-line and then take a running leap over the edge and allow the feet and calves to sink and surf the silky powder. Also fun to see the tracks of creatures… coyotes, hares, mice, beetles, among others. And the small yet hardy plants that survive here.
And oh—I almost forgot to mention—it rained this morning! It is rare to have rain in the desert, but it does happen, and we were blessed with this lucky event. In the evening we were treated to a delicious Mexican fiesta dinner, complete with music from local musicians Los Coyotes de Magdalena. It’s been another beautiful day in Baja California.
