Today we started our explorations of the waters and islands around the Peninsula of Baja California by going ashore on Magdalena Island; we all hiked across gorgeous sand dunes towards the western shore while learning about the multiple adaptations that plants and animals have in order to survive here. We found much evidence of the inhabitants that call this moonscape home, like the tiny footprints of white-footed mice or the leftovers of a coyote’s meal. We admired the beauty and resilience of the sand verbena, the rattle weed, and the sea purslane, and the majestic serenity of the barchan dunes around us. Once on the other side, we had a great time walking the endless Santa Maria Bay, also known as Sand Dollar Beach, and understood why it is called that way: sand dollars everywhere! The white endoskeletons of countless sand dollars could be seen all around, together with many more clamshells of all sizes, sea turtle carapaces, live ghost crabs, dolphin skulls, and other similar treasures.
Around noon, the National Geographic Sea Bird started making her way north under the expert hand of our local pilot, Alejandro Camacho. He made her sail through the narrow Hull Canal, whose shores alternate between gorgeous dune fields and lush mangroves. We watched numerous bird species as we sailed, including marbled godwits, whimbrels, redhead ducks, brant geese, and the ever-present magnificent frigatebirds. And as we neared the northern end of Magdalena Island, we saw our first gray whales! Female whales with young babies slowly swam around, and one breached several times in a row, making big splashes and everyone with a camera went crazy!
Before reaching our destination near Boca de Soledad, we made a brief stop just off the small town of Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos; a small community of fishermen, Lopez Mateos is also the epicenter of whale-watching in the area and numerous locals depend on this activity during the winter months. Gray whales and the tourism that they attract are so important for the people here that they celebrate it every year with a big event of games, partying, and environmental education known as the Gray Whale Festival. And like all important events in northwest Mexico, a beautiful local young woman is crowned each time. Miss Gray Whale 2014 and her family later honored us with their visit and joined us for dinner on board. We are now at anchor near the gap between Magdalena and Santo Doming islands and eagerly looking forward to spend the next couple of days having some quality time with those grey whales and their babies.
