The ocean’s surface was flat and glassy. Troublesome wind was but a memory as the bright horizon soon gave us a brief glimpse of a two-layered green flash. Off and on throughout the morning we watched long-beaked common dolphins in the distance or up close riding our bow wave and surfing on our wake. At one point we peered into the distance to see a confusing combination of dorsal fins that turned out to be both bottlenose dolphins and short-finned pilot whales together. There were several large male pilot whales that approached the ship. They have enlarged dorsal fins that appear stretched along the back and have huge heads that look like they carry a pot as a nose. Their foreheads are used as acoustic lenses for focusing sound generated near their blowholes during echolocation. As each one approached, we first saw the water distort into a dome and then transform into a shiny black watermelon of a head.
We later found two Bryde’s whales. One appeared to be a subadult and then about 30 minutes later a full-grown individual appeared. Although whales usually take the place as the most exciting animals of the day, today it was sharks. Several times we had good views of hammerheads. It was so calm that we could see their tails and dorsal fins from the bow. As time passed we sighted others. A light-colored and broader fin was from a smaller mako shark that is featured as the photograph today. Mako sharks are the fastest sharks in the world and are reported to reach 60 miles per hour when they are hunting for food and regularly swim 35 miles per hour. They eat tuna, sailfish and swordfish and grow to 12 feet.
By mid-afternoon the officers had anchored off an important seabird colony that usually has nearly a half-million birds. Heermann’s gulls, elegant and royal terns, ospreys, and peregrine falcons were some of the noteworthy residents. We were able to watch hundreds of elegant terns, some in their tandem courtship flights and bill flipping displays. Thousands of Heermann’s gulls floated together and made laughing sounds mixed with a plaintive “ow, ow, ow.”
Sunset over Baja California gave us beautiful light as our trusty inflatable boats carried us “home.”
