What a start to our Baja voyage! We woke up to a beautiful sunrise as we cruised north through the area of Bahia de Loreto National Park. Shortly after breakfast, though, our kayak and snorkel briefings were interrupted by a chaotic feeding frenzy. Initiated by a large school of fish, long beaked common dolphins porpoised through the water as they chased after their prey; pelicans dove straight into the waves and surfaced seconds later with their catch; gulls dipped their beaks in the water and came up with a mouthful of fish; and frigate birds soared high above taking every chance they could get to steal food from their fellow hunters. It was madness in the best possible way.
After we tore ourselves away from the feeding frenzy (and had a second attempt at the briefings) we spotted several blows off in the distance. As we cruised closer, we saw that there were several blue whales in the area, including one a cow calf pair. For over an hour, they had us switching from one side of the ship to the other as they came up to the surface for a breath of air than dove deep again for upwards of 15 minutes. We were even graced with a fluke sighting or two, something not very common for blue whales.
In the afternoon (after finally finishing our briefings) we landed at Isla Dazante for snorkeling, beach time, and hikes. Dazante is a small island pocketed with a handful of picturesque bays filled with turquoise water and white sand beaches. The snorkeling was great and the hikes led us up a rocky path to several magnificent lookout points. Our day ended with calm seas and a tranquil sunset as we continued our journey up the Sea of Cortez.
