After sailing during the night, we woke up to a surreal landscape where mangroves meet sand dunes. This combination of ecosystems is rarely found. As the day started, we got the water toys out. Guests spent a couple hours exploring the inner channels of El Barril, a mangrove forest, by kayak and standup paddleboard. Local pilot Sergio Camacho then got on board to help us navigate through Canal de Soledad, which is famous for being shallow and narrow. During our transit of the canal, we spotted many varieties of shorebirds. While cruising, a pod of bottlenose dolphins joined us and gave us a show as they rode the bow of the ship. When the channel opened, we got to see our first gray whale calf and its mom. The mom breached several times as we passed. After dropping anchor, we headed to Isla Magdalena, a very long and narrow barrier island that separates Bahia Magdalena from the Pacific Ocean. When we came back to the ship, we were greeted by the talented musicians of Los Coyotes from Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos. They helped set the rhythm for our Mexican fiesta. The music, the mezcal, and the food were the soul of the fiesta.
2/25/2023
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National Geographic Sea Bird
Bahia Almejas, Baja California
As the sun rose, the hills of Isla Santa Margarita lit up to wake us to our first day in Bahia Magdalena. We had lots of firsts today, as we got to meet our panga drivers and head out to explore the area. Today’s focus was Bahia Almejas, the social center of gray whale hangouts at this time of year. And the whales certainly didn’t disappoint. We had lots of encounters with ‘friendly whales’ coming right up to the pangas and allowing us to touch them. As if that wasn’t enough, there was all sorts of activity like whales breaching, spyhopping, and even some mating! Naturally, one of the highlights was getting whale snot blown all over us! We split into two groups for whale watching. The group that wasn’t on the pangas learned how to improve photographic composition using iPhones from Gemina Garland-Lewis, certified photo instructor for the trip. We went out for a couple hours in the morning and afternoon, passing a spit covered in double-crested cormorants and brown pelicans each time. On the way back to National Geographic Sea Bird , we had a treat and saw a lone bald eagle that had clearly been hunting amongst the cormorants. The day wasn’t quite done. After a delicious dinner that included the popular chocolate decadence, Kylee Walterman educated us with a presentation on gray whales. Everyone had the opportunity to touch whale lice if they so wished!
