Cruising with Blue Whales and Santa Catalina
A vibrant sunrise and a breaching juvenile humpback whale greeted us early this morning. After breakfast, we spotted our first blue whales of the season!
The blue whale is the largest mammal that has ever existed and has been recorded up to 200 tons. It can produce the loudest noise, which some researchers believe can travel more than 1,000 miles. Once extensively hunted, more than 240,000 animals were killed. There are now 12,000-14,000 blue whales on the planet and the ones we saw this morning are part of the Eastern Pacific sub-population which is the most genetically diverse. They can feed year round as they migrate between California and Costa Rica. We witnessed four or more blue whales, possibly feeding on krill, in between Isla Del Carmen and Monserrat, including a cow/calf pair that made an incredible pass right in front of the bow.
Before lunch, Naturalist Alberto Montaudon Ferrer gave an entertaining and informative presentation on the history and culture of Mexico.
In the afternoon we went ashore on Isla Santa Catalina. Uplifted out of the ocean 3-5 million years ago, this island has several endemic species that can be found nowhere else. One is the giant barrel cactus, which some of the hikers even found in bloom. But the more exciting sighting was of three different rattleless rattlesnakes. Although these reptiles make no noise, their tails still have black marks that look like rattles. Several people spotted the endemic Santa Catalina side-blotched lizard with their bright emerald tails.
Back at the shore, snorkelers made their first dip in the water off of Elephant Rock. Just beneath the surface butterfly fish, spotted sharp-nose puffer fish, king angelfish and sergeant majors darted among the rocks and red sea fans. Yellow-spotted stars, crown of thorns and sea cucumbers could be seen along with pearl oysters which are responsible for so much of the history here in Baja California. A few lucky snorkelers caught a glimpse of a moray eel popping its head out of a rocky cave. It was a full but peaceful first day to our expedition.
