Bahia Magdalena
Today we experienced Bahia Magdalena and its gray whales at their best. We started out the day with an early Zodiac cruise in search of these friendly giants. As soon as we embarked the first boat, a fog bank moved in. Our visibility was limited, but just for a few minutes. Once the fog started to dissipate, the first sun rays filtered beautifully through it, creating surreal beauty all around us. At that moment, we started to detect the first whale exhalations in the air. It did not take long for us to count several mother and calf pairs in every direction.
To our good fortune, a mother and her young calf were particularly happy to interact with us. Both leviathans dove under our boats and exhaled massive bubbles under us. For a brief moment, our boat was whale-propelled as the mother gently moved us around with her massive body.
As the whales felt more confident to come and play with us, they both surfaced here and there, very close to our boats. Although we never offer “whale touching excursions,” some of the lucky individuals who happened to be in the right spot at the right moment, got to share fleeting moments of physical contact with the massive creatures. We were all lucky to be part of such a magnificent expression of nature, where whales come to us, seeking friendly encounters.
Our pilot, Alejandro Camacho, steered the ship back through the Canal de Soledad, heading back towards Puerto San Carlos. The calm waters revealed more and more whales through our transit. The dunes and the mangroves are a huge part of the Bahia Magdalena experience. Gray whales are the main reason for us to be here, but to be honest, there are very few places in the world with such remarkable beauty, and… only this one is home to the magnificent grays.
To end our last day of the expedition, we spent a relaxed and peaceful afternoon at Bahia Santa Maria. This immense bay is lined by sand dunes to the east and the interminable Pacific Ocean to the west.
