Open Pacific and Magdalena Bay
Our day started with a gorgeous morning sailing north along the Pacific coast of the Baja California peninsula off Santa Margarita Island. The long swells were pretty rhythmical and the occasional pink-footed shearwater or Craveri’s murrelet were observed sitting on the surface.
However, the tranquility of the morning was broken by the sheer numbers of feathered and flippered creatures congregating in a feeding frenzy. A very large group of long-beaked common dolphins chased sardines or some other kind of similar small schooling fish while numerous magnificent frigatebirds, Brandt’s cormorants and brown pelicans followed and tried to get their share of fish. Swimming close to the boat and sometimes accelerating at great speed, jumping high and far above the waves, the dolphins gave us a great show of drama and survival; their streamlined and perfectly hydrodynamic bodies seemed to move effortlessly through the water and their beauty challenged the slightly pejorative connotation implicit in the name “common dolphins.” They truly are magnificent creatures!
We eventually made our way into La Entrada, as the gap between Santa Margarita and Magdalena islands is known in Spanish, and the National Geographic Sea Bird entered Magdalena Bay. Sailing north along the Hull Canal while enjoying lunch out on the bridge deck, we admired the beauty of the mangrove-covered shoreline; numerous bird species showed themselves to us, including great blue and great egrets, white ibis and double-crested cormorants, to name a few.
Soon we entered the area where the gray whales congregate and saw our first specimens of the trip. After dropping our anchor at Boca de Soledad, on the northern portion of Magdalena Island, we went ashore for a nice late afternoon stroll along the beach and recharged our batteries in preparation for the following days, days that I’m sure we won’t forget.
