Isla del Carmen
Today the sun forgot to rise. The dark clouds blocked the sun's presence until about 8:00am. We had already been out on the bow of the Sea Lion scanning the horizons in search of charismatic whales. They can usually be found just east of Isla del Carmen, and then: There! At twelve o’clock! A whale! As we carefully approached the creature it disappeared, then appeared minutes later in the general area of our vessel. It was most likely feeding on krill which is very abundant in these deep waters, around 800 to 900 feet below. We then saw a blue whale, one of the largest living animals on our planet. This blue whale was maybe 85 feet long! These are not seen every day.
Later a second whale was seen and followed. In no time we had two whales floating very near our ship, oblivious of our presence. So we watched these lovely animals for a quite some time but eventually left them to follow our own program..
After lunch we had approached Isla del Carmen, and divided our attentions in hiking and in water sports. Hiking was done at Arroyo Rojo, where we visited the humid desert quite far, up small ravines, enjoying the lush vegetation, the result of heavy rainfalls all along the last months. The desert was green. There were small belly-plants, ironwoods, palo verdes, incense trees and a large amount of cacti.
The aquatic sports group went snorkeling seeing many fishes of all sizes and colors. Coral fans, urchins and sponges adorned the rocky shore. Back on the ship to we showered and dressed for the evening barbecue, at Arroyo Blanco. We all enjoyed stories and s’mores after dinner… What an ending to a marvelous day!
Today the sun forgot to rise. The dark clouds blocked the sun's presence until about 8:00am. We had already been out on the bow of the Sea Lion scanning the horizons in search of charismatic whales. They can usually be found just east of Isla del Carmen, and then: There! At twelve o’clock! A whale! As we carefully approached the creature it disappeared, then appeared minutes later in the general area of our vessel. It was most likely feeding on krill which is very abundant in these deep waters, around 800 to 900 feet below. We then saw a blue whale, one of the largest living animals on our planet. This blue whale was maybe 85 feet long! These are not seen every day.
Later a second whale was seen and followed. In no time we had two whales floating very near our ship, oblivious of our presence. So we watched these lovely animals for a quite some time but eventually left them to follow our own program..
After lunch we had approached Isla del Carmen, and divided our attentions in hiking and in water sports. Hiking was done at Arroyo Rojo, where we visited the humid desert quite far, up small ravines, enjoying the lush vegetation, the result of heavy rainfalls all along the last months. The desert was green. There were small belly-plants, ironwoods, palo verdes, incense trees and a large amount of cacti.
The aquatic sports group went snorkeling seeing many fishes of all sizes and colors. Coral fans, urchins and sponges adorned the rocky shore. Back on the ship to we showered and dressed for the evening barbecue, at Arroyo Blanco. We all enjoyed stories and s’mores after dinner… What an ending to a marvelous day!
