Surrounded by the life-giving fog of the Pacific Coast, we went in search of gray whales this morning in Magdalena Bay. We navigated like little ducks in a row, all following the lead Zodiac. With the surfacing of a cow/calf pair of gray whales, we stopped and waited. The calm quiet morning was punctuated with the gentle blows of an adult female gray whale and the less exuberant pffft of her calf. This was our last opportunity for viewing the whales up close and they did not disappoint. This curious calf was granted some license by its mother, and cavorted between, around and under our little boats. It was an experience we will not soon forget.
3/9/2023
Read
National Geographic Sea Bird
Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Baja California Sur
We started the morning with a magnificent full moon. According to a pre-Hispanic legend, one day Priestess Coatlicue (Maternal Earth deity) was sweeping her shrine when a ball of hummingbird feathers fell from the sky. She snatched them up, placed them at her waist, and became pregnant with the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli. Her pregnancy embarrassed her other children, including her eldest daughter, Coyolxauhqui, who decided to kill Coatlicue with her brothers, the Centzon Huitzinahuas. Miraculously, when Coatlicue gave birth to Huitzilopochtli, he was grown and armed. He beheaded Coyolxauhqui and tossed her head in the sky. Her head became the moon, and her brothers became the stars. After a beautiful sunrise, we went in search of gray whales near Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, a quite village to the north of Magdalena Bay. We encountered cows training their calves to migrate to their feeding grounds in Alaska. The 9,000-mile voyage will last at least two months. On the way to Boca de la Soledad, we visited a marsh where magnificent frigatebirds nest among other species. We concluded our day with cocktails and dinner by the gorgeous dunes of Magdalena Island.
