San Carlos & Isla Magdalena, 12/10/2022, National Geographic Venture
Aboard the
National Geographic Venture
California Coast
A warm breeze and sun rise greeted the National Geographic Venture as we cruised into San Carlos port. After breakfast guests were able to stretch their legs on the dock, view numerous brown pelicans plunge diving, and attend snorkeling 101 to get some tips and tricks for later in our voyage. Lunch was served with bright sunny skies and warm temperatures.
After lunch guests took a short Zodiac ride to shore to spend the afternoon exploring Isla Magdalena. A walk through the dune systems took guests from the Bahia Magdalena side of the island over to the Pacific side and Sand Dollar Beach. Passing by rattle weed, evening primrose, and Sand Verbina throughout the extensive, ever-changing dune system. Here guests were able to stroll at their own leisurely pace while exploring the beach and all its treasures including sand dollars and a variety of seashells.
Once back on board everyone gathered up on the sun deck to enjoy cocktails and view the sun set. The evening wrapped up with recap, delicious dinner, and new friends.
Rachel grew up in West Haven Connecticut on Long Island Sound and has always loved being outside in nature, swimming, camping, and beach combing. Rachel received her B.S. in Biology from Eastern Connecticut State University and after graduation worke...
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Today we traveled through Hull Canal, a shallow passage with mangrove forests and dune ecosystems on both sides. This passage is located between the southern part of Bahia Magdalena and the northern area known as Boca de Soledad. Lagoons are created by barrier islands. A local pilot navigated the thin, challenging channel, making it a truly special area to travel. Our naturalists hung out on the ship’s bow, pointing out various bird species and encouraging guests to look over the side to see bow-riding bottlenose dolphins. After lunch, we explored a very narrow part of Bahia Magdalena via pangas operated by local fishermen. This part of the bay is an incredible nursery ground for gray whale mother and calf pairs. The babies fatten up on their mother’s milk as they exercise in the currents and prepare for the long migration back to the feeding grounds of the Bering and Chukchi Seas. We were treated to an awe-inspiring experience as these curious calves swam under our pangas and attempted to nurse, which included rolling around and bringing their cute, barnacle-free heads out of the water. We were lucky enough to observe multiple pairs and lots of activity. Thanks to low tides in the afternoon, we cruised close to shore on the way back to the ship, photographing herons, ibises, willets, and even a few howling coyotes. After warming up on the ship, we all met in the lounge for a Mexican fiesta and danced to a performance by local musicians, Los Coyotes.
Our final morning aboard the National Geographic Venture begins along the east coast of the Baja Peninsula. We are awe stuck at the jagged cliff sides that are illuminated by the morning pink hues and some of us are fortunate enough to see the green flash at sunrise. Our afternoon comes to a close after sailing through the Gulf of California in search of whales. We are grateful as the sunsets once more along the striking beaches of Isla San Jose.
The sun rose in pink-colored hues over the tiny fishing village of Los Frailes, just as a squadron of local pangueros rounded the corner from Parque Nacional Cabo Pulmo to welcome us to another day of adventure aboard the National Geographic Venture . A breakfast of salsa roja chilaquiles kickstarted us into our first snorkel of the voyage—and what a place to do it! Cabo Pulmo National Park is a jewel of the global “Marine Protected Area” project, a stunning example of how an aquatic community can rebound and thrive if it is freed from extractive pressures and given the time it needs to heal. Once nearly-barren from decades of overexploitation, this 27-square-mile piece of piscine paradise had been set aside as a no-take marine reserve since 1995, thanks to the dedicated efforts and oversight of Cabo Pulmo’s ocean-minded community of residents and expats. The park—which also oversees the northern-most coral reefs of the Pacific Coast of North America and only reef-building coral community in Baja California—has seen its ecosystem rebound almost beyond comprehension, with a biomass surging over 400% in the past 30 years. We spent the morning snorkeling along these as-near-to-pristine reefs, encountering full “emergen-sea rooms” of yellowtail surgeonfishes, resplendent dent wrasses, parrotfishes, moorish idols, pufferfishes, damselfishes, bennies, hawkfishes, groupers and countless tropically influenced swimmers, all communing around corals, sea fans and sponges. Open-ocean passers-by of green, trevally and blue jacks swam by as pompano and cornetfishes chased closely behind. Though the water was chopped by the wind and relatively cool with the approaching winter, we explored throughout the morning until hands were thoroughly pruned and hot showers were extra-appreciated. Chicken tortas powered us into an afternoon of cruising, whale-watching, and learning from National Geographic Exporter John Francis about sustainable tourism. An evening of presentations about the park featuring dive footage from the day left our memory-bellies full for the tomorrow’s final full day of expedition fun. One could say we had experienced Cabo Pulmo-nary Resuscitation… Onward!
