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Baja Mexico Cruise Reviews: Sea Bird

From the Sea Bird in Baja California
Monday, January 30, 2006

Boca de Soledad

This morning we awoke with the ship at anchor close to Boca de Soledad, “Mouth of Solitude.” A dense fog covered our surroundings. Whale watching and walking through Isla Magdalena were our early morning activities. While we were out on our Zodiacs looking for whales, we suddenly broke out of the fog, and the silhouettes of cormorants and pelicans gradually revealed themselves to our eyes. The first round of walking through the dunes was a special experience. An almost mystical atmosphere was created by the fog over the sand dunes; we only knew where the Boca was, because we were following the sound of the breakers. Our sense of orientation was challenged making our experience more exciting. The tide was as high as we have ever seen it; it is amazing how a place we thought we knew can be so different when the forces of nature work over it. We discovered many different tracks where we could reconstruct the events of coyotes going after jackrabbits, shore birds feeding on the mudflats, and jackrabbits feeding on sand verbenas and other desert delights.

By mid morning, the fog dissipated. During the second round of Zodiac outings to look for gray whales, we experienced some close approaches from the mother and calves traveling within canal.

The afternoon hours were also spent whale watching. The tide started ebbing so the whales moved from Lopez Mateos towards Boca de Soledad swimming with the tide. Different behaviors were seen, from courtship activities, to playful calves rolling over their mother’s back. A few breaches, flukes rising and spy hopping were also witnessed. Bottlenose dolphins were in feeding along with their winged friends; they even approached to ride the bow of some of our Zodiacs, a truly wonderful experience.

Once back on board, our Sea Bird had organized a wonderful fiesta dinner including local seafoods and live music. A wonderful celebration to end our magical day among the great whales!

Alberto Montaudon, Naturalist; Photo: Carlos Navarro, Undersea Specialist