Fog covered the National Geographic Sea Bird as we gently rolled northward on Pacific swells. The greatest gift that fog can give is the peekaboo views of distant clearings lit by sunshine, and the color and texture of shadows in sharp and brilliant mountains. We passed Isla Santa Margarita, one of two long islands that enclose Magdalena Bay. We saw our first gray whale of the trip and several sea lions. Later we turned into La Entrada, the entrance to Magdalena Bay, and cruised through beautiful mangroves while birding along the way. The ship anchored and we had a chance to walk over the dunes to the Pacific or just to explore the spectacular barchan dunes.