Bahia Almejas, 1/19/2020, National Geographic Venture
Aboard the
National Geographic Venture
Baja California
It was a gorgeous time with the grey whales at Bahia Almejas and a wonderful way to start our expedition! We loaded into pangas and went exploring the southernmost section of Magdalena Bay. The grey whales swim all the way down from the rich feeding waters of Alaska and use three specific areas in Baja California for breeding. The protected shallow bays create perfect mating grounds and a nursery for young calves and mothers. In the afternoon the ship remained in its morning anchorage as we went ashore to the beach of Isla Santa Margarita.
Amy was raised near Cape Cod in coastal Marion, Massachusetts, and her relationship with the ocean and nature has always been an active one. Her parents, avid divers and marine biologists, introduced her to the underwater world when she was very youn...
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A pink-orange sunrise illuminated National Geographic Venture this morning while sailing to the southernmost section of Magdalena Bay, called Almejas. Once there, our guests and staff boarded pangas, local boats, for a long whale watching session. There were probably 30 gray whales (females and males) surrounding the boats performing all kinds of behaviors related to mating. Practically all spyhopped, some breeched, many showed flukes, and almost all rolled over to show their bellies and their pectoral fins. Sometimes, five whales at a time were spyhopping, and the cameras and cell phones were snapping like crazy. We also observed hundreds of double-crested cormorants, brown pelicans, magnificent frigatebirds, and western gulls going back and forth to get food in this productive environment. In the afternoon, the vessel moved north to Santa Maria Bay where our guests and naturalists explored the sand dunes and mangrove environments and found their amazing inhabitants –shore and land birds, sand dollars, shells of many different species, fiddler crabs, a coyote, jackrabbit tracks, and unique sand dune plants. Back on board, we finished our first day of exploration enjoying the music of local performers, Los Coyotes de Magdalena, and a deligthful dinner.
After a morning stop at the San Carlos dock, we travelled into thick fog through Magdalena Bay, and into Bahia Almejas. As the fog lifted, those of us on the bow of National Geographic Venture started spotting gray whales; soon we were loading into pangas for our adventure to seek out more gray whales. It was such a fantastic afternoon! There must have been 80 or more gray whales, doing all of the things: we saw fluking, breaching, rolling, spyhopping, and all of the surface behaviors. Blows could be seen off in the distance, while many had some extra-friendly whale encounters close by. It was an incredible way to finish this week spent in beautiful Baja California Sur, Mexico, complete with a stunning sunset sky!
As we boarded the pangas in Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos we were met with glassy calm waters. A thin layer of wispy fog gave the mangrove-lined channels an ethereal look. We set out to look for wildlife at the northern limit of the Bahia Magdalena complex, which is known as a gray whale wintering area and is also home to myriad birds, mangrove forests, and other wildlife. A female gray whale and her newborn calf frolicked just a few hundred meters from the docks. Mom rested while her calf continuously spyhopped and rolled through the tranquil water. As we moved further out toward the mouth of the bay, we were surrounded by curious bottlenose dolphins, jumping and playing in our wake. Low tide set the table for endless shorebirds grabbing bites in the intertidal mudflats. After a delicious lunch at a local restaurant, we headed back out on the water to explore the mangroves. We wound through narrow channels to a small-scale sustainable oyster farm. There we learned about the process of growing oysters in these pristine waters and sampled the delicious seafood, as fresh as it comes. On our way out we spied on coyotes foraging in the intertidal; we also observed great egrets, white ibises, and American oystercatchers. It was a day filled with natural beauty and wildlife galore.
