Bahia Almejas and Puerto Magdalena, 3/6/2025, National Geographic Sea Bird
Aboard the
National Geographic Sea Bird
Baja California
Our day aboard National Geographic Sea Bird began with a wonderful gray whale watching adventure in Bahia Almejas. Aboard our pangas driven by local captains, we were surrounded by whales. In the afternoon, guests enjoyed hikes, fat-tire bike rides, and beverages and ceviche in Puerto Magdalena, followed by a party onboard led by Los Coyotes de Magdalena – a local band. What a way to end our trip!
Melissa Heres is a diver, captain, marine biologist, and hydrographer. Growing up on a farm in a landlocked portion of Germany, she explored the natural world surrounding her which translated into a fascination with the sea and travel.
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Most of us have come to see the gray whales and today was dedicated to that endeavor. National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions has a long history of using local guides and their pangas to allow us to get close to the whales that have come to the warmer waters of Bahia Magdalena to have their calves every winter. Sunrise provided favorable weather and high expectations. During the morning session, it seemed like every whale around us was spy-hopping (raising their head above the water high enough to look around), sometimes three or four at once! Other whales were seen breaching in the distance. Occasionally a few would pause just a few feet from the boats, the panga drivers expertly giving the whales space to maneuver around us. We returned after lunch to the same place, but the scene was subtly different, perhaps influenced by the changing tides. Less spy-hopping, less breaching, but a willingness to approach even closer to our pangas! Perhaps tomorrow morning we will get to touch a whale.
This morning, we awoke to a beautiful sunrise over the sand dunes south of Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos. After breakfast, we loaded into our local pangas for the first time to go out whale watching. We saw a couple of whales, a large group of bottlenose dolphins, and many different types of birds. Both before and after lunch we were able to spend some time on the bow as we navigated the narrow passages of Canal de Soledad. After dropping off our local pilot, Sergio Camacho, who helped us through these shallow waters, we lowered our Zodiacs and kayaks to spend the afternoon exploring the mangroves of El Barril on Isla Magdalena. It was very low tide, so we got a good look into the intricate root systems of this hugely important ecosystem, and we watched feeding shorebirds on the exposed mudflats. Back on board National Geographic Sea Bird , we had a fascinating presentation by our Stanford guest speaker about the history of cartography of the Baja California Peninsula. It was another wonderful day!
