North winds and choppy seas gave us an interesting ride until midnight, when our adventure took a new direction, a southerly one. At first light we entered Bahía Concepción near Mulegé. This area is quite popular because of the protection it provides amongst small picturesque islands and sandy bays. There is a backdrop of rough and ragged volcanic mountains colored like red bricks intermingling with coarse blacks and soft tans of the landscape. Our flexible expedition style allowed for a fleet of kayaks to be quickly readied on the beach of Isla Coyote. Kayakers circumnavigated the island and offshore rocks and enjoyed being captains of their own crafts. Pelicans and frigatebirds were their quiet companions.
Zodiac tours soon left for Islas Guapo and Blanca. The island with white in its name had guano-encrusted rocks with the donors standing about. Blue-footed boobies looked down at us with their pointy, cone-shaped bills as we admired their feet. American oystercatcher pairs walked along the rocks as ospreys perched on cardon cacti. These islands were a jumble of washing-machine sized rocks fused together with a once molten, sticky matrix of ash.
The National Geographic Sea Bird left the bay during lunch and headed south, accompanied by a gentle following sea. Three tall blows, and then others could be seen far ahead. As we drew closer, large bodies and distinct dorsal fins helped identify them as fin whales. One came quite close to the ship and floated just below the surface. There are over 600 individuals that live in the Gulf of California throughout the year where they find enough krill and fish to sustain them. Today’s photo is of a massive head showing the white lower jaw that helps to identify them.
In late afternoon we anchored off the Peninsula at a place called Gull Rock near Punta Púlpito. This little-known area has superb hiking up a rock and sand-filled arroyo. We returned to a ring of chairs and a beach barbeque at the landing. As the night drew on, Alberto and Jack brought out a guitar, and the air was filled with Mexican music into the evening.
