After spending the morning exploring the historic mining town of Santa Rosalia, the Sea Bird sailed for Isla San Marcos for guests to hike the arroyo and enjoy the afternoon discovering unusual life in the tidepools. On the way to the island, distant blows caught our attention and we changed course to observe two fin whales. While we were enjoying good looks at these whales, First Officer Marcie Braniff reported a number of spouts to the northeast. The Sea Bird altered course toward these unidentified cetaceans, but even from a distance the forward-canted blows indicated sperm whales. For the next several hours, we watched in awe as the whales breached, tail-slapped, spy-hopped, and courted. In our quest to bring the underwater world closer to our guests, our Chief Engineer/Underwater Videographer Andy Boyer donned his scuba gear and "fearlessly" entered the water with the whales. We watched Andy as he was surrounded by the whales and listened as the intense pinging sounds they produced were broadcast over the ship's PA system.
Late in the afternoon, we launched all of our Zodiacs and spent an extraordinary hour drifting among these marine giants, which were often only an arm's length away.
