Bahia Magdalena and Hull Canal
Do you remember when you were a kid, when you were experiencing something for the first time in your whole life? Do you remember the excitement and anticipation of not knowing what will happen? Today for many of us we got to experience and remember what that felt like as we saw our first gray whale or stared into the eye of a bottlenose dolphin as it swam just off our bow. Today was all about experiencing things as a kid again, everything was all new and just full of exploration!
The hazy pinks and oranges of the sunrise started our day as we sailed north along the west side of Isla Santa Margarita in the barrier island region of Bahia Magdalena. It was wonderfully calm, a rare occurrence in this part of the Pacific. We saw many small groups of common dolphins and some frisky humpback whales splashing about in the distance just before the La Entrada, one of the entrances to Bahia Magdalena. We anchored just off Isla Magdalena to go exploring among the sand dunes and wander along Sand Dollar Beach. The wonderfully soft sand squished between our toes as we watched ghost crabs and discovered the loco weed with its delicate purple flowers.
After lunch we maneuvered our way through Hull Canal. It was a fantastic afternoon as we saw snowy egrets, green herons, great blue herons and even tricolor herons in addition to curlews, godwits and lots of magnificent frigate birds. It sounds like a foreign language but these are all bird species commonly found feeding along the intertidal of the mangrove forests who winter in the sheltered waters of this canal.
When we weren’t busy looking at all the birds, we saw our first gray whale calves! At first all you could see was the dull, mottled back of an adult gray whale as it rested almost motionless at the surface. Then a little body with a tiny head would pop up next to the adult. We even saw a calf resting on top of its mother’s back as we slowly made our way to Boca de Soledad. Gray whale calves may be 15 feet long and weigh close to 2000 pounds at birth. The mothers will nurse their calves in the sheltered lagoons around Bahia Magdalena through March. It was a wonderfully relaxing afternoon spotting whales, watching dolphins bow riding and seeing many new bird species.
Do you remember when you were a kid, when you were experiencing something for the first time in your whole life? Do you remember the excitement and anticipation of not knowing what will happen? Today for many of us we got to experience and remember what that felt like as we saw our first gray whale or stared into the eye of a bottlenose dolphin as it swam just off our bow. Today was all about experiencing things as a kid again, everything was all new and just full of exploration!
The hazy pinks and oranges of the sunrise started our day as we sailed north along the west side of Isla Santa Margarita in the barrier island region of Bahia Magdalena. It was wonderfully calm, a rare occurrence in this part of the Pacific. We saw many small groups of common dolphins and some frisky humpback whales splashing about in the distance just before the La Entrada, one of the entrances to Bahia Magdalena. We anchored just off Isla Magdalena to go exploring among the sand dunes and wander along Sand Dollar Beach. The wonderfully soft sand squished between our toes as we watched ghost crabs and discovered the loco weed with its delicate purple flowers.
After lunch we maneuvered our way through Hull Canal. It was a fantastic afternoon as we saw snowy egrets, green herons, great blue herons and even tricolor herons in addition to curlews, godwits and lots of magnificent frigate birds. It sounds like a foreign language but these are all bird species commonly found feeding along the intertidal of the mangrove forests who winter in the sheltered waters of this canal.
When we weren’t busy looking at all the birds, we saw our first gray whale calves! At first all you could see was the dull, mottled back of an adult gray whale as it rested almost motionless at the surface. Then a little body with a tiny head would pop up next to the adult. We even saw a calf resting on top of its mother’s back as we slowly made our way to Boca de Soledad. Gray whale calves may be 15 feet long and weigh close to 2000 pounds at birth. The mothers will nurse their calves in the sheltered lagoons around Bahia Magdalena through March. It was a wonderfully relaxing afternoon spotting whales, watching dolphins bow riding and seeing many new bird species.
