Isla Santa Catalina, Baja California
The sea calmed before dawn and the Sea Bird again offered a pleasant ride. It was cool on deck when 3 bottlenose dolphins paid a visit. Their bow-riding was brief, and they soon shot off to the side and down into the blue depths. Not long after breakfast we came upon more than a hundred long-beaked common dolphins. They were probably foraging on schooling fish. The bow camera was turned on as they rode the pressure wave. We watched the skillful twists and turns that maintained their bodies in positions that allowed them to be pushed on their downward bent flukes.
Today’s photograph shows a group of these dolphins. A fascinating observation is that two of them are exhaling before they reach the surface. The one in the foreground is just a bit later than the one to the left. When they reach the surface they can inhale because the exhaled air has cleared an opening. The rush of incoming air takes only a third of a second before the blowhole slams shut, and they’re again immersed in the sea.
Later in the day our ship’s officers anchored in a cove at Isla Santa Catalina. An elephant-shaped rock was off the port side near a place where we would later set up a snorkeling outing. Once there, we would peer into a world of giant damselfish guarding their algal treasures, porcupine fish staring blankly at us newcomers, and Cortez rainbow wrasses scurrying busily in their little schools. One of the shore excursions reached a ridge top high enough to look over the island to the other side. Other walkers spent more time looking at birds and plants. The island is truly a gem, a treasure of endemic species set in granite hills. Big waves occasionally crashed into departing Zodiacs and gave us the feeling that this remote island and its inhabitants don’t fall under the thumb of man. This place wants to stay wild.
The sea calmed before dawn and the Sea Bird again offered a pleasant ride. It was cool on deck when 3 bottlenose dolphins paid a visit. Their bow-riding was brief, and they soon shot off to the side and down into the blue depths. Not long after breakfast we came upon more than a hundred long-beaked common dolphins. They were probably foraging on schooling fish. The bow camera was turned on as they rode the pressure wave. We watched the skillful twists and turns that maintained their bodies in positions that allowed them to be pushed on their downward bent flukes.
Today’s photograph shows a group of these dolphins. A fascinating observation is that two of them are exhaling before they reach the surface. The one in the foreground is just a bit later than the one to the left. When they reach the surface they can inhale because the exhaled air has cleared an opening. The rush of incoming air takes only a third of a second before the blowhole slams shut, and they’re again immersed in the sea.
Later in the day our ship’s officers anchored in a cove at Isla Santa Catalina. An elephant-shaped rock was off the port side near a place where we would later set up a snorkeling outing. Once there, we would peer into a world of giant damselfish guarding their algal treasures, porcupine fish staring blankly at us newcomers, and Cortez rainbow wrasses scurrying busily in their little schools. One of the shore excursions reached a ridge top high enough to look over the island to the other side. Other walkers spent more time looking at birds and plants. The island is truly a gem, a treasure of endemic species set in granite hills. Big waves occasionally crashed into departing Zodiacs and gave us the feeling that this remote island and its inhabitants don’t fall under the thumb of man. This place wants to stay wild.
