Isla Magdalena
After a very easy night’s passage northward on a pacified Pacific Ocean, we awoke off the coast of Isla Santa Margarita, one of the two large barrier islands that delineate Bahia Magdalena, which is the body of water where we plan to spend the remainder of our voyage. The Sea Bird entered the southern reaches of the huge bay through the Entrada, a passage between the northern end of Isla Santa Margarita and the southern end of Isla Magdalena, just after breakfast. Once inside, it didn’t take us long to get a close-up view of a grey whale. Local regulations would not allow us to maneuver or change our speed in order to track the whale or try to get closer, but the whale was very obliging in that it was swimming in a converging course and actually came quite close to our vessel as we passed in front of it.
This was a good time for Larry Hobbs, our resident cetologist, to inform and amuse us with his knowledge and experience studying grey whales for the past 30 years. Within a couple hours, we had reached a good anchorage site from which we went ashore and explored a narrow section of Isla Magdalena. We landed on a beautiful white sand beach on the bay side and then walked inland through an impressive series of wind-formed dunes all the way across to the Pacific coastline. Here, we found another beautiful beach, appropriately called “Sand Dollar Beach”. The fine sand which makes up the island is perfect for leaving distinctive tracks, and we happily added our own to those of coyotes, jackrabbits, and various birds which seemed to crisscross in all directions. Everyone seemed very interested with the incredible collection of sand dollars, sea shells, and various animal remains on the far beach and we had fun identifying and learning about the numerous bones from sea turtles, pelicans, dolphins, and sea lions.
Even so, what I was most taken with was the extensive aboriginal midden covering one side of the largest sand dunes in our area of exploration. In the accompanying photo, one can see on the dune slope countless shells left over as food refuse from pre-Colombian Indians who must have come to the island seasonally for many generations in order to collect and eat shellfish here. Every shell we could identify was of an edible type, which made perfect sense. Most species left here are bivalves, primarily clams and scallops, but many large gastropods were mixed into the heap. It would be fascinating to step back in time and witness those people sitting here laughing and singing atop the mound while enjoying their seafood meals.
After a very easy night’s passage northward on a pacified Pacific Ocean, we awoke off the coast of Isla Santa Margarita, one of the two large barrier islands that delineate Bahia Magdalena, which is the body of water where we plan to spend the remainder of our voyage. The Sea Bird entered the southern reaches of the huge bay through the Entrada, a passage between the northern end of Isla Santa Margarita and the southern end of Isla Magdalena, just after breakfast. Once inside, it didn’t take us long to get a close-up view of a grey whale. Local regulations would not allow us to maneuver or change our speed in order to track the whale or try to get closer, but the whale was very obliging in that it was swimming in a converging course and actually came quite close to our vessel as we passed in front of it.
This was a good time for Larry Hobbs, our resident cetologist, to inform and amuse us with his knowledge and experience studying grey whales for the past 30 years. Within a couple hours, we had reached a good anchorage site from which we went ashore and explored a narrow section of Isla Magdalena. We landed on a beautiful white sand beach on the bay side and then walked inland through an impressive series of wind-formed dunes all the way across to the Pacific coastline. Here, we found another beautiful beach, appropriately called “Sand Dollar Beach”. The fine sand which makes up the island is perfect for leaving distinctive tracks, and we happily added our own to those of coyotes, jackrabbits, and various birds which seemed to crisscross in all directions. Everyone seemed very interested with the incredible collection of sand dollars, sea shells, and various animal remains on the far beach and we had fun identifying and learning about the numerous bones from sea turtles, pelicans, dolphins, and sea lions.
Even so, what I was most taken with was the extensive aboriginal midden covering one side of the largest sand dunes in our area of exploration. In the accompanying photo, one can see on the dune slope countless shells left over as food refuse from pre-Colombian Indians who must have come to the island seasonally for many generations in order to collect and eat shellfish here. Every shell we could identify was of an edible type, which made perfect sense. Most species left here are bivalves, primarily clams and scallops, but many large gastropods were mixed into the heap. It would be fascinating to step back in time and witness those people sitting here laughing and singing atop the mound while enjoying their seafood meals.
