We sailed through the night up the coast of the peninsula, and awakened to another stunning clear day here in the Gulf of California. A distant splashing humpback whale teased us in its direction before breakfast, however it became shy once we got near. During breakfast the National Geographic Sea Lion anchored in Gull Rock, a scenic inlet on the eastern shore of the peninsula. It was easy to see the white-capped namesake jutting out of the water. We spent the morning exploring the area, by land and water.
Hikers walked up the boulder-strewn arroyo. Treasures encountered included: a bee hive, rattlesnake, numerous lizards, and flowers - including white passion flowers. Snorkelers entered the water from an anchored expedition landing crafts on the other side of the point, and had good looks at the usual local fishes, and also sea stars, lobsters, and a sea horse! Expedition landing craft cruisers took in the scenery of the area and came across a hundreds of mobula rays, alternately flinging themselves out of the water. Nobody knows why they do it, but it sure is fun to watch and photograph. For some reason they always remind me of the game tiddly-winks (who amongst you remembers those?!)
Kayakers and paddle-boarders got some exercise as they paddled the inlet and enjoyed the scenery. At one point during the morning those of us on the beach looked out and saw birds diving down to what must have been a huge bait ball of fish. One of our naturalists zipped to shore and brought people over for a closer look. As we were loading the last few shuttles back to the ship some dolphins appeared… our undersea specialist and video chronicler were still in the water with their snorkel gear. Maybe they got a few good looks?
Right after lunch some bottlenose dolphins came to hang out with us and bow ride. They are so sleek and graceful to watch in the water, and I guess they didn’t have any pressing business to attend to because they stuck around for a good half hour. A little later we encountered a blue whale… after a few breaths at the surface, it fluked down, and that was that. The National Geographic Sea Lion continued on. In the late afternoon we gathered in the lounge for a talk on the local and migratory birds in the area, and then the ship anchored off Isla San Ildefonso and we took expedition landing craft cruises during the golden hour and sunset around this important seabird breeding area. Birds seen today were brown pelicans, brown boobies, blue-footed boobies, yellow-footed gulls, and a thousand magnificent frigatebirds roosting in the trees.
Wow – what a full day! At this writing we are about to feast on yet another delicious meal.
