We awoke to the sounds of the crew organizing a quiet departure from our overnight at Puerto Escondido at 6 a.m. With glassy calm seas under a clear sky, the ship silently departed from the dock, turned 180 degrees, and headed out into the Sea of Cortez. By first light, guests began to assemble on the bow. Most were there to witness the first deep red light illuminating the dramatically eroded cliffs of the mountains. Two Heermann's gulls flew over, their blood-red bills showing nicely in the early morning light. Today was the day Rab had selected to patrol the "Golden Triangle," an area of the Sea of Cortez that is especially known for its rich marine life. And what a day it turned out to be! Quick sightings of an unidentified large baleen whale (Bryde's?) and several California sea lions were made. A few sea turtles allowed very close approach before they disappeared into the depths, and others dove quickly when we suddenly were upon them. The absolute highlight, however, was the incredible numbers of dolphins. They came in not by the dozen, but by the hundreds!
Two species were repeatedly seen at various times during the day, the bottlenose and the long-beaked common dolphins. Many individuals rode the ship's bow wave, sometimes several dozen at a time! The compression wave that the bow creates mimics the same wave that would be found at the nose of any of the largest great whales when they swim. It is suggested that the dolphins' bowriding behavior is simply the same behavior that would be found when they might ride the bow-wave of a great whale. Many pictures were taken while leaning over the bow of the vessel; one was later discovered to have been photo-bombed by a green sea turtle!
After lunch, Rab made the decision to drop our expedition landing craft in the water, giving all of us a chance to get down to water level to experience the dolphins up close and personal. All five boats were launched, enabling the entire group to disembark at the same time.
We were soon in the midst of what could only be described as a full-on celebration of life and joy. Dolphins were spinning out of the water and hitting the surface with a resounding slap, others were lob-tailing, making a similar sound. Often we could hear their communication squeaks and clicks. These agile and intelligent aquatic missiles would dart to our boat location, bowride with us for a time, and then veer off with such energy and enthusiasm. We laughed and yelled the entire time, encouraging them on. We were ecstatic, and became jubilant children of the sea! It was a grand finale to a remarkable week of exploration.
But just when we thought it was all over, several tall whale blows were seen in the distance from at least three whales. At first it was thought the blows could be from the blue whale, due to their height and long lingering mist. But as we approached, it became clear they were humpback whales, and the still air and backlit conditions made them appear bigger.
One whale put on a fantastic show of repeatedly slapping his tail some 20 or more times. It is unknown why some whales perform this behavior, known as lob-tailing, but it is undoubtedly a form of communication.
To top off the day, a surprised humpback whale rolled and dove just meters from the bow, completely surprising some quiet onlookers on the bow! It sent a wonderful adrenalin rush through the group.
Later, wetsuits and snorkel gear were turned in, bills paid, margaritas consumed, and stories told. The evening was capped off with the premiere showing of James' video show, Steve's trip slideshow (of everyone's selected best photographs), and of course, the Captain's dinner.
A happily exhausted group eventually went to bed as the ship continued on its heading to La Paz, our point of disembarkation.
