Lopez Mateos, 1/30/2023, National Geographic Venture
Aboard the
National Geographic Venture
Baja California
Today our adventures started in San Carlos before we took a bus ride up and around to Lopez Mateos for gray whale watching. Getting into the fiberglass pangas to view these beautiful baleen whales is always a highlight for our guests. In between rounds of whale watching, we were treated to a lovely meal at a local restaurant.
Nathan Kelley developed his love for nature as a kid at his family’s cabin in Northern Wisconsin. Family fishing trips, camping, hiking and a trip to his first National Park in the Everglades, all vigorously shaped his passion for the natural world. ...
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A gull flew by the rising sun to begin our day. We rounded the end of the Baja Peninsula and sailed into the Pacific. Soon after the dawn brightened into day, the first whale blows were seen. Bow decks filled with whale enthusiasts pointing at humpback whales diving and breaching all around our ship. We encountered a heat chase: about seven males thrashed through the water to gain the prime location next to a female for possible mating. Lisa Hornack, our National Geographic certified photo instructor, gave a presentation on “Photographic Storytelling” to help enhance the images of our day. James Hyde explained the “Dynamics of Oceanography” until he was interrupted by a pod of long-beaked common dolphins bow-riding our ship. Rich Kirchner presented his photographic journey, “Wild from Pole to Pole.” We went back on deck for sunset and the chance to see the fabled Green Flash. Our jam-packed day ended with sunset and photographic proof that the green flash does indeed exist.
This morning National Geographic Venture anchored at El Cardonal, one of the many little bays along the protected western coast of Espiritu Santo Island. Espiritu Santo is one of our favorite islands in the Gulf of California for its beautiful pink-red-orange calc-alkaline ignimbrites, which are part of the Comondu Volcanic Field. We hiked and explored the land, discovering the combination of three magnificent ecosystems –mangroves, dunes with halophytic plants, and the desert vegetation. Many cardon, galloping, and organ pipe cactuses were seen by our interested guests and staff under sunny and breezy climatic conditions. A number of sea and land birds were also observed, as well as tracks of one of the endemic island mammals: the ring-tailed cat, the smallest member of the raccoon family. After lunch and a very interesting presentation about the origin of the Gulf of California, guests were invited to snorkel along the northern rocky shore of El Cardonal and to explore by Zodiac. This active day was finished and crowned by a multicolored sunset behind the peak of the impressive La Giganta Mountain Range, also built by volcanic ignimbrites.
Our first full day together exploring the waters of the beautiful Sea of Cortez could not have been better. Shortly after sunrise we spotted several tall whale blows in the distance just south of Danzante Island, one of the five islands of the Loreto Bay National Park. Upon closer examination, we realized that the blows belonged to no regular whales, but to the largest animal on our planet, blue whales! We watched them against the magnificent background of the La Giganta mountain range, whose rich colors really made for a spectacular scene. National Geographic Venture continued sailing south and entered the San Jose Channel. Soon we found not one or two but literally dozens of sperm whales in all directions. Their distinctive blows could be seen all around us and several groups made some close passes, the same as some bottlenose dolphins swimming with the much larger whales. What a way to start our time exploring the waters around the peninsula of Baja California!
