The combination of a dark blue Sea of Cortez; cliffs of the La Giganta mountains painted pink by the first rays of the sun; and a magnificent full moon above the highest peaks created the perfect subject for our photography team this morning while navigating south of San Jose and San Francisco Islands. The chances for working on the different options that cameras provide were great in this unparalleled scenery of the Gulf of California, its islands, and the peninsular ranges. Hundreds of photos were taken before the call for breakfast. The National Geographic Sea Bird then sailed gently to Los Islotes, the morning’s destination. Once anchored at this important breeding haul-out for Baja Californian sea lions, our guests and staff promptly jumped into our expedition landing craft to cruise around the islets. The sea lions were in the water and on the rocks. Rafts of yearlings were formed and either followed or swirled around our rubber boats. To our delight, these fascinating animals cavorted all about and gave us endless opportunities for photographing them. In the water, we snorkeled amongst them and found they are very funny, acrobatic, and playful: they pulled on fins, and investigated snorkels with their small teeth.
Right after lunch the National Geographic Sea Bird moved south to Punta Dispensa, the southernmost point of Espiritu Santo Archipelago. While sailing we discovered a school of dolphins and several blows in the distance. The exhalations resulted in an active group of three humpback whales. It must be said that we finished our exploration with a golden ribbon! The humpbacks (a female with calf and an escorting male) performed for most of the afternoon! The male delighted us the most with his powerful exhalations and breechings, but the baby also jumped out of the water a countless number of times. Both the male and the female got engaged in what is called tail lobbing, and for moments they performed in synchrony. Many different behaviors were observed, and after filling our camera cards and gathering memories, we continued our navigation for a nocturnal anchoring. We said goodbye to the whales and to the always fascinating Gulf of California.
