Following an afternoon and evening at sea, it was nice to reenter the sheltered waters of Magdalena Bay. After breakfast, we went ashore at Punta Belcher. This site has a long history, including as a whaling station and phosphate loading facility, but currently it is a seasonal fish camp. Here, beachcombing and wandering were essential with exploration discovering many treasures. This spot was great for photo opportunities as well as for our first desert ecosystem walks.
I got to experience a different aspect of this spot, the undersea world. A few of us went for a scuba dive to see what we could find. With the water a chilly 62 degrees and bit murky and agitated, things were not looking good at the start. But once we got down we started to find many treasures of our own. The rocks were covered with algae and many invertebrates, but it was the fish life that caught my eye. Many stingrays were found buried in the sand, showing off their amazing camouflage. The highlight though, was the meeting of temperate and tropical fishes. Many species were the same as my home near Los Angeles, while others were from the coral environment of warmer waters. One special moment was having garibaldis, the state marine fish of California, together with Moorish idols which are found on coral reefs throughout the Pacific.
In the afternoon, it was time to head south into the tropics for our destination tomorrow. However, we had one important sighting to stop for on our way: blue whales!!!! We had an incredible encounter with a blue whale that was spending long periods of time at the surface, and just below the surface. Our Captain did an amazing job of following the whale without disturbing it and giving us incredible views. We were able to see the entire animal underwater, and it was huge! It repeatedly gently rose to the surface, showing off its steely blue color, and even a relatively tiny remora fish hanging on near its dorsal fin. What a sighting!
To end our day, we continued sailing south, and enjoyed a gorgeous green flash!
