Our first full day exploring Mexico’s Sea of Cortez started in a great way; we sailed the deep, open waters during the morning looking for wildlife as we made our way towards San Pedro Mártir Island. Pretty quickly we started the list of marine mammals seen during the transit - a group of bottlenose dolphins followed by a solitary fin whale, the world’s second largest cetacean. Numerous birds entertained us, including Craveri’s murrelets, phalaropes, and storm petrels. It was a Bryde’s whale, however, that was the star of the morning, making several slow passes very close to the ship, showing off with excellent views of her streamlined body.
Once we arrived at the island, we explored by Zodiac and enjoyed the abundance of red-billed tropicbirds, California sea lions, Guadalupe fur seals, blue-footed and brown boobies, and a playful pod of bottlenose dolphins, among many other species that welcomed us to this very special part of the world.
