Puerto Adolfo López Mateos, BCS, 2/8/2018, National Geographic Sea Lion
Aboard the
National Geographic Sea Lion
Baja California
Today, we spend our day visiting one of the breeding grounds of the migratory gray whales, the northern end of Magdalena Bay. This area is known as the estuary of Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos. Mothers use this channel to give birth and inside this protected area, raise their newborn calf. We had the opportunity to watch whales and some of their behaviors. And we had our Fiesta Mexicana Dinner to finish this day.
Octavio was born in Mexico City and moved to La Paz at age 19, to study Marine Biology at the Baja California Sur State University. He began his field research on California sea lions, working at Los Islotes, a small rookery close to La Paz City. Lat...
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Our second full day exploring Baja California was a very successful and pleasant one, starting early in the morning boarding local pangas to look for gray whales at Almejas Bay, located in the southernmost portion of the much larger Magdalena Bay. Just as yesterday, we found not one or two, but literally hundreds of whales! They were particularly active today, and we spent a wonderful time watching as many of them raised their heads vertically out of the water, an intriguing behavior known as spy-hopping. Up to four of five spy-hoppers could be seen at any given time, pretty much in all directions. It was amazing! In the afternoon, we landed at Belcher’s Point on Magdalena Island, where guests went kayaking, beachcombing, or hiking. Everyone had a great time, rounding out another wonderful day in Baja California.
During today’s sunny and breezeless early morning, our guests and staff ventured out in local pangas for whale watching at Almejas Bay, located in the southern section of the Magdalena Bay lagoon complex on the Pacific side of the Baja California Peninsula. With the tide at its highest, our exploration in the heart of the gray whale mating grounds paid off with more than 60 adult whales spotted in the area where our boats were spread out. All the whales were very active, displaying parts of their bodies while spy-hopping, breaching, swimming, diving, and even mating. Several females were seen in a belly-up position, allowing our guests and staff to clearly distinguish genitals and other typically hidden body parts. The whales’ curiosity brought many of them to the sides or underneath the pangas, sometimes pushing or lifting the boats with the tips of their snouts or their bellies. Many of our guests even stretched out their hands to touch the whales! The afternoon was spent exploring the beach and hills around Puerto Magdalena, a quaint fishing community on Magdalena Island. During a hike, our guests had their first encounter with the unique flora of the Baja California Desert, including agave, palo adan, gongylocarpus flowers, prickly pear, galloping cacti, jojoba, and others. From the top of the hills, they were treated to magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean.
Today guests of National Geographic Venture woke up to an amazing sunrise alongside Isla Santa Margarita before boarding pangas to embark on some incredible whale watching excursions. We saw spy hopping, breaching, and mating behavior. After an amazing morning, we had an afternoon of beachcombing and kayaking off Isla Magdalena.