Hull Canal and The Boca de Soledad
Today we began our first full day in Baja California with a walk across the sand dunes of Isla Magdalena, one of the barrier islands that form Bahia Magdalena. On the Pacific side of the island we found a beautiful beach called Bahia Santa Maria which was covered with sand dollars, shells and the remains of a variety of sea animals. The dunes themselves revealed the tracks of the many kinds of animals that manage to survive there without fresh water.
Returning to the ship we made our passage north through the Hull Canal, a natural waterway which is lined with mangroves and which forms a wonderful habitat for a large variety of birds, especially the wading birds. We saw many kinds of herons and egrets, white ibis and osprey as well as whimbrels, willets, marbled godwits, long-billed curlews, and many others.
At the end of the passage through the mangroves we began to see mother and calf pairs of gray whales. These calves are born in the protected waters of Bahia Magdalena, near one of its northern entrances, the Boca de Soledad. We passed the small fishing village of Lopes Mateos which was having its 14th Annual Gray Whale Festival and many people lined the piers and streets of town. The festival is celebrating the annual visit to this little lagoon by approximately 100 whales, which give birth and raise their calves here for the first one to two months of their lives. The calves and mothers sometimes breach and spyhop, individually or together, for reasons of their own as they swim slowly up and down the bay to strengthen their muscles. In a month or so they will start making their long migration north to the Bering and Chukchi seas where they will stock up on food during the summer months. It is truly a blessing for us to be able to share these events with the citizens of Baja California and with the whales themselves.
Today we began our first full day in Baja California with a walk across the sand dunes of Isla Magdalena, one of the barrier islands that form Bahia Magdalena. On the Pacific side of the island we found a beautiful beach called Bahia Santa Maria which was covered with sand dollars, shells and the remains of a variety of sea animals. The dunes themselves revealed the tracks of the many kinds of animals that manage to survive there without fresh water.
Returning to the ship we made our passage north through the Hull Canal, a natural waterway which is lined with mangroves and which forms a wonderful habitat for a large variety of birds, especially the wading birds. We saw many kinds of herons and egrets, white ibis and osprey as well as whimbrels, willets, marbled godwits, long-billed curlews, and many others.
At the end of the passage through the mangroves we began to see mother and calf pairs of gray whales. These calves are born in the protected waters of Bahia Magdalena, near one of its northern entrances, the Boca de Soledad. We passed the small fishing village of Lopes Mateos which was having its 14th Annual Gray Whale Festival and many people lined the piers and streets of town. The festival is celebrating the annual visit to this little lagoon by approximately 100 whales, which give birth and raise their calves here for the first one to two months of their lives. The calves and mothers sometimes breach and spyhop, individually or together, for reasons of their own as they swim slowly up and down the bay to strengthen their muscles. In a month or so they will start making their long migration north to the Bering and Chukchi seas where they will stock up on food during the summer months. It is truly a blessing for us to be able to share these events with the citizens of Baja California and with the whales themselves.
