Yet another day of amazing weather allowed National Geographic Sea Bird to remain in Loreto Bay National Park. We awoke on the east side of Isla del Carmen for a spectacular sunrise with just a hint of a green flash as the sun broke the horizon. Our pre-breakfast cruising awarded us further with a couple of bow-riding bottlenose dolphins. As we descended to the main deck for our meal, the capable Captain Kay continued our navigation to the north end of Isla del Carmen for our mornings activities.
Isla del Carmen is a privately held island, that in 1995 developed a program to help increase the population of desert bighorn sheep in Baja California. Isla del Carmen was chosen as a somewhat controlled natural environment where bighorn sheep could be introduced and allowed to populate.
National Geographic Sea Bird anchored off Puerto de la Lancha—an area that was once the site where workers from the salt ponds at Bahia Salinas were picked up and dropped off from Loreto, hence the name of the bay, “Port of the Launch.” We spent the morning here hiking, snorkeling, kayaking, and stand-up paddleboarding. This beautiful bay was splattered with sea caves, pelicans, crested caracara, gulls, and skeletal remains of turtles and fish. A productive morning was enjoyed by all.
At lunchtime we again set sail to explore the waters between the west side of Isla del Carmen and the peninsula of Baja California Sur. Many of our guests were in meetings while others enjoyed the spectacular views and a couple of large groups of common dolphins. Later in the afternoon, we spotted our first whale—a blue whale! Believed to be the largest animal on the planet, this magnificent creature spent nearly an hour with us, before we had to depart for our chosen sunset locale south of Loreto to gaze upon the Sierra de la Giganta as the sun bid farewell for the day. A bow cocktail hour was enjoyed by all, where not even a brief spritz of rain could detour our hotel manager Ryan from serving us rum punch, cerveza, and wine. Prior to dinner we enjoyed expert talks by Gerardo Bocco on the “Cultural Landscapes of Baja Stability and Change,” and Antonella Wilby on “Vaquita Monitoring.”
