Search for Humpbacks, visit to Cabo San Lucas
Just before 7:00am, our expedition leader woke us up out of our dreams for our first encounters with humpback whales. The Sea Lion moved slowly past Boca de Tule, a favorite spot for humpback whales making their yearly migratory journey to their winter mating grounds. This southern area of the Gulf of California has been a customary sight for the return of humpback whales for thousands of years. As the early morning light made its way through veils of distant rainsqualls, often referred to as Virga, we continued making slow passes amongst several groups of humpback whales engaged in an intricate social dance. Between Boca de Tule and Gorda Banks, a short distance of approximately five miles, we observed several competitive groups of humpback whales. They engaged in behaviors we believe are a prelude to mating…bubble blasts, head lunges, and sharp turns by male escorts towards males challenging their place beside a female humpback. We continued throughout the morning to watch the flukes of these magnificent marine mammals bend gracefully, dripping with water and descending into the sea. They would return to the surface and we would hear a blast of exhalation, followed by the intake of air – what a gift to our senses, both visual and auditory!
Just after high noon, the Sea Lion made a sharp right turn and passed closely by Friar Rocks, marking the very tip of the Baja peninsula. Our vessel began a slow approach into the bustling port of Cabo San Lucas. Cabo San Lucas, once a sleepy village located at the end of a dirt road, looks out to the Gulf of California on the left, and the Pacific Ocean on the right. A group of Mexican businessmen, interested in finding a location for a large factory to process the bounty of both bodies of water, visited this small fishing village of less than 500 people in 1925. In 1927, a canning plant was built in Cabo, the first of its kind in Mexico. The plant processed tuna and mackerel, among other species, and acted as a magnet that attracted many Mexican people to the area. This successful fishing business continued through the 1940's, with most of the product shipped to San Diego, California. In 1942, things began to change for Cabo San Lucas, beginning with a massive flood that nearly destroyed the entire town. By the 1950's sports fishing found Cabo San Lucas; this small community felt the impact of the first tourists who braved the grueling journey down hundreds of miles of dirt road, to fish in the enormously fertile waters of the Gulf of California. The Trans Peninsular Highway, completed in the 1970's, transformed Cabo San Lucas from an exotic and remote tourist destination for sport fishermen into a new budding resort town!
Once the ship had cleared customs, a rather large group of us wandered through the crowded streets of T-shirt shops and tequila bars. We found hidden within those streets, inconspicuously small and charming gallery-quality shops, often next to the quintessential Mexican café with dusty tequila bottles along the back wall of the bar each in its way, reminding us of the old flavor and spirit of Mexico, expressed through its cuisine and folk art….
During the late afternoon all excursions returned to the Sea Lion. The birders had successfully added to their list of sightings with 23 species of birds seen near the Twin Dolphins hotel slightly north of the center of Cabo San Lucas. The snorkelers, though a small contingent, enjoyed their last time under the waters of the Gulf of California. As soon as all guests were accounted for, the Sea Lion prepared to drop her lines from the docks of the inner marina of Cabo San Lucas, and head out to Friar Rocks and Lands End, marking the tip of a 1,000-mile long peninsula. We pulled away from the people and noise of Cabo and slowly entered the Pacific Ocean, just as the sun was making its approach towards the horizon…leaving us with a single but elegant emerald flash…
Just before 7:00am, our expedition leader woke us up out of our dreams for our first encounters with humpback whales. The Sea Lion moved slowly past Boca de Tule, a favorite spot for humpback whales making their yearly migratory journey to their winter mating grounds. This southern area of the Gulf of California has been a customary sight for the return of humpback whales for thousands of years. As the early morning light made its way through veils of distant rainsqualls, often referred to as Virga, we continued making slow passes amongst several groups of humpback whales engaged in an intricate social dance. Between Boca de Tule and Gorda Banks, a short distance of approximately five miles, we observed several competitive groups of humpback whales. They engaged in behaviors we believe are a prelude to mating…bubble blasts, head lunges, and sharp turns by male escorts towards males challenging their place beside a female humpback. We continued throughout the morning to watch the flukes of these magnificent marine mammals bend gracefully, dripping with water and descending into the sea. They would return to the surface and we would hear a blast of exhalation, followed by the intake of air – what a gift to our senses, both visual and auditory!
Just after high noon, the Sea Lion made a sharp right turn and passed closely by Friar Rocks, marking the very tip of the Baja peninsula. Our vessel began a slow approach into the bustling port of Cabo San Lucas. Cabo San Lucas, once a sleepy village located at the end of a dirt road, looks out to the Gulf of California on the left, and the Pacific Ocean on the right. A group of Mexican businessmen, interested in finding a location for a large factory to process the bounty of both bodies of water, visited this small fishing village of less than 500 people in 1925. In 1927, a canning plant was built in Cabo, the first of its kind in Mexico. The plant processed tuna and mackerel, among other species, and acted as a magnet that attracted many Mexican people to the area. This successful fishing business continued through the 1940's, with most of the product shipped to San Diego, California. In 1942, things began to change for Cabo San Lucas, beginning with a massive flood that nearly destroyed the entire town. By the 1950's sports fishing found Cabo San Lucas; this small community felt the impact of the first tourists who braved the grueling journey down hundreds of miles of dirt road, to fish in the enormously fertile waters of the Gulf of California. The Trans Peninsular Highway, completed in the 1970's, transformed Cabo San Lucas from an exotic and remote tourist destination for sport fishermen into a new budding resort town!
Once the ship had cleared customs, a rather large group of us wandered through the crowded streets of T-shirt shops and tequila bars. We found hidden within those streets, inconspicuously small and charming gallery-quality shops, often next to the quintessential Mexican café with dusty tequila bottles along the back wall of the bar each in its way, reminding us of the old flavor and spirit of Mexico, expressed through its cuisine and folk art….
During the late afternoon all excursions returned to the Sea Lion. The birders had successfully added to their list of sightings with 23 species of birds seen near the Twin Dolphins hotel slightly north of the center of Cabo San Lucas. The snorkelers, though a small contingent, enjoyed their last time under the waters of the Gulf of California. As soon as all guests were accounted for, the Sea Lion prepared to drop her lines from the docks of the inner marina of Cabo San Lucas, and head out to Friar Rocks and Lands End, marking the tip of a 1,000-mile long peninsula. We pulled away from the people and noise of Cabo and slowly entered the Pacific Ocean, just as the sun was making its approach towards the horizon…leaving us with a single but elegant emerald flash…
