For this morning, we arranged an early sunrise party to San Esteban Island, which lies in the Midriff area of the Gulf of California. Facing southeast, the wide Arroyo Limantour is the best location to contemplate the sun rising over the mainland of Mexico. After breakfast, our guest and naturalists walked on the arroyo in search of the “pinto” or piebald chuckwalla, an endemic, “gigantic” version of the normal, mainland form of this lizard, and the spiny-tailed iguana, which constitute another endemic species. These iguanas climb up to the tops of cardon cacti to get the nutritious flowers and fruits. San Esteban has long been a very isolated island, and many of its reptiles and cacti are unique. Therefore it is regarded a “laboratory of evolution” by biologists. The waters around, though cold and with complicated currents, shelter a great diversity of marine wildlife too, so our expedition diver Maya ventured in the sea and captured this biodiversity with a submersible video camera. At noon, the National Geographic Sea Bird sailed north for the afternoon activities, and we encountered bottle-nosed and long-beaked common dolphins in the way. We anchored at Rasa, a little island that is the colonial breeding site for elegant and royal terns and Heermann’s gulls, and made cruises around it on the expedition landing craft. During these, guests and staff were enchanted with the number of nesting seabirds and their vocalizations (that filled the air and our ears with metal-like and laughing-like sounds). Dr. Enriqueta Velarde (a leading researcher and ornithologist of Rasa) joined us for dinner and made a presentation of her work on the island. We learnt a lot today and had a lot of fun!
3/9/2023
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National Geographic Venture
Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Baja California Sur
The day began with a lovely stretch class led by our wellness specialist as the sun rose over Bahia Magdalena. National Geographic Venture made its way into Puerto San Carlos, and we watched pelicans swoop and dive near the shore. After a hearty breakfast, we loaded into buses and made our way to Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos. The plaza at the docks is always a festive, colorful place, and we were greeted by Mexican music and traditional dancers. One couldn’t help but dance. Excited, we loaded into the pangas of local, certified whale watching guides and set out toward the mouth of Boca de Soledad. On our way, we slowly passed by the mangroves that play such an important role in the immense amount of life found within Bahia Magdalena. Magnificent frigatebirds roosted in the upper branches while double-crested cormorants were seen diving and fishing in the shadows of the trees. We headed out farther into the bay and began to see blows. Several adult gray whales and a few cow/calf pairs dove and logged and blew and swam in the vicinity of our pangas for the rest of the morning…some off in the distance and some close enough to cover our glasses with spray. It was such a special experience to be in this part of the bay where so many pregnant whales come to give birth. All that whale watching caused us to work up an appetite. We went to a restaurant for a delicious, authentic Mexican meal while Los Coyotes, a musical group, serenaded us with traditional tunes. Full and happy, we returned to the plaza to ready ourselves for our afternoon whale watching tours. It’s amazing how much difference just a few hours can make while observing nature. On this trip, we saw less whales, but those we saw came much closer to the boats. The trip ended perfectly with around ten bottlenose dolphins playing across the bow. We returned to National Geographic Venture with great stories and great recaps from our staff to remind us of all the beauty we witnessed that day.