Last night National Geographic Sea Lion had a bumpy ride heading north to San Ignacio Laguna, but as soon as we arrived in its protection the seas quickly calmed down. The sunrise was beautiful, which started the day off on a high note. There was an early morning wake-up call, a quick breakfast, and the first round of whale-watchers were off for a hopefully close encounter with the local residents, California gray whales! The great news is that we were not disappointed; within moments of arriving inside the inner lagoon whales appeared from every direction. The even better news was that they were almost all females with calves, exactly what we were looking for this morning!
As the boats spread out in different directions each started having close encounters, especially with the young calves. Ours for instance, found a pair that eagerly came to investigate our tiny inflatable craft. When I say tiny, it’s because the female whales we had around and under our craft were over twice as long as the boat itself! They easily spent a half hour surfacing all around the boat, letting everyone on board touch their rubbery skin. Incredibly exciting, and every one of us was like a little child, with faces just lit-up with joy! And just as we thought it couldn’t get better, several other cow-calf pairs showed up around us, and also wanted to play!
The second group went out later in the morning, and after lunch the second round started, with both groups having another chance at encountering these magnificent creatures in their wintering grounds.
Finally, the last boats returned to the ship after a long day of whale watching. Evening recap started just before dinner, and we were treated to a wonderful sunset. What a great way to end a great day!
