After sailing calm seas throughout the night, the National Geographic Sea Bird arrived to the most interesting part of the Gulf of California. The Midriff Island region is located in the heart of the Gulf. Here the waters are alive, and the possibilities for wildlife encounters are countless.
We woke up near the vicinity of Isla Rasa. This small and flat island is sanctuary for about half a million birds. Here, most of the world’s population of Heermann’s gulls and elegant terns find the ideal nesting site. Being the beginning of the nesting season, we could see how thousands of gulls and hundreds of terns got ready for the few weeks to come, when they will reproduce.
We cruised by boat around the island, and got to know some of the migratory visitors as well as the year-round residents of Rasa and Rasito, a nearby rock. A pair of peregrine falcons feasted on fresh-caught phalaropes, under the golden morning light.
We left Rasa behind to get underway towards San Pedro Mártir. As we cruised, we searched for wildlife over the flat surface of the sea. In the distance, we saw something that puzzled our eyes. For a moment we thought we were looking at a distant boat, but it just did not look right. We headed towards the mysterious floating object and were truly surprised with what we found.
On our approach we could tell that it was something unusual that we had before us. Gradually and after guessing out loud a couple times, we realized that the carcass of a medium-sized sperm whale drifted slowly with the current. We could see some motion, which was quite confusing, since the leviathan was evidently not alive. Suddenly, a fin broke the surface of the water and the tail of the deceased cetacean shook violently. By now we knew that we were witnessing something that none of us had ever seen before. A great white shark feasted on the sperm whale, and as the ship approached, we could get better and better looks. The shark, which was about four meters long, slowly cruised under the ship several times. How mesmerizing it is to see such a mythical creature, surrounded by legends and feared by most!
The shark disappeared and then came back. It took bites out of the sperm whale several times and finally disappeared into the darkness of the deep gulf. We realized that this type of sighting is a true expression of a wild place. Sadly, a sperm whale had died, but in a way, nothing dies in nature. The life of this giant of the depths was now giving life to one of the most fascinating creatures in the ocean.
