This our second day of whale watching in the calm waters of the Magdalena Coastal Lagoon was extraordinary: guests and naturalists went out on the expedition landing crafts and found Olivia, a very experienced mother gray whale that has been well known by her friendly behavior in past seasons. She and her baby were just outstanding because allowed us to stay around while they were resting and possibly sleeping, just logging at the surface with no interactions at all. Maybe they are enjoying our company, so confident, so tolerant. Eventually, the slow current drifted them next to our boats and all guests experienced the magic moments of touching a whale! Later on, we left Olivia and her calf for navigation southwards in the canal (flanked by wonderful mangroves, birds and moon-looking sand dunes) to reach our afternoon destination at Sand Dollar Beach. In the hikes across the dunes of this section of Magdalena Island, we encountered two jackrabbits that rapidly ran away from us, as well as the interesting vegetation that covered them in small carpets. Hundreds of seabirds, shells of snail and bivalve mollusks, polychaete worms (marine cousins of earthworms and leeches) and other beings, dead and alive, were also present in this fascinating environment.
2/25/2022
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National Geographic Venture
Port Lopez Mateos
This morning, National Geographic Venture docked at the interesting port, San Carlos. From the 1940s to the 1990s, the port was used for loading agricultural products and fertilizers from the nearby Santo Domingo Valley. Nowadays, San Carlos is basically a place for loading sardines from a local cannery. It is also an important tourist base for whale-watching, principally mating gray whales. At the port, all guests and staff boarded buses to Lopez Mateos, a town located near the northernmost tip of Magdalena Island. The buses traveled across Magdalena Plain, a section of the Sonoran Desert that receives a lot of moisture in the form of dense fog from the Pacific Ocean. Lichens and orchillas, a type of flowering plant, give the desert a phantasmagoric appearance. Guests and staff enjoyed spotting numerous birds, including crested caracaras and kestrels. Once in Lopez Mateos, we boarded local pangas for whale-watching. During two rounds of whale-watching, we encountered several whales close to our pangas. However, most of the whales were preoccupied with traveling, searching for mates, or just finishing their time of reproduction and thus exiting the lagoon. In reality, the whales were not interested in interacting with the boats and their excited cargo, but we had many opportunities to observe the behavior of these magnificent animals. In town, we all delighted in a delicious fish lunch, ‘pescado zarandeado.’ We enjoyed exploring the local dock with its many colorful shops and crafts, and we admired the wonderful sculpture of a cow-calf pair of gray whales.
