For the second day in a row, we awoke underway with a beautiful sunrise and gray whales surrounding us as we headed south to Bahía Almejas. Pelicans and double crested cormorants flew low, their reflections mirrored in the calm morning water. Every so often a curious California sea lion would pop its head out of the water.
After breakfast, we went out in local boats, pangas, to enjoy our second outing watching these amazing whales. Every direction we looked there were whales, and often we just quieted ourselves to soak up the sounds of their breathing.
Back on board the ship, we went north to begin our afternoon hikes at Sand Dollar Beach. Starting on the bay side, we journeyed west through the stunning sand dunes to arrive on the Pacific side. This area was lovingly nicknamed for the multitude of sand dollars that you can find here washed ashore, but it is a rich area for beach combing in general. In the dunes, we stopped to photograph the resilient vegetation, the shell middens, and the animal tracks we found in the sand. It was another wonderful day!
