Bahia Magdalena & La Entrada
Today we started our day early to find flat calm conditions in Bahia Magdalena. For our last rounds of Zodiac cruises, we were rewarded with one of the most magnificent experiences. There were many factors that conspired to give the perfect viewing conditions: no wind, perfect light, lots of whales, and friendly whales!
After an experience of this nature, we all spent the next few hours talking about how lucky we are to have been part of this phenomenon. There is no accurate way to explain why gray whales show this amazing behavior of approaching humans to interact. One thing is certain; highly intelligent creatures tend to be playful, and the grays are no exception. Whalers in the old days called these animals “devil fish,” due to their extremely aggressive response to humans. The 360-degree turn in their behavior is attributed to our change in perspective to these magnificent creatures; we no longer consider them the targets of a fishery that we can exploit, and now they have become like old friends that visit the Mexican lagoons every year to find a peaceful retreat.
As we left the upper bay, and our cyclopean friends behind, we crossed again through Canal de Soledad. Once again we had the opportunity to enjoy good bird watching and to see groups of bottlenose dolphins riding our bow several times.
Our colleague and friend, Octavio Maravilla, delighted us with a talk on marine mammals as we approached La Entrada, which is the southern opening of the bay to the Pacific Ocean. As we sailed out of Bahia Magdalena, we got to see more gray whales blowing in the distance. We had a glimpse of the mythical “pink Floyd,” evidence that there was mating activity at the mouth of the bay. Shortly after, we saw a breach in the distance: a humpback whale calf showed a lot of activity just outside the bay, in the open Pacific. We stayed with the humpback whale mother and calf for a few minutes, and as we headed towards the Cape region, we turned our attention to some of the birds of the open sea.
