Puerto Gato
We arose to a somnolent morning, warm and slightly overcast with a hint of a breeze –perfect kayaking weather. We dropped anchor at Puerto Gato, a spot on the mainland, eager to compare island to mainland species. One of the first things we noticed were cattle tracks on the beach. Tough cows, to be able to eke out a living in this dry spot, but survive they do, as attested to by the many cowpies lining the arroyo. Launching our kayaks, we skimmed across water as smooth as glass. It was hard to tear our eyes away from the sweeping, swirled red cliffs. As one of the guests exclaimed: had Georgia O'Keefe come to Baja, she would have been ecstatic and many mammoth canvases would have resulted. The etched cliffs cascaded down to the craggy underwater reefs, between which darted sergeant majors, king angels, and juvenile Cortez damselfish, while moray eels peered from underneath ledges. Suddenly our ears were assaulted by the machine gun hammering as a belted kingfisher flew directly across our bow. Perched high on a projecting boulder, a messy mass of sticks signified an osprey's abode. Indeed, soon after, we were treated to the sight of an osprey launching itself from a cliff and wheeling in the air twice before it took off for farther fishing grounds.
Returning to shore we donned our walking shoes and ambled along the beach, checking out the skull bone remnants of a sperm whale and comparing the size of eel and whale vertebrae. Heading up the arroyo, we delighted at the ball art tossed by foraging sand crabs and the plethora of nudibranchs (sea slugs) and bubble shell snails crawling across velvety algae in a saline pool. Crunching through the soft sand, we stooped to examine the spiny fruit of the belladonna plant, prod intricately spun funnel spider webs, sniff the aromatic scents of copal and marvel at the long tendril fingers and single delicate bloom of a passion flower. Just as we turned to head back to the beach, a fine rain (actual rain in the desert!) started to fall, and we were ushered from the arroyo by a flowering cholla--a harbinger of the battery of blooms that should spring forth in the next few days following this long-awaited sprinkling.
During lunch we steamed north to arrive at Montserrat for an afternoon of snorkeling and. . . that plan was cancelled due to more marine mammals! At first we marveled at the acrobatic percussive foraging of a group of common dolphin, some of whom came in to bow ride briefly. But the amazing hit of the day was yet to come: a blue whale! The first one to be sighted this season, this was one of the friendliest blue whale encounters ever. The whale could not get enough of our ship, diving underneath us multiple times to emerge as a mottled ghostly mass that emerged from the deaths off the bow, swimming slowly and breaking the surface right in front of us (see picture). Delighted squeals were followed by thundering footsteps as we raced back and forth, starboard to port to starboard, to watch the whale come up first on one side of the ship, then the other, then in front. Ideal photographic opportunities abounded. This behemoth was even so kind as to roll over on its side and show us half of its enormous fluke, not once but twice! Needless to say, no one missed the postponed knot-tying class or lectures. The chance to see the heaviest animal ever to grace the face of this planet, so close that one could have leaped from the bow onto its back, was simply breath-taking. Soon after that excitement, we took to the water again to explore the shallows of Punta Ballena, including a cave filled with baby greybar grunts, gorgonian sea fans and lobster. Following dinner, we watched undersea footage to identify some of the marvelous species we have been spying these past three days. Sinking exhausted into bed we wondered: "What could possibly top this day?" We are eager to see what Baja has in store for us tomorrow.
We arose to a somnolent morning, warm and slightly overcast with a hint of a breeze –perfect kayaking weather. We dropped anchor at Puerto Gato, a spot on the mainland, eager to compare island to mainland species. One of the first things we noticed were cattle tracks on the beach. Tough cows, to be able to eke out a living in this dry spot, but survive they do, as attested to by the many cowpies lining the arroyo. Launching our kayaks, we skimmed across water as smooth as glass. It was hard to tear our eyes away from the sweeping, swirled red cliffs. As one of the guests exclaimed: had Georgia O'Keefe come to Baja, she would have been ecstatic and many mammoth canvases would have resulted. The etched cliffs cascaded down to the craggy underwater reefs, between which darted sergeant majors, king angels, and juvenile Cortez damselfish, while moray eels peered from underneath ledges. Suddenly our ears were assaulted by the machine gun hammering as a belted kingfisher flew directly across our bow. Perched high on a projecting boulder, a messy mass of sticks signified an osprey's abode. Indeed, soon after, we were treated to the sight of an osprey launching itself from a cliff and wheeling in the air twice before it took off for farther fishing grounds.
Returning to shore we donned our walking shoes and ambled along the beach, checking out the skull bone remnants of a sperm whale and comparing the size of eel and whale vertebrae. Heading up the arroyo, we delighted at the ball art tossed by foraging sand crabs and the plethora of nudibranchs (sea slugs) and bubble shell snails crawling across velvety algae in a saline pool. Crunching through the soft sand, we stooped to examine the spiny fruit of the belladonna plant, prod intricately spun funnel spider webs, sniff the aromatic scents of copal and marvel at the long tendril fingers and single delicate bloom of a passion flower. Just as we turned to head back to the beach, a fine rain (actual rain in the desert!) started to fall, and we were ushered from the arroyo by a flowering cholla--a harbinger of the battery of blooms that should spring forth in the next few days following this long-awaited sprinkling.
During lunch we steamed north to arrive at Montserrat for an afternoon of snorkeling and. . . that plan was cancelled due to more marine mammals! At first we marveled at the acrobatic percussive foraging of a group of common dolphin, some of whom came in to bow ride briefly. But the amazing hit of the day was yet to come: a blue whale! The first one to be sighted this season, this was one of the friendliest blue whale encounters ever. The whale could not get enough of our ship, diving underneath us multiple times to emerge as a mottled ghostly mass that emerged from the deaths off the bow, swimming slowly and breaking the surface right in front of us (see picture). Delighted squeals were followed by thundering footsteps as we raced back and forth, starboard to port to starboard, to watch the whale come up first on one side of the ship, then the other, then in front. Ideal photographic opportunities abounded. This behemoth was even so kind as to roll over on its side and show us half of its enormous fluke, not once but twice! Needless to say, no one missed the postponed knot-tying class or lectures. The chance to see the heaviest animal ever to grace the face of this planet, so close that one could have leaped from the bow onto its back, was simply breath-taking. Soon after that excitement, we took to the water again to explore the shallows of Punta Ballena, including a cave filled with baby greybar grunts, gorgonian sea fans and lobster. Following dinner, we watched undersea footage to identify some of the marvelous species we have been spying these past three days. Sinking exhausted into bed we wondered: "What could possibly top this day?" We are eager to see what Baja has in store for us tomorrow.
