The Gulf of California
The full moon that we watched rise over Isla San Francisco last night completed its traverse of the Baja California sky and settled behind the Peninsula to the west just as the sun of a new day brought orange light to the east. We had moved a bit to the north, near Isla San Jose.
Anxious eyes scanned across the sea, searching for marine mammals. An active group of bottlenose dolphins roiled the sea surface near Isla Las Animas. Then a blow was spotted – very tall, columnar blow that hung in the still morning air. We approached, and we spotted more, similar blows. Our Naturalists were strangely reluctant to call out an identification, as if saying the name might break the spell.
At last they had to say it: these were blue whales - the largest of all the whales, the largest of all animals, larger than any other animal ever known to exist. Six of the leviathans surrounded us. Each time an animal surfaced the tall blow was the first thing seen. Then the mottled, blue-gray back passed ... and passed, and passed before, finally, the tiny dorsal fin appeared. To see one or two blue whales is a wonderful experience; to see six whales at a time, four of them in a tight group, is rare and exceptional; to have blue whales pass twenty meters from the bow of the ship, as they did, defies description. And all of this before breakfast!
Globally, populations of blue whales and other great whales were severely reduced by the whaling industry. In recent years, we seem to be seeing them more often. There is reason to hope that, with continuing protection of the whales and their marine habitat, their populations will recover for future generations to enjoy.
