San Jose Island and Offshore Waters
The beautiful sunrise light painted the rocky amphitheater at Punta Colorada with wonderful tones of pink, red and yellow; it seemed as if Mother Nature wanted to present us with a wonderful day from the start. Located on the northeastern portion of San Jose Island, Punta Colorada delighted hikers and even the geologists at heart, with great views of fossils and rock formations, whereas the plants along the arroyo made the perfect example of beauty and hardiness. Snorkelers enjoyed the abundant coral formations and the numerous fish species, including blue-chin parrotfish, yellowtail surgeonfish, dog snapper and burrfish, among many others.
During lunch we left Punta Colorada and the National Geographic Sea Bird sailed north over deep waters; those napping after our delicious meal couldn’t do so for long because we soon encountered the first cetacean species of the evening: bottlenose dolphins. However, we were distracted a little while later by a group of short-finned pilot whales! Members of the dolphin family, pilot whales are much larger than most other dolphins and black overall with a cream-color saddle behind the dorsal fin. We all enjoyed their presence for a long time as they swum around the ship and even crossed in front of her bow a few times, the sound of their exhalations muffled down by the intense clicking of camera on board! But the real test to our shutter-fingers was about to start, as a very large group of long-beaked common swum towards the ship. We were quickly surrounded by hundreds of dolphins jumping high into the air and giving us many excellent photo opportunities; their continuous leaping and sudden bursts of speed made for a most exciting show. Three great cetacean species and we were all very content, but the day was not over yet! A group of four rare Cuvier’s beaked whales was discovered and many more megapixels were used in documenting the sighting. Members of one of the least known families of large mammals in the planet, Cuvier’s beaked whales are deep divers and very rarely seen. We watched them a few times and as the sun came down behind La Giganta mountain range to the west, we were all happy and grateful for such a wonderful day. Now, it is time to download, edit and recharge batteries in order to be ready for tomorrow’s adventures…
