The Pacific Ocean most certainly lived up to its name last night, and gave us a peaceful ride north. As the early morning sun slowly illuminated the rugged peaks of Isla Margarita, we saw the "heart-shaped" blows of numerous gray whales in the distance. After breakfast, the Sea Bird entered Magdalena Bay by way of its southern entrance. Surrounded by adult gray whales, we just sat and watched. For over an hour the ship remained nearly motionless while we quietly sipped our morning coffee, listening to the powerful exhalations of these enormous animals and basking in the sun. We noticed that one animal seemed to have scar tissue at the trailing edge of the tail fluke - possibly from an encounter with a killer whale during the 5,000 mile long migration between breeding and feeding grounds.
In order to take full advantage of this bright sunny day, the hotel staff served our lunch out on deck. As the mangrove-lined channels began to narrow, we were able to see numerous herons, egrets and cormorants roosting in the branches. A falling tide exposed mud-flats and sand bars that the shorebirds probed with their various sizes and shapes of bills, foraging for small worms, crustaceans and molluscs.
On approach to our afternoon anchorage, we entered the region of Magdalena Bay that's known as the nursery, and watched several pairs of gray whale mothers with calves. After spending much of the day aboard the Sea Bird, everyone jumped at the opportunity for a late afternoon hike across the beautiful barchan dunes of Isla Magdalena to see the Pacific. Legs stretched and minds eased, we returned to the ship for dinner; but our day wasn't over yet. Most of us returned to shore for stargazing and a bonfire in the dunes.
