Gorda Banks looking for Humpback whales and Cabo San Lucas
Throughout the night the Sea Lion continued her southerly voyage heading for her morning destination of Gorda Banks. Looking west just after sunrise, those of us on the bow could see the previous night's storm, moving away, leaving us with clear blue skies and following sea conditions. The natural history staff was on the bow beginning the morning's search for marine mammals. This particular southern area of the Gulf of California is known as a winter mating area for humpback whales; as we cast our binocular in several directions, the customary large bushy blow of this baleen whale greeted us. They were moving throughout the area in groups of three or four adult whales. One adult surfaced, followed by another, followed by another….with occasional pectoral flipper splashes and some very impressive tail lobbing! The whales continued to surface, breathe several times and then dive, leaving us for their watery world with a show of the elegant tail stalk and wide seven or eight foot fluke, water cascading away as each group of magnificent animals descended into the sea.
Watching this obvious group behavior only increased our curiosity: what are the whales trying to communicate? The surface activity of tail lobbing and breaching probably serves as a form of communication between the whales, but we also know that humpback whales use complex vocalizations. So we lowered our hydrophone into the blue depths near a group of four humpbacks and waited. Soon their eerie moans echoed through our speakers. The sounds continued until the whales surfaced again. Male humpbacks are known to sing songs on their mating grounds, but the exact function of the songs in humpback communication is still very mysterious. This morning we got a glimpse of that mystery with the help of our hydrophone, as the whale’s auditory world opened to our humble human ears, and for a brief moment, two worlds of sentient beings were united, albeit, through the curiosity of sounds.
All too soon, the Sea Lion had to depart; we were expected dockside in Cabo San Lucas for the remainder of our day’s activities. As we cruised south the Baja peninsula started to show signs of increased population. Cabo San Lucas is the largest tourist destination on the Baja peninsula, made apparent by the many boats decorating the Gulf of California and the shoreline was peppered with hotels and condominiums. The Sea Lion entered the bustling harbor of this tourist community at approximately 12:30pm…boats, hotels, bars, restaurants and t-shirt shops everywhere!
A very short time ago, Cabo San Lucas was a sleepy fishing village….small dirt roads, a few houses where the families of local fishermen came and went from the waters of the Gulf of California and the Pacific Ocean. In the 1920s the first fish cannery was constructed in Cabo San Lucas, attracting a larger population of fishermen and cannery workers. In the 1950s, sports fishing found Cabo San Lucas; this small town felt the first impact or tourism from those brave souls who could stand the grueling journey along hundreds of miles of dirt roads that led to the tip of the Baja peninsula. The Trans Peninsular Highway, completed in the 1970s, made the final necessary link that opened Cabo San Lucas to the rest of the world, leading to the bustling activity the Sea Lion encountered as she tied up within the inner harbor. Several options, slightly removed from the hustle and bustle of this large tourist town, were offered in the form of a birding and snorkeling trip just north of the city. Some of us braved the traffic, noise, and crowded streets to find inconspicuously small gallery quality shops that told the story of richly colored and diverse ethnic history that is the country of Mexico, expressing this spirit through pottery, masks, jewelry and embroidery…all the color that is the heritage of Mesoamerica.
Just before sunset the Sea Lion pulled her lines, and began a slow cruise out to Land’s End, the very tip of the Baja peninsula, entered the Pacific Ocean and in the gentle swells watched as the last light of day blessed us with a flash of emerald as the sun slipped below the horizon.
Throughout the night the Sea Lion continued her southerly voyage heading for her morning destination of Gorda Banks. Looking west just after sunrise, those of us on the bow could see the previous night's storm, moving away, leaving us with clear blue skies and following sea conditions. The natural history staff was on the bow beginning the morning's search for marine mammals. This particular southern area of the Gulf of California is known as a winter mating area for humpback whales; as we cast our binocular in several directions, the customary large bushy blow of this baleen whale greeted us. They were moving throughout the area in groups of three or four adult whales. One adult surfaced, followed by another, followed by another….with occasional pectoral flipper splashes and some very impressive tail lobbing! The whales continued to surface, breathe several times and then dive, leaving us for their watery world with a show of the elegant tail stalk and wide seven or eight foot fluke, water cascading away as each group of magnificent animals descended into the sea.
Watching this obvious group behavior only increased our curiosity: what are the whales trying to communicate? The surface activity of tail lobbing and breaching probably serves as a form of communication between the whales, but we also know that humpback whales use complex vocalizations. So we lowered our hydrophone into the blue depths near a group of four humpbacks and waited. Soon their eerie moans echoed through our speakers. The sounds continued until the whales surfaced again. Male humpbacks are known to sing songs on their mating grounds, but the exact function of the songs in humpback communication is still very mysterious. This morning we got a glimpse of that mystery with the help of our hydrophone, as the whale’s auditory world opened to our humble human ears, and for a brief moment, two worlds of sentient beings were united, albeit, through the curiosity of sounds.
All too soon, the Sea Lion had to depart; we were expected dockside in Cabo San Lucas for the remainder of our day’s activities. As we cruised south the Baja peninsula started to show signs of increased population. Cabo San Lucas is the largest tourist destination on the Baja peninsula, made apparent by the many boats decorating the Gulf of California and the shoreline was peppered with hotels and condominiums. The Sea Lion entered the bustling harbor of this tourist community at approximately 12:30pm…boats, hotels, bars, restaurants and t-shirt shops everywhere!
A very short time ago, Cabo San Lucas was a sleepy fishing village….small dirt roads, a few houses where the families of local fishermen came and went from the waters of the Gulf of California and the Pacific Ocean. In the 1920s the first fish cannery was constructed in Cabo San Lucas, attracting a larger population of fishermen and cannery workers. In the 1950s, sports fishing found Cabo San Lucas; this small town felt the first impact or tourism from those brave souls who could stand the grueling journey along hundreds of miles of dirt roads that led to the tip of the Baja peninsula. The Trans Peninsular Highway, completed in the 1970s, made the final necessary link that opened Cabo San Lucas to the rest of the world, leading to the bustling activity the Sea Lion encountered as she tied up within the inner harbor. Several options, slightly removed from the hustle and bustle of this large tourist town, were offered in the form of a birding and snorkeling trip just north of the city. Some of us braved the traffic, noise, and crowded streets to find inconspicuously small gallery quality shops that told the story of richly colored and diverse ethnic history that is the country of Mexico, expressing this spirit through pottery, masks, jewelry and embroidery…all the color that is the heritage of Mesoamerica.
Just before sunset the Sea Lion pulled her lines, and began a slow cruise out to Land’s End, the very tip of the Baja peninsula, entered the Pacific Ocean and in the gentle swells watched as the last light of day blessed us with a flash of emerald as the sun slipped below the horizon.
