Sand Dollar Beach and Magdalena Bay
The Sea Lion cruised out to the mouth of Magdalena Bay on a clear and calm morning. Large groups of birds fed near the entrance to the lagoon. As we drew closer, we could see pelicans diving into schools of fish and Heermann’s gulls flying to them in hopes of stealing a prize from the engorged gular pouch. Dolphins also fed in the distance, and as they drew closer to us, we identified them as long-beaked common dolphins. No, that’s not right; they must be Pacific white-sided dolphins. Actually, both species were feeding together. It was a treat to see the longer, lighter-colored dorsal fins, larger body size, and markings of the white-sided dolphins.
After breakfast we explored spectacular dunes on a hike that led to the Pacific’s Sand Dollar Beach. The photograph above shows the extensive and beautiful dunes that separate the two beaches. The sand has eroded from the granitic mountains north of here and is transported by ocean currents southward. Winter storms toss the sand high up on the beach, and wind carries it in millions of little bounces along the dunes shown here. These barchan dunes have crescent shapes that point in the direction the wind blows. The sensuous ridgelines, variegated rippled surfaces, and complex shadows are exciting places for our photographic workshop participants to “work.” The beach, littered with sand dollars, dolphin skulls, and other bones and shells, is also a fascinating place for photographers and those taking pictures with their minds. It was easy to walk barefoot in the shallow surf and be a kid again. Not another soul was there. There were no boats, houses, power lines, tire tracks, trash nor tar; just us.
Our afternoon was spent leaving Magdalena Bay and heading north to San Ignacio Lagoon. A three-foot swell gave us a gentle pitching ride. We passed hundreds of black-vented shearwaters and scattered long-beaked common dolphins, some which came to ride our pressure wave. The real highlight was more than 20 large whales were scattered along our route. All the ones we identified were blue whales. This population is well known, numbers about 2000, and has a healthy recovery rate. They were probably whales returning from their breeding area off Costa Rica and slowly working their way along this productive coastline toward the Channel Islands and other feeding areas along the California coast.
The Sea Lion cruised out to the mouth of Magdalena Bay on a clear and calm morning. Large groups of birds fed near the entrance to the lagoon. As we drew closer, we could see pelicans diving into schools of fish and Heermann’s gulls flying to them in hopes of stealing a prize from the engorged gular pouch. Dolphins also fed in the distance, and as they drew closer to us, we identified them as long-beaked common dolphins. No, that’s not right; they must be Pacific white-sided dolphins. Actually, both species were feeding together. It was a treat to see the longer, lighter-colored dorsal fins, larger body size, and markings of the white-sided dolphins.
After breakfast we explored spectacular dunes on a hike that led to the Pacific’s Sand Dollar Beach. The photograph above shows the extensive and beautiful dunes that separate the two beaches. The sand has eroded from the granitic mountains north of here and is transported by ocean currents southward. Winter storms toss the sand high up on the beach, and wind carries it in millions of little bounces along the dunes shown here. These barchan dunes have crescent shapes that point in the direction the wind blows. The sensuous ridgelines, variegated rippled surfaces, and complex shadows are exciting places for our photographic workshop participants to “work.” The beach, littered with sand dollars, dolphin skulls, and other bones and shells, is also a fascinating place for photographers and those taking pictures with their minds. It was easy to walk barefoot in the shallow surf and be a kid again. Not another soul was there. There were no boats, houses, power lines, tire tracks, trash nor tar; just us.
Our afternoon was spent leaving Magdalena Bay and heading north to San Ignacio Lagoon. A three-foot swell gave us a gentle pitching ride. We passed hundreds of black-vented shearwaters and scattered long-beaked common dolphins, some which came to ride our pressure wave. The real highlight was more than 20 large whales were scattered along our route. All the ones we identified were blue whales. This population is well known, numbers about 2000, and has a healthy recovery rate. They were probably whales returning from their breeding area off Costa Rica and slowly working their way along this productive coastline toward the Channel Islands and other feeding areas along the California coast.
