In the mangroves this afternoon we saw lots of birds including brown pelicans, reddish egrets, great egrets, great blue herons, and shorebirds such as the marbled godwit. I loved seeing the cormorant nests in the tops of the trees. It also was really exciting to see some coyotes on the shore at low tide digging for food in the sand.

This morning half the group went out in search of gray whales, and half had the chance to walk on a seemingly endless beach. When I went out in the Zodiac, I had a chance to see a gray whale mother and calf! Being in the Zodiac in the water with the whales was really exciting. The waves were a little rough, and the Zodiac drivers did a great job getting us close enough to see the whales in pretty rough water.

The beach walkers photographed and took video of the dunes, the patterns in the sand, the birds along the shore, and the beautiful shells on the beach. As Expedition Leader Jim Kelley said this morning during his wake-up call, "It's a beautiful day in Baja California."

As the sun went down, we had the great fortune to see quite a few gray whales off the bow. Then, to top off the whole trip, the sun went down with no clouds at the horizon, and we all had great views of the green flash!!!