Cape Region
It bodes well for a day at sea off southern Baja when the morning begins with the “green flash”. The early risers were rewarded with the distinctive emerald shimmer of the first crescent of sun at 0643, and it was all uphill from there. Even before the flash, birders were rewarded with a male Magnificent Frigatebird catching a free ride aboard the Sea Bird’s flagpole while a busy morning of whale-watching began just minutes after the green flash with our first humpback whale sightings. Over the course of the morning we would see some forty humpbacks (or more!) in the vicinity of Gordo Banks, one of three major calving areas on Mexico’s west coast. Over five hours’ time we enjoyed the full gamut of humpback behaviors. The unrivaled highlight was two full-grown males that executed a tandem breach—both animals vaulting ¾ of the way out of the water in perfect unison and only meters apart. Of the thirty or so cameras that were recording today’s action, not a single one managed to capture this magnificent and rare double vault…but it is indelibly burned in our memories! Other highlights were the large male that breached over thirty times while we watched and photographed, Bottlenosed dolphins bow-riding the Sea Bird as well as bow-riding the larger humpbacks, several spectacular pec-slappers, one whale persistently tail-lobbing, singing whales broadcast ship-wide via hydrophone, and an unforgettable group of nine whales surfacing together, flipper-slapping, rolling, and sounding together. Among the latter group were two animals bearing the scars from clashes with Orcas—one missing the right half of its fluke and the other missing the tips to both sides of the tail!
Spectacular though they were, the whales were not the only highlight. By 1300 we were alongside in Cabo San Lucas and departing on three different activities. One group shopped the tourist mecca of Cabo San Lucas while others sampled the wares in San José del Cabo 20 miles to the east. Snorkelers visited Los Chilenos Beach, whence two vivid orange Clarion Angelfish provided the highlight—this stunning reef fish is only rarely seen as far north as Los Cabos. A sizeable group of birders visited Estero San José del Cabo, a strip of riparian vegetation and desert scrub along San José del Cabo’s east flank that is renowned as Baja California Sur’s best birding locale. Almost 250 species have been recorded here and in just two hours our team of birders managed to find some 60 species. Among the many avian highlights were two of Baja’s three endemic birds: a cooperative female Xantus’s Hummingbird and several Belding’s Yellowthroats, a marsh-dwelling warbler known only from a handful of patches of fresh water reeds and grasses around Baja California Sur oases. A sampling of other memorable sightings included brilliant orange Hooded Orioles; stately black-and-white Black-necked Stilts; gregarious Gila Woodpeckers in the scope; and a shy Sora creeping furtively along the edges of the marsh grasses.
We closed the evening nosing into Land’s End, where the sounds and smells of a California sea lion haulout combined with a brilliant sunset, a screaming Peregrine Falcon, and a swirling vortex of hundreds of Magnificent Frigatebirds bade a memorable farewell to the Gulf of California and welcomed us to the Pacific Ocean.
It bodes well for a day at sea off southern Baja when the morning begins with the “green flash”. The early risers were rewarded with the distinctive emerald shimmer of the first crescent of sun at 0643, and it was all uphill from there. Even before the flash, birders were rewarded with a male Magnificent Frigatebird catching a free ride aboard the Sea Bird’s flagpole while a busy morning of whale-watching began just minutes after the green flash with our first humpback whale sightings. Over the course of the morning we would see some forty humpbacks (or more!) in the vicinity of Gordo Banks, one of three major calving areas on Mexico’s west coast. Over five hours’ time we enjoyed the full gamut of humpback behaviors. The unrivaled highlight was two full-grown males that executed a tandem breach—both animals vaulting ¾ of the way out of the water in perfect unison and only meters apart. Of the thirty or so cameras that were recording today’s action, not a single one managed to capture this magnificent and rare double vault…but it is indelibly burned in our memories! Other highlights were the large male that breached over thirty times while we watched and photographed, Bottlenosed dolphins bow-riding the Sea Bird as well as bow-riding the larger humpbacks, several spectacular pec-slappers, one whale persistently tail-lobbing, singing whales broadcast ship-wide via hydrophone, and an unforgettable group of nine whales surfacing together, flipper-slapping, rolling, and sounding together. Among the latter group were two animals bearing the scars from clashes with Orcas—one missing the right half of its fluke and the other missing the tips to both sides of the tail!
Spectacular though they were, the whales were not the only highlight. By 1300 we were alongside in Cabo San Lucas and departing on three different activities. One group shopped the tourist mecca of Cabo San Lucas while others sampled the wares in San José del Cabo 20 miles to the east. Snorkelers visited Los Chilenos Beach, whence two vivid orange Clarion Angelfish provided the highlight—this stunning reef fish is only rarely seen as far north as Los Cabos. A sizeable group of birders visited Estero San José del Cabo, a strip of riparian vegetation and desert scrub along San José del Cabo’s east flank that is renowned as Baja California Sur’s best birding locale. Almost 250 species have been recorded here and in just two hours our team of birders managed to find some 60 species. Among the many avian highlights were two of Baja’s three endemic birds: a cooperative female Xantus’s Hummingbird and several Belding’s Yellowthroats, a marsh-dwelling warbler known only from a handful of patches of fresh water reeds and grasses around Baja California Sur oases. A sampling of other memorable sightings included brilliant orange Hooded Orioles; stately black-and-white Black-necked Stilts; gregarious Gila Woodpeckers in the scope; and a shy Sora creeping furtively along the edges of the marsh grasses.
We closed the evening nosing into Land’s End, where the sounds and smells of a California sea lion haulout combined with a brilliant sunset, a screaming Peregrine Falcon, and a swirling vortex of hundreds of Magnificent Frigatebirds bade a memorable farewell to the Gulf of California and welcomed us to the Pacific Ocean.
