We spent the night anchored at the north end of Magdalena Bay. As the sun rose, we were watching and listening to gray whales as they surfaced, exhaled, and spyhopped around the ship. Gray whales were the theme of the day.
This morning’s tidal current was especially strong due to the recent new moon. In the distance, waves were breaking over shallow sandbars where this gray whale nursery meets the Pacific Ocean. Gray whales swam into the current, and our small boats had no trouble keeping up; it was as if we were all on a ‘tidal treadmill.’ Gray whale calves seemed so tiny swimming close alongside their mothers. Many of them appeared to be just a few days old; their skin was still dark gray and smooth. Their mothers’ skin was mottled gray, with patches of yellowish-white barnacles and whale ‘lice’ on their heads. Massive whales surfaced slowly, and very young calves popped up more quickly, sometimes they rolled over their mother’s backs. Calves seemed to imitate their moms; a calf and mother spyhopped together. Were they trying to watch us?
At times we could look in any direction and see whales. One of them was enormous—very pregnant, and swimming especially slowly. We heard the loud sounds of whales breathing, and tiny droplets of moisture from the whale breath got on camera lenses.
In the afternoon we continued our whale watching, and also went ashore to explore endless sand dunes on Isla Magdalena. The sand was incredibly soft on bare feet, and was decorated with beautiful ripples from water and wind. Numerous tracks on the sand hinted at the gulls, herons, shorebirds, crabs, mice, jackrabbits, and coyotes that live there. Winds and tides will soon erase those tracks, but not our memories of this bay’s island and gray whale nursery.
Our day ended with a delicious Mexican fiesta dinner, and live music played by a local duo, the ‘Coyotes of Magdalena.’ Early tomorrow morning we will continue watching gray whales.
