First full day in the Sea of Cortez

 Monday March 3: our first full day on the water

Our trip leader had told us “here is the plan for the day but it could change depending on weather and what we see”… sure enough the day’s plan changed several times! 

At 7am we saw a Blue Whale, which surfaced several times before diving. Fifteen minutes later it resurfaced to continue the show. Blue Whales are the largest mammals on earth; it is ironic that both their pectoral fins and flukes are disproportionately small.  Then we spotted a breaching humpback, a pod of bottlenosed dolphins and some California sea lions. All before breakfast! After breakfast we were treated to three fin whales and more humpbacks. The captain did a great job of slowing the engines and maneuvering to maximize our viewings.

In the late morning the wind kicked up (25-30 mph) which meant it was really too rough for the first planned snorkel of the trip. Our trip leader substituted zodiac cruises near the shoreline, including seeing a huge flock of brown pelicans, brown and blue-footed boobies, cormorants and gulls diving into the water in a feeding frenzy.  The smaller fish get pursued by larger ones, which drive the smaller ones towards the surface, where the birds and dolphins can snag them. The dolphins also herd the fish by repeatedly jumping out of the water— seeing them jump at eye level from a zodiac was striking. 

Later in the afternoon we went for our first hike, on Coronado Island.  As we waited on the shore, a pod of dolphins put on quite a display, apparently celebrating their feasting. The hiking trail wound through sand and rock, with many varieties of cactus and other succulents along the way.  The trees and shrubs have adapted to the desert environment — they tend to be short with stout or bulbous growth habits to retain water. It is amazing  that there are still green leaves, rodents and birds in a place where it hasn’t rained in 18 months.  All in all a stunning first day. 

Our ship has 86 passengers on board, about 3/4 of its capacity which makes everything a bit more relaxed. These trips work very hard to avoid political discussion in the interest of harmony— unless of course someone thinks topics like climate change or conservation are political (then why are they on such a trip?). However, today during the staff introductions we learned that two of our naturalists worked part time for NOAA to supplement their guiding income, and both were laid off last week. A third naturalist said she was grateful that she’d left the park service before she could be fired. The detailed weather forecasting that enables last minute itinerary tuning is also lacking on this trip because of staffing cuts at the national weather service…it’s a sobering example of the ramifications. 

Pictured: desert tree, fluke of the blue whale, bottlenose dolphin