We awoke to a little rocking as we cruised along the southern Pacific coast toward Magdalena Bay. Along the way, we enjoyed presentations by our naturalists: Shannon Malone spoke on ecological management in Baja California, and Jeff Campbell talked about the unique ecology of the gray whale. After lunch, we explored a wonderful part of Magdalena Island. This exotic terrain has a sandbar that is about a quarter-mile wide covered in ever-shifting sand dunes. On the Pacific side of the sandbar is a beautiful beach covered in sand dollars. Afterward, we were treated to the lovely tunes played by musical group Los Cayotes. What a beautiful and relaxing day we had.
- Daily Expedition Reports
- 24 Jan 2024
Pacific Coast, La Entrada & Sand Dollar Beach, 1/24/2024, National Geographic Venture
- Aboard the National Geographic Venture
- Baja California
Lauren Boye, Undersea Specialist
Lauren is a steward of the ocean and is happy as long as she is near it. She has many years of experience working on and in the ocean. SCUBA diving is her favorite hobby and fish are her best friends. She also loves spending time on boats and watchin...
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Baja California: Among the Great Whales
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Magdalena Bay
Today we woke with the shining stars and took Zodiacs ashore to meet our coaches for a trip to Chale, a small town on the shores of Magdalena Bay. The goal was to find some wintering gray whales, magnificent leviathans which frequent this coast to give birth before the long migration back to their Arctic feeding grounds. These whales did not disappoint! Spyhopping, breaching, and even a bit of tail flukes. As a result, there were lots of smiles and laughter all around! We returned to the town for lunch and then headed back out on the local boats for a second round. As we returned to the ship, the sun set over La Paz, with glassy waters of gold in the harbor, and pink clouds above. The constellations of Orion, Taurus, and the Pleiades shone over our Zodiacs on our way back to dinner aboard National Geographic Venture .