Puerto Magdalena, 3/3/2024, National Geographic Sea Bird
Aboard the
National Geographic Sea Bird
Baja California
Our second day aboard National Geographic Sea Bird provided a welcome chance to set foot on Isla Magdalena. We had an opportunity to go on hikes, bike rides, and we finished the day together at Mira Mar, a restaurant owned by Jose Valdez. Valdez described the history of the town as our Naturalist Sofia Gomez translated his stories.
Emily proudly grew up in the state of Michigan, doing whatever she could to experience and get to know our natural world. She carries a degree in zoology and public policy and worked in an agroecology lab throughout her time in school. Discovering th...
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Weather changes rapidly here, and today was cool and windy. El Barril has a lovely mangrove forest which we enjoyed exploring in calm waters, but the ride back to National Geographic Sea Bird was splashy. Kayakers in the mangroves got to see herons and egrets. We glided through Hull Canal along a narrow channel marked by Sergio and his late father. Sergio took over the piloting of our ship through the challenging canal to the boca in the north. At the boca, we found a mother and calf gray whale. At times the month-old was flopping itself on mom’s back, delighting us all. Tonight is Mexican fiesta night on board, with live music and dancing!
Before breakfast, some of our guests greeted the day with a visit to the dunes to stretch with Allyson. While navigating the Hull Canal we spotted different species of birds, like snowy egrets, great blue herons, royal terns, double-crested cormorants, white ibis, and magnificent frigates. We also enjoyed a couple of gray whales spouting close to the mangroves. Bottlenose dolphins joined us to ride under the bow. After lunch, we crossed the sandbar, walking on the dunes to visit Sand Dollar Beach. Along the walk we found red mangrove propagules, marine turtle bones, coyote tracks, and ancient shell middens. Milkweeds were blooming, gifting us with their delightful fragrance. We had a lovely dinner followed by our captain’s farewell speech. We sang happy birthday to congratulate some guests and crew members and ended the day with our traditional slideshow organized by Chelsea. It was a perfect way to end our amazing voyage.
On a foggy, still morning, National Geographic Sea Bird remained anchored just outside El Barril, a well-known mangrove area at the southern end of the entrance to Canal de Soledad. Our morning was spent kayaking and enjoying a wonderful tour by Zodiac of the mangroves. Half of the ship moved into the water via kayak, quietly enjoying the waterways of the mangroves. The other half of the ship was ferried into this intricate ecosystem to see and learn from our drivers what makes up the world of mangroves. We saw two of the common species, both red and white mangroves, and the world both above and below the water. We learned about the interwoven relationships of land, plant, fungus, bacteria, birds, mammals, fish, and this extremely important forest of small trees, all working together to sustain a vast community. Our afternoon was spent cruising through the Hull Canal and into the northern regions of Bahia Magdalena. Our last whale watching was spent in Boca de Soledad. A truly magical moment was witnessed by all when a grey whale baby, born today, and its mother cruised safely in the nursery waters of Boca de Soledad.