This morning begins with rain on the decks of National Geographic Sea Lion and in the desert. This portion of the Baja Peninsula normally receives its meager rainfall from summer monsoon and hurricane episodes, but today a winter system from the northwest has pushed into the region and we find ourselves in the midst of an anomaly. A sage expedition leader once shared this bit of wisdom: there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear. And so we don our gear to walk in the dunes of Sand Dollar Beach and soak in the beauty of the landscape as the plants soak up this unexpected gift of moisture. The afternoon minus tide exposes large areas of mud flats and sandbars amongst the mangroves in the Hull Canal making for a great session of bird watching in the second part of our day. The first blows of the gray whales cap our day and fill all with anticipation for tomorrow.