San Fran and Baja California January 2015
Had an enjoyable 3-day visit with Jill and family. Stayed at
a VRBO about 3/4 mile from their home - comfy living area and bedroom, small
kitchenette area on the bottom floor of a charming home on an acre or so at the
top of West Seaview Drive - giving us a challenging hike home on the two days
we walked the neighborhood for morning exercise.
Jan 20- uneventful flights, on time. Movies- The Good
Lie, and This is When I Leave You. We rode the Marin Airporter to San Rafael
and Graham met us, took us to the grocery store, and then to their house for
dinner with the children, Rosa Laura the Italian au pair and Graham and Jill (a little later).
Jan 21- Graham gave us a ride to the ferry terminal and
we rode over to San Fran for an 8 mile round trip walk to Fort Mason for some WWII research with a
stop on the way back at Ghirardelli Square. Then Jill and Graham's for dinner.
Jan 22 - today we took a walk around downtown San Rafael
and then went to pick up both children, Ravenna at gymnastics and Theron at
preschool. We met Jill and Graham at Terrapin Crossing for a burger dinner.
Jan 23 - another walk around the suburbs of San Rafael
along the San Pedro road and then some back streets. We had a great lunch with
friends from the Trans Siberia Rail trip, Bob and Diane Coleman, who live in
Piedmont near Oakland. Bob is the friend who got Beth the photo shoot for
American Fondouk (veterinary hospital in Morocco). The lunch was at Fort Baker near the Golden Gate
Bridge. After lunch we met Ravenna and Theron and Rosa Laura at music class at
the Exploratorium. We had a pizza dinner, washed some clothes and packed for
the next part of the trip.
Jan 24 - we flew to LAX and then to La Paz in Baja,
boarded a bus and rode for 3 1/2 hours to San Carlos to get on the Sea Bird. It
was a very long and somewhat uncomfortable ride but it's over. The trip ends
back in La Paz so we don't have another long bus ride to face. The Sea Bird can
accommodate 62 guests, most in outside facing rooms.
Ours is 217, about 12' x 12' including combo toilet/shower area. We have
2 windows, 4x3 and 2x3 so can sit on the bed with a clear view of the vista as
well as all those who pass by our room - and they of us.
Jan 25 - the ship traveled north overnight from San
Carlos to Bahia Magdelena and to Bahia Santa Maria where we stopped at Sand Dollar
Beach, a place with huge wild dunes and a long stretch of Pacific Ocean beach
without a building or another soul on it. Bahia Magdelena is the inside and Bahia
Santa Maria is the name of the ocean side. On the Pacific side there is long
flat beach with huge nicely curling rollers about 100 yards out. On the bay
side (inside) (this bay is about as big as San Fran Bay) the dunes come right
down to the water. Then we came back to the boat and entered the Hull Canal
which is very narrow, mangrove lined, and a good place for spotting birds. The
only new species was brant (a kind of goose) but there were plenty of brown
pelicans, double crested cormorants, great blue herons, great and snowy egrets,
an osprey, magnificent frigate birds (kleptoparasites) and gulls, either
California or western. As the channel widened we entered whale territory and
were surrounded by gray whales and calves. Baja is where they come each year to
mate and to have their calves (with a midwife whale) every year before
beginning the trek north to Alaska. We also had porpoises bow riding the ship
and swimming in and out of the whales.
More about gray whales later.
My new Zeiss birding binoculars which Connie gave me for
Christmas were perfect for spotting the birds and the whales. Muchas Gracias!
Jan 26 - Boca de Soledad-
today we went ashore at another beach (on Isla Magdelena) where the
dunes were even larger and the ocean stretch just as deserted. Connie and I
jumped off a big dune and I will probably still be getting sand out of my ears
for a couple of weeks when we get back.
For the second part of the morning we went out in the
zodiacs with local Mexican guides to see the whales up even closer.
This was not the polar bear experience as we had at
Svalbard where they were at long distance. Here the zodiacs went up to within
30 or 40 feet of the moms and babes. We watched "logging" moms where
they just lie quietly at the surface, perhaps while the calf nurses. We also
found one very cooperative mother who seemed to enjoy coming up right under the
zodiac and nudging it with her head. She also allowed us to touch her. So far
the babes have not been as cooperative, but the guide tells us these calves are
very young and so they are mostly feeding and practicing their swimming skills
for the trek north.
Added a white ibis and a whimbrel or curlew but the
whales were the stars of the show today.
The afternoon was a repeat of the morning- half of the passengers
at the beach and half whale watching and then a late afternoon switch. We
stayed in for the beach portion to catch up on this journal.
The afternoon whale watching was just as good as the
morning- again I got to touch a mom who came up right under the boat. One
special added feature was delighting in a panga full of Mexican school children
watching the whales and having the whale come under their boat and move it
around.
About the Baja California Gray Whale- the current count
is about 24000 and stable. All are born right here where we are, all about this
time of year. These are baleen whales and bottom feeders. They communicate via
a low hertz vibration which is good for communicating over long distances but
not as an alternative to sight. They really don't need to see very well. In
Baja waters they are in about 25 feet of depth, and for a 45 foot whale there
is no need for deep diving. Hold breath for 5 minutes. Babies weigh 800 pounds
when born and are about 15 feet long. The gestation period is 11-13 months, and
they are sexually mature at about 12
years old. Male testes weigh about 80 pounds and the theory is that when mating
they want to have huge volume of sperm to push the other guys' sperm out. There
is no fidelity- multi mates on both sides. The biggest predator is killer whale
or orca and the orcas won't come into the close confines of the Baja bays so
that's why this is the birthing spot. Gray whales have no dorsal fin, just a
bump and then a few knuckles down the spine. All adults have barnacles and
amphipods on their back. The amphipods as well as some fish eat dead skin. The
babies acquire barnacles and lice (the amphipods) by nursing and rubbing
against the mom.
The moms keep close tabs on the newborn and don't let
them interact or play with the other calves for a while. They basically have
the babes swimming against the tide up and down in the bay here to get in shape
for the long swim north to come. Tired of whale photos yet? I only have about 250 more.
We had them 360 degrees around us at several times. The
babes we saw never got more than 15 or 20 feet from their mom.
One other side note- the Nat Geo photographer on this
trip is Flip Nicklin, who is somewhat famous for his photos of whales and
narwhals. He told me he pitched his first story on whales to Nat Geo in 1980.
At the time Nat Geo had done 3 whale stories before and said that was enough.
By the way two of those three had been done by his father. Anyway, he
persevered and now has done 22 more whale stories for Nat Geo. Re the narwhals he told me he spent 4 1/2 months
trying to get photos and the only good ones he got occurred within one 7 hour
period of one day.
Jan 27- Repositioning day. We are now leaving the Bahia
Magdelena area and Boca de Soledad, heading back thru the Hull Canal on to La
Entrada, the entrance to the bay at sunset. Tomorrow we run down to Cabo San
Lucas.
This morning we went for one last gray whale expedition
and stayed with one mom and calf pretty much all of the time we were out. This
mom was known to the local guide as a splasher.
True to form, while she came close many times and let us touch the calf, when
she was tired of us she gave us a pretty good drenching with her tail.
As we were going down the canal, I saw a very large, very
chubby coyote on the sand flats just walking along.
Lunch today was a barbecue on the deck. Very nice.
One of the reasons we like these Lindblad Nat Geo trips
is the way the tour organization works with the communities it visits. Here we
have a local pilot although the boat has all the navigation equipment in the
world. Also instead of taking business away from local whale guides, who are
fishermen in the non whaling season, Lindblad hires them to guide the zodiacs.
Last night we had some local fishermen on board to play Mexican music during
dinner.
Jan 28- last night was a night at sea with moderate chop
and wind maybe 20 mph.
This morning we came to the Friars marking Cabo San Lucas
at about sunrise. We went right by the town of Cabo, which is a little bit of
Southern California right here in Mexico. The ship went on to San Jose del
Cabo. This whole area was hit hard by two hurricanes this fall and did not have
power for a month. Our guide said it was like being thrown back to the Stone
Age. However everyone pitched in doing everything and helped to get it back up and
running. He cut a lot of trees with a machete because there was no gas for a chain saw. We saw a lot of storm damage- the big hotel hasn't reopened and the
windows are still out. Lots of piles of debris and trees down still.
Our activity here was a birding walk along a stream which
comes down from the local mountains, running mostly underground. I saw about 20
species of birds which I'll list later.
At the time I write this we just finished lunch and are
slowly cruising the Gorda Banks by Point Gorda looking for humpback whales.
Because we will only see them at a distance I am now spoiled and really only
interested in touching them. The wind is up and we have to cruise all night so
things may get a little bouncy.
I need to change my opinion on looking out for whales.
This afternoon we saw probably 15 or 20 humpbacks from long distance. We saw
perhaps 10 or so bodies and tails rather than just spouting. However at the
very end we got very close (50 yards) to a threesome which was showing tails,
bodies, spouts and probably 10 or 12 full and partial breaches. It was quite a
display.
Jan 29- it was the second night at sea and both were
quite rough. Luckily for all the expedition leader decided to cut the trip
north short at about 2 am and pulled into the bay at Punta Dispensa on Espritu
Sanctu Island. We finally got some good sleep starting about 4.
In the morning Connie and I went ashore for a long walk
on the beach and then on the desert and then up a hillock on the island. There
was a lot of ocean debris- rocks, shells of many types, fish skeletons, and
hollowed out pieces of dead cactus. Connie saw a black tailed jack rabbit. We
also saw some American oystercatchers.
Back on the ship at lunch we had a Mexican lunch of make
it yourself stew (posole). Then we had a choppy but brief ride to Isla San Francisco.
This was one of the most interesting excursions of the trip so far- we went
wading in a tidal pool just like John Steinbeck and Doc in the Log from the Sea
of Cortez which I am about half way thru now. We saw urchins, brittle stars of
at least two kinds, some relatives of blood worms, hermit crabs and other
unnamed, unclassified, by me anyway, animals. It was a perfect activity for a 12
year old boy. After that we went for a brief kayak ride and then had a barbecue
on the beach.
Jan 30- Los Islotes and Espiritu Santo. This morning the
first activity was a zodiac ride around these small islets that have roosting
areas for blue footed boobies and sea lions. The coyotes on the larger islands
can't get them here. An added bonus was a display of jumping and flopping back
into the water by mobula rays (they look like little manta rays).
Connie snorkeled with the sea lions. Then we made a small
move to another part of the island and closed out the trip with a long hike on
a beach bounded by a cactus desert inside. The evening lecture was about John
Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts, the real life role model for Doc in Cannery Row.
In reviewing the Lindblad daily expedition report I found
out the next trip does not repeat what we did. Instead it moves further north on
the Sea of Cortez side and immediately they were seeing blue whales.
As for us we went to LA on Jan 31after a brief side trip
to a very interesting serpentarium.
We
landed in time to watch the Duke UVA game and then go to dinner at Akasha in Culver City with
Richie and Darla. It reminded me a lot of Matt's restaurant Southbound here.
The quote of the trip was "it never rains in Baja
California" but it did while we were there- not bad but it did happen
about 3 times.
The next day we got home just in time for the Super Bowl. Ugh, poor Russell.
A salute to Nat Geo Lindblad's great staff of naturalists and photographers-
Bird list-
Pacific side- magnificent frigate; sanderling; brown
pelican; double crested cormorant; great blue heron; great and snowy egret;
brant; osprey; white ibis; whimbrel.
Sea of Cortez side- Cassin's finch; white wing dove;
Cassin's kingbird; common snipe; American coot; white faced ibis; tricolor
heron; little blue heron; long billed dowitcher;
black neck stilt; yellow rump warbler; hooded oriole; pie bill grebe;
gila woodpecker; ruddy duck; spotted sandpiper; red bill merganser; blue wing
teal; belted kingfisher; red billed tropicbird.
Punta Dispensa and Isla San Francisco- eared grebe;
yellow foot gull; brown booby.
Los Islotes- blue footed booby.
