Dear whalewatchers:
We woke in a calm anchorage at Isla Santa Catalina and had an early birding walk through an arroyo before breakfast.
The cardon cactus and barrel cactus areas were alive with birds like northern cardinals, verdin, ash-throated flycatchers, white-winged doves, kestrel, ravens, turkey vultures, and more. We also spotted one small rattleless rattlesnake and several emerald-tailed lizards. After breakfast, people went back to walk a bit further up this scenic canyon.
Then it was time for a snorkel in the coves around Elephant Rock and from the beach at the arroyo.
After lunch we headed out into a windy channel to get better weather closer to the peninsula. We ended up in “fin whale alley.” All total, we found eight fin whales and a couple of blue whales. We had excellent views of the fin whale field marks such as a white chevron on the back and white lower right jaw. At sunset we were seeing whale blows in the distance in every direction. We are heading for an anchorage at Isla Monserrate tonight.
Hoping for continued great whalewatching in this part of the Sea of Cortez tomorrow,
Capt Art
We woke in a calm anchorage at Isla Santa Catalina and had an early birding walk through an arroyo before breakfast.
The cardon cactus and barrel cactus areas were alive with birds like northern cardinals, verdin, ash-throated flycatchers, white-winged doves, kestrel, ravens, turkey vultures, and more. We also spotted one small rattleless rattlesnake and several emerald-tailed lizards. After breakfast, people went back to walk a bit further up this scenic canyon.
Then it was time for a snorkel in the coves around Elephant Rock and from the beach at the arroyo.
After lunch we headed out into a windy channel to get better weather closer to the peninsula. We ended up in “fin whale alley.” All total, we found eight fin whales and a couple of blue whales. We had excellent views of the fin whale field marks such as a white chevron on the back and white lower right jaw. At sunset we were seeing whale blows in the distance in every direction. We are heading for an anchorage at Isla Monserrate tonight.
Hoping for continued great whalewatching in this part of the Sea of Cortez tomorrow,
Capt Art
