Linda Burback, Naturalist/Certified Photo Instructor
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Daily Expedition
Reports
29 Jan 2023
Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos / San Dollar Beach , 1/29/2023, National Geographic Sea Bird
Aboard the
National Geographic Sea Bird
Baja California
We started our day by searching for whales in heavy fog. Eventually, we found a couple whales and a pod of bottlenose dolphins. We were all happy to end our last grey whale encounter with a recently born grey whale calf and its huge mum.
The afternoon was filled with a delightful stroll along Sand Dollar Beach and the most spectacular sunset.
Lisa grew up in the mountains of the Black Forest in Germany. When she was 18, she moved to Italy where Lisa spent two years of working in different places meanwhile studying Italian. At 20 years old, returning from Italy, she moved to Hamburg and fi...
Born in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Linda and her Air Force family moved extensively throughout the U.S. when she was a child. Linda continues to travel and explore a broader spectrum of the world as a naturalist with Lindblad Expeditions-National Geogr...
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We began the day anchored in front of Puerto Magdalena. During the stretch class led by Julie, a gray whale was spotted, bringing joy to our guests. After breakfast we headed to the island to enjoy different hikes. Some guests walked along the beach while others hiked up the hill to enjoy a magnificent view of the Pacific Ocean. Along the hike we found different plants, like the galloping cactus, some false elephant trees, and the endemic margarita agave. We finished the morning visiting the gray whale skeletons. We had lunch on board and in the afternoon, we headed back to the island. Chejo led a visit to the desalination plant explaining the whole process, and we also visited the abalone shell handicrafts workshop. We ended the visit at Chejo’s restaurant to listen to his stories while our guests enjoyed margaritas, guacamole, and pico de gallo.
What can I say about today? Magical . . . unforgettable . . . spectacular . . . “whale soup”. We went out in pangas in the morning and again in the afternoon, seeking gray whales in Bahia Almejas. With ideal conditions, calm wind and water, we were rewarded with excellent views of gray whale blows, backs, heads, and flukes as they rolled at the surface, took breaths, and occasionally came close to our pangas. They spy hopped (lifted their heads vertically out of the water) and swam slowly. We were grateful to observe them so peacefully in this lagoon where they were once hunted. It was an absolutely wonderful and memorable day.
The standing bet was that only two guests would wake up early to join the optional beach walk at 7am. It turned out 15 guests went for the hike, returning energized. After breakfast, we cruised along the eastern edge of Magdalena Island, with the dunes giving it a surreal appearance. We were joined by bottlenose dolphins who at times would ride the bow, much to our enjoyment. To see them roll on their sides to look up at us was amazing. After lunch, we headed to the narrow section of the 60-mile-long Magdalena Island. This island’s waist has dunes, shell middens, and specialized plants. We made it to the Pacific beach for an hour of shelling, then back to the bay-side beach for a bonfire. Just north of us, a coyote ran over the dunes, looking curious but wary. What a treat to view this amazing animal.
