Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Looking Over My Shoulder

Looking over my shoulder...in the rear view mirror, I see, once again, we're leaving it all behind.  What you ask?  What are you leaving behind?  



                                  Sunrise from a kayak, quiet and beautiful.


              Afternoons under the umbrella.


                                        Playing with other people's toys.


          Late lunch at Poncho Villa Restaurante over looking the Mulege River.


                                          Paddle boarding with buddies....


                                          Swimming lessons for the fur kids.


            Happy Hour campfires at Campo SIMPSON.



         Day trips like this trip to San Javier and a rest under the 300 year old olive tree by the mission.


                                     Playtime with ink pens and watercolor pencils.


                              Puppies.....


Leonard Cohen party...ukulele afternoons, open mic jams, movie nights, music lessons by Karen, art class with Lynn....


                            And more puppies....


                      New friends and old....ukuleles and guitars....and a howling pup!


               Lazy days trying for a tri-Athlon...walking, yoga, paddle boarding...oh, and kayaking...



               Gold stars on our Spanish lesson papers from mi miestra Lily!!


                         Dinner and a show...movie nights under the stars.


          Palapa shell garden art!


                               The goodbyes....


                            Packing days...only 1 and 1/2...


                        A very compact bit of "stuff" to leave behind.



                                                 Driving out.....


     Ready for the road....but do they know there are three weeks ahead?


      Goodbye beaches....



            And on up over the Santa Rosalia hill...


     But first, Goodbye Mulege....


     Then the hill....


     On to San Ignacio...


     And Catavina...


    On to Ensenada...


     ....and then the Tecate border crossing...




Goodbye Baja.  "Summer in the Winter 2015-2016" is over.  It's all in the rear view.  I can just barely see it as I turn my head and look over my shoulder.....

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Dolphin Daze


It's off early this morning for a trip in the motor boat to Punta Arena.  Our boating buddies have stars in their eyes dreaming of all the great shells they will find beach combing.  We have visions of dolphin pods screaming along beside us on the flat water.  We are not disappointed!


Court, Ann, Debbie and John speed along in the aluminum boat.  Even we make fair speed with today's water conditions, in the little Portebote.

The Sea of Cortez, also known as the Sea of Cortes, Gulf of California, and the Vermillion Sea, is 62,000 sq. miles and has 4,000 km of coastline and over 37 islands.  We are cruising in a little pocket about half way down the Baja Peninsula, (second longest peninsula in the world) called Conception Bay.  


                                  Deckhand Sparky is ready to roll....or...motor.


Cruising along scanning the water, it's easy to see the first fins!  Then those first fins, turn into a lot of fins!




Surrounded by bottlenose and common dolphins....what a great way to begin the day!  Surprise!  Another pod approaches from the stern!


Bottlenose dolphins hang together in pods of 10 -250 individuals.  They can reach lengths of 12 ft. And weigh as much as 1,400 lbs, living as long as 40 years.


                            (These two great photos thanks to Debbie Morrow)


Common dolphins are either short beaked or long beaked, range in length up to 8 1/2 ft. and weigh in around 300 lbs.  You might expect these swift and beautiful marine mammals to celebrate about 30 birthdays.


I don't know much about dolphin ID field work, but I know I will be on the lookout for "Captain Hook" next time I am graced with the presence of dolphins in Baja.



On the grocery list is schooling fish, squid, sardines, smelt and lantern fish.  They work hard to make a living...crushing shallow spots or diving down to depths of 600 ft. using ecolocation to target prey and 200 pointed teeth for a grab and go meal.





This day there is no high speed swimming going on, as they seem content to race along with us at a speedy 9 mph, no where close to their top speed of 24 mph!  

Every time we wind up near these amazing cetaceans, it's hard to leave.  The buddy boat has long since gone into the beach to hunt for shell booty, and we are still taking pictures....
.........."just one more."


Sharky's Back!!

Mid-February marks "the rerun of the whale sharks" to Bahia el Coyote!  The tell tale rounded and low dorsal fin glides past our campsite at the beach and suddenly the beach is alive with kayakers and paddle boarders.  



How to get a better view....respectfully?  That seems to be the beach gringo attitude, which is wonderful.  



How can I be in the presence of the largest fish in the sea and not want to know more about it?  Impossible as it turns out...so here goes:

     Although this day we enjoy the visit of two "smaller" whale sharks, the average length of an adult is 31 pfeet or more, weighing about 20 tons. Some have been reported in the 40 ft. range.  (Think "school bus size."). Gliding very slowly through the shallow warm water, this juvenile (estimated size by comparison to my 11 ft. Paddle board is 16-20 ft) feeds on plankton and very small fish using a cool filtering system.  The mouth can measure over 4 feet across. opening wide, it uses 300-350 rows of tiny tiny teeth, 10 filter pads and 5 gills per side, to catch it's prey.  On the yummy list?  That would be: zooplankton, phytoplankton, krill, copepods, fish eggs, and small squid and fish.


     There are two feeding strategies: ram filteration where the shark swims with an open mouth directly into the food source or suction filteration which can be accomplished with the fish almost motionless....except for moving gills and swirling water.  I see both from atop my board!  Awesome!


     Each animal has a pattern of dots that is specific to that individual.  As with the orca whales at home....very hard for the untrained eye to tell the difference.  There is the beginning of an ID program with Whale Shark Mexico in LaPaz, BCS.  

     The juveniles have a longer upper tail fin and shorter lower fin, where the adults have equal length fins.  (Check out the tail in the photos)  this year we see only juveniles, according to tail fin observation.

                                   Gliding by Coyote Beach in late February.



                 Two boys and a whale shark in the Sea of Cortez, Conception Bay.


                         Wayne and his little kayak....and the 20+ foot whale shark!  


     Whale sharks are found in warmer water, mostly around 30 degrees latitude.  Here's where you can go to find one for yourself: South Africa, St. Helena, Belize, West Australia, India, Hondouras, Phillipines, Madagascar, Mozambique, Zanzibar, or....Coyote Beach, Baja!!! 

     They may be diving down to depths of 4,219 feet, or gliding just below the surface, teasing you with that dorsal fin or the wave of the top of the tail fin.  

     There is no global population estimate.  As many as 300 pups have been found inside a deceased female.  It's thought that they give birth individually over a prolonged period, to live pups measuring 16-24 inches.  They don't reach sexual maturity until 30 years of age and may live between 70 and 100 years!  Neither mating nor pupping have been observed.  They are listed as "Vunerable Species."

     


        In the Vietnamese culture the whale shark is revered as a diety and called "Ca Ong" meaning Lord Fish."  The Philippines put this awesome creature on the back of the 100 peso bill and by law snorkelers must keep a 4 foot distance. Touching a whale shark will earn you a fine or possible jail time.

We can't easily discover Mexican rules or regulations having to do with whale sharks.  They do advertise "Swim with the whale sharks" on a building in Mulege.  Once we witness a Mexican boat race up to one of the whale sharks, a swimmer jumps in and hangs on to the whale shark by the edge of the mouth and goes for a ride.  This is a sad time.  There is an uproar from folks on the beach, shouting....and when the swimmer gets out, there is a rude exchange...they are Gringos.  

For the most part, as these beautiful creatures grace our bay, from January 31st until the day we leave, March 12th, it is a magical experience.