Captain’s Noon Reports – Gallant Lady – 2023-04-27

NGL N24.40.84 W110.34.84

Clear sky, light breeze from the south, light swell from S. Air temp 30C, water temp 22C, visibility 5 meters

Good morning everybody

Orcas! That is the main attraction of this morning, the rockstar of the show. The friendly orcas appeared this morning, just 2nm south of San Francisco Island, and we have been following them and snorkeling with them for the past 4 hours.

The day started very well, with the flat calm sea of Cortez and an early dive and snorkel at the Sealion colony of San Francisco. While the guests were in the water playing with the curious and friendly sea lions, I took the NGL around for a search.

Last evening we had located humpback whales a couple of miles south, and just as I was exiting the channel a juvenile humpback popped up right next to the boat. I decided to follow that humpback so that the guests could do some whale watching after the snorkeling. Then in the distance, I saw three frigate birds fighting for chunks of fish and some splashes that looked like dolphins hunting.

As I got closer, I could see they were no common dolphins: a huge tail popped out of the water, vertical, quickly followed by the huge dorsal fin of the male orca! 6 orcas were going after fish or mobulas. The crew left onboard joined the crown nest to keep a close eye on the orcas, while we had the Rhib pick up all the divers in a hurry and join us.

All the guests were able to share a couple of very close encounters with the orcas, sometimes following them from a distance, and sometimes, when they came very close, sliding in the water and catching their attention. It was an incredible experience for everybody onboard!

Yesterday afternoon we saw a few fin whales from up close in the Bay of la Paz. Then we ended the day with a night dive for Steve and a night snorkel for Marc, Roxanna Stephanie, and Angela. They loved it, particularly because there was so much bioluminescence in the water that their bodies were creating constellations of stars as they were gliding through the water

By Noon Reports

Daily dive and conditions reports from our captains onboard the Nautilus Liveaboard vessels.

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