Waking to find dolphins  bow riding was a short enjoyable treat. Then the pilot whales made an appearance and that is always a welcomed experience, but nothing touched the young afternoon to come. We started seeing sperm whale blows all over. We came to a huge congregation of sperm whales. Now you may say well we saw them before. Well not like this! We came upon a social gathering that was getting to know the new born calf. We even got to see the baby copying other members of the group. As others would tail lob so would the calf. Usually you just experience the specially angled blow hole, but this time they were incredibly active. You couldn’t have asked for much more. They were bringing their heads out of the water showing their jaw and even their teeth. It was an experience many don’t see all that often. They were very friendly and we must have photographed them for at least an hour. I filled almost every memory card I own. I haven’t ever done that before. Must have been on the order of 40gb worth of data. Just an absolutely insane afternoon. One that will be with us for a long time to come.

For the afternoon we headed to Isla Coronados and spent the evening hiking/exploring the island. For me and Dina it didn’t last long. Wandering on volcanic rock doesn’t always feel safe with your camera dangling over your shoulder on a tripod. I had a big boulder come out from under me and send me for a ride. Thank fully it all panned out ok. We all had fun though at the shore line. There is an amazing abundance of life right at the shallows at the shore. Always have to watch where you walk as life is present in all forms. From itsy bitsy hermit crabs to young sergeant majors. Not like our filtered almost lifeless beaches we are accustomed to (they don’t have to be that by the way.)

All this time on this trip I never got to snap some shots of a beautiful sunset. Something the area is known for. Well that night with wispy clouds in the sky and a receding sun over the mountain tops we were gifted with some truly serene moments.

A pilot whales fluke. Water cascades as he heads for a dive. They have their distinct torqued upward ends of their flukes.

One of the concentrated pods. You can see the calf being protected between to large individuals. We actually witnessed the baby coming up from the water hoisted up by the adults. My buffer was running low and only snapped two shots. Those of which remain with me 

Their massive heads can be seen as they float vertically to the surface and actually open their mouths! Being able to see their individual teeth.

What your seeing is a deformed jaw of a sperm whale. The fascinating thing about sperm whales is that they have found sperm whales with full stomachs that had deformed or even missing lower jaws. They hypothesize that with their massive heads they use their acoustic power to stun their prey and then suck in their meals. Something that could definitely be plausible from what we witnessed. You could actually hear the sperm whales as we all went silent taking in the life changing scene. You could even see the water flickering from the strength of their clicks. Absolutely astonishing.

Could their have been a more appropriate touch to the experience?
(color was enhanced with a little bit of
saturation placed by control points)

A baby hammer head photographed as it flew by cruising through the Gulf of California. (apears to be a great hammer head as scalloping doesn’t appear to be present.) Contrast was boosted to pull some detail into the image.

A Close up shot of one of the most friendly grasshoppers I know. He let me get as close as I wanted. Even at a 1:1 ratio (this one isn’t that close.) I don’t normally like to be this close up and crop the body, but I wanted to share of the magnificent detail of this insect.

A female Costa’s humming bird that I was camping out for to get her photograph. She would come down to drink every so often when people didn’t come too close. She was my first subject until I moved onto locating the male.

The one shot of the male that is most clear. The sun was setting and waiting for him to come take a drink was quite difficult. Trying to stay still while having flies and bugs crawl all over you including ants can be a bit unnerving. However the effort put in eventually pays off, or so I like to think that way. It was amazing to see the aerobatic courtship of this beautiful tiny bird. It would use its movements to help the whirl of its high pitched call. He and one other male were actually trying to woo the female you see above.

The color of the suns rays just kissing the sky and capping the mountains in the distance was a perfect way to say goodbye to the day.