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Duncan Murrell - A Whale of a Time

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Duncan Murrell - A Whale of a Time

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  • Kayaking- Gulf-of-California37.jpg
  • It was amazing to get in the water with the sea lions and witness their graceful speed and agility. They were curious about me as soon as I appeared. This is a popular destination for swimming with sea lions so that are very habituated to the presence of people in the water with them. It was mostly younger juveniles that I could see, with the occasional large bull, which although large seemed quite small in comparison with the Steller sea lions in Alaska.
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California35.jpg
  • One of my primary objectives for the trip and for paddling as far south as La Paz was to dive with California sea lions at a well publicised haul out at a small island called Los Islotes, near Isla Partida, just to the north of La Paz. California sea lions are smaller than the enormous Steller sea lions that I was so fondly familiar with in Alaska. I have had so many close, entertaining and interactive encounters with those clowns of the sea and now at long last I had the opportunity to experience their antics underwater, where they are transformed from being lumbering mounds of blubber to agile, graceful underwater dancers. Los Islotes is a pink crest of rock sticking abruptly out of the sea with numerous ledges around its base as if it had been purpose-built for sea lions to sunbathe and loll around on.
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California34.jpg
  • They obviously viewed me as a playmate or someone to tease and as soon as they saw me they started their pranks like this one darting towards me at high speed and then veering away as soon as I flinched. Their most annoying and clever prank was to keep picking up the anchor stone that my kayak was secured to on the ledge, swim out to deeper water and drop it so that my kayak would start drifting away and I had to keep swimming after it. I don’t know how they figured out how to do that; maybe it was something that they had already learnt to do from other kayakers, but they certainly appeared to relish my immediate reaction every time they did it. Eventually I had to wedge the rock firmly into a crack in the ledge to stop their merry prank.
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California36.jpg
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  • This was an unforgettable wild encounter! The sea was very cold so I had to haul myself back into my kayak to warm up, with my legs dangling over the side and my flippers slapping the surface like a stranded fish. Moments later I was surprised to see another kayaker paddling towards me; It was an American called Corrie who told me that he had just made the long sea crossing from Isla San Jose. It was great to be joined by another kayaker and even greater when I discovered that he had a wetsuit! There was no holding back now so I returned to the underwater circus. I discovered that there was one juvenile sea lion that was bolder than the others. At first it was trying to bite my mask and then it was nipping my chest as if it was trying to suckle from me; I think that the black neoprene wetsuit had transformed me into a marine mammal! This apparent attempt at bonding with me was taken to the next level of hilarity when all of a sudden I was aware of its flippers being wrapped around my body from behind and then feeling the little clown clinging tightly to my back! I reached behind me to feel it and it was very smooth, soft and spongy, making it conform to the shape of my back like an orthopaedic back-support. I continued swimming along with this unexpected diving accessory still firmly clamped to my back like an air cylinder. It eventually released me and disappeared momentarily; then Corrie exclaimed, “look at your kayak!” and to my amazement I watched it hauling itself onto the back of my kayak! It promptly settled down for a snooze on the most comfortable and exclusive bed available. Corrie climbed into the cockpit of my kayak to take some photos of me with my new friend, or should I say foster child, as photographic evidence was surely required. Corrie tried to evict the stowaway with my paddle, but the little rascal nipped at it and promptly slid down inside the cockpit to confirm its status as a stowaway but it was eventually evicted after much protest.
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California38.jpg
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  • I had read about this small mammal, which is actually a member of the racoon family and not a cat, and it didn’t disappoint. They have obviously become habituated to the procession of kayakers that camp on the island, and on one particular beach. One of them crept into our camp even when we were awake and cooking on a campfire, and came very close to us; I could hear the sound of it clattering around with our cooking pots.
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California39.jpg
  • It was fascinating to be able to view the geomorphology of the landscape so clearly on the Baja Peninsula, and in many places the past was revealed by the presence of fossilised shells indicating the changing sea levels. The geological strata were clearly visible along the coastline of Isla Partida.
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California45.jpg
  • It was fascinating to be able to view the geomorphology of the landscape so clearly on the Baja Peninsula, and in many places the past was revealed by the presence of fossilised shells indicating the changing sea levels. The geological strata were clearly visible along the coastline of Isla Partida.
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California46.jpg
  • Kayaking- Gulf-of-California33.jpg
  • Kayaking- Gulf-of-California43.jpg
  • It was great to suddenly have a fun young American kayaking companion after many weeks of solitude paddling from Loreto. It was also great to come across a well that we could draw cool fresh water from to wash. Corrie remained with me during the time that I was on La Paz, where I was able to catch up on some urban treats like dining in restaurants and disco dancing. La Paz is a really nice medium sized city with an attractive promenade and a lively nightlife that attracts a lot of foreign visitors and cruisers. I managed to meet a lot of interesting cruisers on their yachts. I had a good social time in La Paz before setting off on the long return journey, which started with an epic close to drowning experience!
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California40.jpg