Day 234: May 20, 2025 – Topolobampo, Sinaloa, Mexico

El Pechocho is a wild bottlenose dolphin that lives in the water off the coast of Mexico. When a small boat enters the cove that is his home, he likes to belly up to the boat. He seemed especially fond of belly rubs and fin pats. We encountered this beautiful creature on a two-hour tour of the bay. He is known as a “sociable hermit” because he does not live in a pod like most other dolphins but is very social with humans. He was never in captivity and is not trained. Locals say his mother arrived here trying to flee a hurricane, gave birth to him and then died here. Instead of moving on with a pod, he stayed on. He’s been living in this area and doing this for almost 30 years. It is said that when he’s not in the mood to interact with people, he puts a stick in his mouth, though I can’t confirm that since he was so playful when we were there.

Also in the bay was Bird Island and a shipwreck cemetery, with hundreds of blue-footed boobies, terns, frigatebirds, pelicans, roseate spoonbills, herons, and egrets. A birder’s paradise! Best $27 bucks I ever spent on an excursion!