Isla Santa Catalina
Today brought a full day of activities and wonderful wildlife sightings. Mid-morning we were thrilled to find ourselves steaming alongside the largest mammal on earth, a majestic blue whale. This is an individual we’ve viewed in years past in the Sea of Cortez, with a very distinctive fluke. It is fairly unusual for blue whales to raise their fluke above the water, but this individual did so before each of its longer dives. What a rare sight!
By 11 am we were anchored at Isla Santa Catalina and snorkeling in the clear waters of Bahia Elefante, named after a rock formation at the point that looks like an elephant’s head and trunk. Underwater we viewed large schools of reef fish, colorful king angelfish, rainbow wrasse, and giant hawkfish, a moray eel, and, at the end of our morning, a green sea turtle. Time flies when you are completely absorbed in the wonders of the reef!
After lunch we headed to shore and a series of hikes on this unique desert island in the Sea of Cortez. Isla Santa Catalina is known for its giant barrel cacti (some three times the height of a person) and large cardon cacti. It felt like we were strolling in a land of giants as we looked 30 feet up to the top of some of the larger cardons. A group of us spent the afternoon hiking up to the ridgeline where we were treated to an expansive view of the island and the surrounding sea. Others of us took our time strolling up the arroyo and learning about the adaptations of the desert plants on the island, watching a Costa’s hummingbird feed from mistletoe flowers, and searching for (and finding!) the endemic Catalina side-blotched lizard. As the sun sank in the western sky, we returned to the National Geographic Sea Bird full of stories from a great day of exploration.
Today brought a full day of activities and wonderful wildlife sightings. Mid-morning we were thrilled to find ourselves steaming alongside the largest mammal on earth, a majestic blue whale. This is an individual we’ve viewed in years past in the Sea of Cortez, with a very distinctive fluke. It is fairly unusual for blue whales to raise their fluke above the water, but this individual did so before each of its longer dives. What a rare sight!
By 11 am we were anchored at Isla Santa Catalina and snorkeling in the clear waters of Bahia Elefante, named after a rock formation at the point that looks like an elephant’s head and trunk. Underwater we viewed large schools of reef fish, colorful king angelfish, rainbow wrasse, and giant hawkfish, a moray eel, and, at the end of our morning, a green sea turtle. Time flies when you are completely absorbed in the wonders of the reef!
After lunch we headed to shore and a series of hikes on this unique desert island in the Sea of Cortez. Isla Santa Catalina is known for its giant barrel cacti (some three times the height of a person) and large cardon cacti. It felt like we were strolling in a land of giants as we looked 30 feet up to the top of some of the larger cardons. A group of us spent the afternoon hiking up to the ridgeline where we were treated to an expansive view of the island and the surrounding sea. Others of us took our time strolling up the arroyo and learning about the adaptations of the desert plants on the island, watching a Costa’s hummingbird feed from mistletoe flowers, and searching for (and finding!) the endemic Catalina side-blotched lizard. As the sun sank in the western sky, we returned to the National Geographic Sea Bird full of stories from a great day of exploration.
