Los Islotes & Isla Espiritu Santo
Another day in paradise! Early on, we approached our morning play and observation station at Los Islotes, which translates as” The Islets.” As soon as we approached the rocks, we heard the numerous California sea lions barking and making an incredible racket. Soon after breakfast we were slowly visiting the rocky coast of these two islets, and enjoying the antics of the animals. Brown and blue-footed boobies, as well as turkey vultures, yellow-footed gulls and magnificent frigate birds were everywhere, as well as a great blue heron in her nest.
The morning crept on, and later we had the marvelous opportunity of snorkeling with these marvelous sea lions. But that was not the only attraction, as the bottom was populated by numerous small tropical and subtropical fish, as well as a good number of different invertebrates, among them sea stars, urchins and sponges.
Lunch followed, and after some rest time, we slowly motored off to the south, along the eastern coast of Isla Espiritu Santo, searching for marine life. Pretty soon, we had sighted dolphins and birds, in a marvelous feeding frenzy called in Spanish “bochinche”—frigates and pelicans, gulls and boobies, all vying for the delicious fish at the surface. The common dolphins worked at these fish just as hard!
On we went, southward, and again sighted three whales, humpbacks. They were right against the coast of the island, and therefore out of near reach for us, because of the shallows. But we followed them for a while, as they showed off their flukes, especially the underside, where we could see the color pattern, that pattern that permits us to identify each individual! We eventually left them to their own personal program, and cruised further south, around the southern point of the island, and slightly up the western coast. There we anchored for the night.
