Isla Rasa & At Sea
This morning we arose to another beautiful sunrise at sea heading north. Our destination for the morning was Isla Rasa, the primary breeding island for the world’s populations of elegant terns and Heermann’s gulls. Not to miss a morning with cetaceans, we saw several fin whales before breakfast.
Isla Rasa is a low pancake of an island, frosted with the guano of around a half a million birds. Aside from being a fantastic wildlife experience, it’s also a phenomenal location for photography. Here we headed out by Zodiac and were dazzled by the courting rituals of the aptly named elegant terns. The cacophony of calls from the elegant and royal terns, and Heermann’s gulls filled us with a sense of this remarkable place. A pair of falcons were seen overhead, and their flight occasionally stirred the birds into action, filling the sky with wings. We ventured out to Roca Rasa, just off Isla Rasa, home to many California sea lions. They seemed excited to see us, and displayed their amazing skill with under and above water motion all around our Zodiacs, leaping into the air, peeking up to see us, and zipping away underneath us.
Just after lunch, we pulled anchor for an afternoon in search of wildlife and it didn’t take long before we arrived at a truly incredible spectacle. We had found a bochinche, a Mexican word defined as a frenzy of activity, in this case a feeding frenzy of dolphins, Heermann’s gulls, and pelicans presumably feeding on huge numbers of anchovies or sardines. There was an enormous density of birds with pelicans diving down for fish and Heermann’s gulls mobbing the pelicans to get whatever scraps of food they could for themselves. This scene continued on and on, with camera shutters clicking madly in an effort to capture the riot of life that surrounded us.
As we sailed towards our evening anchorage, seemingly endless drifts of phalaropes coasted low across the sea as we celebrated another spectacular day in the Sea of Cortez.
This morning we arose to another beautiful sunrise at sea heading north. Our destination for the morning was Isla Rasa, the primary breeding island for the world’s populations of elegant terns and Heermann’s gulls. Not to miss a morning with cetaceans, we saw several fin whales before breakfast.
Isla Rasa is a low pancake of an island, frosted with the guano of around a half a million birds. Aside from being a fantastic wildlife experience, it’s also a phenomenal location for photography. Here we headed out by Zodiac and were dazzled by the courting rituals of the aptly named elegant terns. The cacophony of calls from the elegant and royal terns, and Heermann’s gulls filled us with a sense of this remarkable place. A pair of falcons were seen overhead, and their flight occasionally stirred the birds into action, filling the sky with wings. We ventured out to Roca Rasa, just off Isla Rasa, home to many California sea lions. They seemed excited to see us, and displayed their amazing skill with under and above water motion all around our Zodiacs, leaping into the air, peeking up to see us, and zipping away underneath us.
Just after lunch, we pulled anchor for an afternoon in search of wildlife and it didn’t take long before we arrived at a truly incredible spectacle. We had found a bochinche, a Mexican word defined as a frenzy of activity, in this case a feeding frenzy of dolphins, Heermann’s gulls, and pelicans presumably feeding on huge numbers of anchovies or sardines. There was an enormous density of birds with pelicans diving down for fish and Heermann’s gulls mobbing the pelicans to get whatever scraps of food they could for themselves. This scene continued on and on, with camera shutters clicking madly in an effort to capture the riot of life that surrounded us.
As we sailed towards our evening anchorage, seemingly endless drifts of phalaropes coasted low across the sea as we celebrated another spectacular day in the Sea of Cortez.
