Isla San Pedro Mártir & At Sea
Isla San Pedro Mártir is an isolated island in the middle of the Sea of Cortez. It is known for its colonies of nesting blue-footed and brown boobies. This explains the layer of white covering over the dark volcanic rocks. There are so many birds making so much guano here, that the guano was once harvested to use as fertilizer and gunpowder.
As the National Geographic Sea Lion approached the island this morning, clouds of birds could be seen on the horizon like swarms of mosquitoes. Boobies fold their wings and plunge-dive like missiles into schools of small fish.
Once at our anchorage, we lowered the inflatable boats for the final Zodiac tour of our two-week voyage of exploration, discovery and image-creating. Along the shoreline were Heermann’s and yellow-footed gulls, brown pelicans, regal Brandt’s cormorants and colorful Sally-lightfoot crabs. Even a decomposing whale carcass caught our eye. Occasional red-billed tropicbirds buzzed overhead, with their long white tail streamers trailing behind. Booby families, with young, down-fuzzy chicks, peered tentatively over the lips of their cliff dwellings. Tiny eared grebes popped up alongside the Zodiacs, tempting our cameras with their bright red eyes. Some were coming into their breeding finery.
But, even with all this activity, it was the California sea lions that stole the show and provided the most enjoyment and greatest photographic challenges. Playful and exuberant pups, grouped together with their peers, found the courage to follow the Zodiacs, porpoising out of the water and performing impressive flips.
After the Zodiac tours, we picked up the anchor and started our cruise southward. We had not gone very far from Isla San Pedro Mártir when a group of bottlenose dolphins heralded a group of sperm whales! We followed and watched small groups and individuals surface and dive, cheering as each fluke disappeared into the depths.
While we were on deck, an endangered adult leatherback turtle came to the surface and we swung the ship to watch as it lifted its head a number of times. This was a special treat as such a sighting in this area is quite rare. Leatherbacks are the heaviest of all reptiles, at times reaching well over 600 lbs. Curious brown boobies swooped across the bow of the ship, stalling and posing in mid-air for photographs.
All afternoon guests diligently used every spare minute to edit and organize their best pictures for the laptop gallery, which took place in the dining room at 3:30. Even though we were all on the same expedition, everyone had a different angle and saw the subjects in a different light and captured unique images.
A drawing was held for laptop gallery participants following the exhibition, and Ralph, Mike, and CT held final photography sessions in the lounge. Our last cocktail hour was interrupted by a feeding frenzy of boobies and common dolphins. Dinner was delayed to present Bryan’s carved humpback coin to the one who guessed closest to the number of cetaceans that were seen during the trip. Barbara Hadley was just two off from the 993 whales and dolphins estimated seen on the voyage. And an auction was held to benefit the Gulf of California Conservation Fund. An additional $1075.00 supplemented a generous $10,700.00 given by the guests. Barbara Ferguson was the highest bidder for an autographed close-up photograph of a gray whale eye donated by Ralph Lee Hopkins.
A wonderful group of travelers in an extraordinary pocket of the planet made for quite a Remarkable Journey on the National Geographic Sea Lion.
Isla San Pedro Mártir is an isolated island in the middle of the Sea of Cortez. It is known for its colonies of nesting blue-footed and brown boobies. This explains the layer of white covering over the dark volcanic rocks. There are so many birds making so much guano here, that the guano was once harvested to use as fertilizer and gunpowder.
As the National Geographic Sea Lion approached the island this morning, clouds of birds could be seen on the horizon like swarms of mosquitoes. Boobies fold their wings and plunge-dive like missiles into schools of small fish.
Once at our anchorage, we lowered the inflatable boats for the final Zodiac tour of our two-week voyage of exploration, discovery and image-creating. Along the shoreline were Heermann’s and yellow-footed gulls, brown pelicans, regal Brandt’s cormorants and colorful Sally-lightfoot crabs. Even a decomposing whale carcass caught our eye. Occasional red-billed tropicbirds buzzed overhead, with their long white tail streamers trailing behind. Booby families, with young, down-fuzzy chicks, peered tentatively over the lips of their cliff dwellings. Tiny eared grebes popped up alongside the Zodiacs, tempting our cameras with their bright red eyes. Some were coming into their breeding finery.
But, even with all this activity, it was the California sea lions that stole the show and provided the most enjoyment and greatest photographic challenges. Playful and exuberant pups, grouped together with their peers, found the courage to follow the Zodiacs, porpoising out of the water and performing impressive flips.
After the Zodiac tours, we picked up the anchor and started our cruise southward. We had not gone very far from Isla San Pedro Mártir when a group of bottlenose dolphins heralded a group of sperm whales! We followed and watched small groups and individuals surface and dive, cheering as each fluke disappeared into the depths.
While we were on deck, an endangered adult leatherback turtle came to the surface and we swung the ship to watch as it lifted its head a number of times. This was a special treat as such a sighting in this area is quite rare. Leatherbacks are the heaviest of all reptiles, at times reaching well over 600 lbs. Curious brown boobies swooped across the bow of the ship, stalling and posing in mid-air for photographs.
All afternoon guests diligently used every spare minute to edit and organize their best pictures for the laptop gallery, which took place in the dining room at 3:30. Even though we were all on the same expedition, everyone had a different angle and saw the subjects in a different light and captured unique images.
A drawing was held for laptop gallery participants following the exhibition, and Ralph, Mike, and CT held final photography sessions in the lounge. Our last cocktail hour was interrupted by a feeding frenzy of boobies and common dolphins. Dinner was delayed to present Bryan’s carved humpback coin to the one who guessed closest to the number of cetaceans that were seen during the trip. Barbara Hadley was just two off from the 993 whales and dolphins estimated seen on the voyage. And an auction was held to benefit the Gulf of California Conservation Fund. An additional $1075.00 supplemented a generous $10,700.00 given by the guests. Barbara Ferguson was the highest bidder for an autographed close-up photograph of a gray whale eye donated by Ralph Lee Hopkins.
A wonderful group of travelers in an extraordinary pocket of the planet made for quite a Remarkable Journey on the National Geographic Sea Lion.
