Green expanses of mangrove trees skirted the shore at the morning's anchorage. We climbed into Zodiacs and kayaks to enjoy the scenery and bird life within this nutrient-rich habitat fed by the tides and the organic material provided by discarded leaves as well as waste from fish and birds that seek shelter here.
During the afternoon the Sea Bird retraced her path to reenter the Pacific. A vermilion cast darkened the sea in irregular patches where pelagic red crabs floated in immense congregations. The word "pelagic" refers to an open-water lifestyle characteristic of many forms of marine life. The ship turned for a closer approach, and in minutes the bow pushed through uncountable numbers of bright red crustaceans. We managed to capture a few for close inspection.
The image above shows long, narrow pincers and the elongated body of these crayfish-like creatures. Another name, lobster krill, reflects this similarity and their pelagic nature. Dark, compound eyes are like those of insects, comprised of many tiny facets called ommatidia. The under-turned tails are sometimes eaten by humans or used as commercial fish food. Carotenoid pigments within pelagic crabs can produce the orange color so desirable in farmed salmon. In the wild, avian predators, fishes, and even whales, feast on these animals. Gray whales, which normally do not feed actively on their wintering grounds, have been observed to eat lobster krill right at the entrance to Magdalena Bay, where we watched dense clouds of them today. The west coast of Baja California is an excellent place to find these unusual invertebrates. We carefully examined the captured specimens before turning our attention to two humpback whales and then towards our southbound journey to Cabo San Lucas and the Sea of Cortez.
