Isla San Jose
In Baja California, each creature of the desert, sky, reef or sea is symbolic of successful adaptation and survival in a unique environment. During the course of the day’s exploration we encountered lizards and birds living on desert fragments surrounded by rich marine waters full of disperse reef denizens and intriguing mammals of the sea.
The Sea Bird sailed through silken seas and daybreak’s color wheel to anchorage off Isla San Jose’s eastern shore. We kayaked along the island’s shell-laden cliffs in superbly clear waters indicative of the past few days’ fine weather. Sea of Cortez reef fish here at the confluence of the warm Panamic and cool California currents could be viewed beneath our self-powered craft. Swirly red clouds in the water remained a mystery even after a plankton tow and a look under a microscope.
On land at ‘Muscle Beach’, a place named for the blue whale’s scientific species name, musculus, we penetrated the desert island’s interior by foot. A broad arroyo washed by recent rains led past saguaro-cousin cardon, red-flowering ocotillo-cousin palo adan and other striking vegetation. Flycatchers, finches, and towhees flitted in the rain-livened scrub as hummingbirds visited blossoms and gila woodpeckers pecked atop cactus. As the ravine narrowed, we wondered in its meanderings bringing new focus to the desert offerings behind the sea.
The ship was barely underway from Muscle Beach before we spied the towering blows of blue whales. Through our binoculars we spotted other shapely spouts and pondered the nuances of these exhalations. We came upon the first whales off the colorful sandstones of San Jose Island’s Punta Colorado: a pair of blue whales surfacing towards us on their way north. We noticed more blows and then dark dorsal fins of varying shapes. Only moments after seeing the blues, we spotted fin whales out ahead and humpbacks in towards shore. And then the sleek bodies and pointed falcate fins of lesser-known Bryde’s whales cut the water. And then another blue whale and this one arching its tailstock and lifting its flukes up in the air.
The scene on the bow became one of excited confusion as whales of several species were simultaneously pointed out, identified, photographed and pondered. While the naturalists were apt to assess the finer points of species identification, the sheer diversity of species was astounding. Soon afterwards, an observant guest on the bow spotted a line of disturbed water. Before we knew it we were among several hundred common dolphins. They surfed our wake and bow wave, leaping high out of the water, and affording looks close enough to see hitchhiking remoras on some of their bodies.
The uniqueness of the lively scene around us slowly became apparent; we had passed through a veritable traveling cetacean circus. Within one half hour time period and in a mere two or three mile radius, we met a disparate but cohesive group of at least six different species of whales and dolphins all swimming to the north. We pondered this mixed species aggregation of blue whales, fin whales, humpback whales, Bryde’s whales, common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins.
For the next few hours as we continued to a small sea lion islet, we only saw the occasional leaping mobula ray, foraging storm petrels and a distant blow or two. What half a dozen different species of whales were doing traveling en masse will be left a mystery to us. We ended daylight hours snorkeling with California sea lions and investigating their rocky haulouts by Zodiac. Thus ended a day of exploration and discovery of the great diversity of life to be found in both extreme dry and wet habitats of the Sea of Cortez.
In Baja California, each creature of the desert, sky, reef or sea is symbolic of successful adaptation and survival in a unique environment. During the course of the day’s exploration we encountered lizards and birds living on desert fragments surrounded by rich marine waters full of disperse reef denizens and intriguing mammals of the sea.
The Sea Bird sailed through silken seas and daybreak’s color wheel to anchorage off Isla San Jose’s eastern shore. We kayaked along the island’s shell-laden cliffs in superbly clear waters indicative of the past few days’ fine weather. Sea of Cortez reef fish here at the confluence of the warm Panamic and cool California currents could be viewed beneath our self-powered craft. Swirly red clouds in the water remained a mystery even after a plankton tow and a look under a microscope.
On land at ‘Muscle Beach’, a place named for the blue whale’s scientific species name, musculus, we penetrated the desert island’s interior by foot. A broad arroyo washed by recent rains led past saguaro-cousin cardon, red-flowering ocotillo-cousin palo adan and other striking vegetation. Flycatchers, finches, and towhees flitted in the rain-livened scrub as hummingbirds visited blossoms and gila woodpeckers pecked atop cactus. As the ravine narrowed, we wondered in its meanderings bringing new focus to the desert offerings behind the sea.
The ship was barely underway from Muscle Beach before we spied the towering blows of blue whales. Through our binoculars we spotted other shapely spouts and pondered the nuances of these exhalations. We came upon the first whales off the colorful sandstones of San Jose Island’s Punta Colorado: a pair of blue whales surfacing towards us on their way north. We noticed more blows and then dark dorsal fins of varying shapes. Only moments after seeing the blues, we spotted fin whales out ahead and humpbacks in towards shore. And then the sleek bodies and pointed falcate fins of lesser-known Bryde’s whales cut the water. And then another blue whale and this one arching its tailstock and lifting its flukes up in the air.
The scene on the bow became one of excited confusion as whales of several species were simultaneously pointed out, identified, photographed and pondered. While the naturalists were apt to assess the finer points of species identification, the sheer diversity of species was astounding. Soon afterwards, an observant guest on the bow spotted a line of disturbed water. Before we knew it we were among several hundred common dolphins. They surfed our wake and bow wave, leaping high out of the water, and affording looks close enough to see hitchhiking remoras on some of their bodies.
The uniqueness of the lively scene around us slowly became apparent; we had passed through a veritable traveling cetacean circus. Within one half hour time period and in a mere two or three mile radius, we met a disparate but cohesive group of at least six different species of whales and dolphins all swimming to the north. We pondered this mixed species aggregation of blue whales, fin whales, humpback whales, Bryde’s whales, common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins.
For the next few hours as we continued to a small sea lion islet, we only saw the occasional leaping mobula ray, foraging storm petrels and a distant blow or two. What half a dozen different species of whales were doing traveling en masse will be left a mystery to us. We ended daylight hours snorkeling with California sea lions and investigating their rocky haulouts by Zodiac. Thus ended a day of exploration and discovery of the great diversity of life to be found in both extreme dry and wet habitats of the Sea of Cortez.
