Isla Santa Catalina, Baja California
Dawn light bathed the russet cliffs of the peninsula, casting deep pink reflections across the silky smooth water. Just before breakfast, a good-sized group of long-beaked common dolphins appeared near the ship. The sleek bodies glistened in the sun while they surfaced and arched in graceful leaps. These streamlined creatures are smaller than the bottlenose dolphins from yesterday, and are more brightly marked. In The Log from the Sea of Cortez, John Steinbeck wrote:
“We have watched them for many hours, making designs in the water, diving and rising and then seeming to turn over to see if they are watched…They break the surface, and the blow-holes, like eyes, open and gasp in air and then close like eyes before they submerge.”
With difficulty, we pulled away from these delightful animals to eat our own breakfast and continue on to more adventures.
Isla Santa Catalina was a perfect stop for an afternoon of exploration. Snorkelers slid from the Zodiac into cool water rich with life. Urchins lay scattered across the rocky sea floor. Yellow-tailed surgeonfish, giant damselfish, and a myriad of other species swam unconcerned around us.
Hikers landed on a shoreline of rounded cobbles. Immense cardons towered above the sandy arroyo beneath the rugged slopes of granitic rock. This remote island is home to plants and animals endemic, or unique, to this part of the world, including the giant barrel cacti in the photo, found only here and on several nearby islands. The rotund columns look almost as if they have been slightly deflated, sagging somewhat in profile. We walked back to the landing where the sentinel known as Elephant Rock stood silhouetted by the sinking sun, then returned to the Sea Bird for a delicious turkey dinner.
Dawn light bathed the russet cliffs of the peninsula, casting deep pink reflections across the silky smooth water. Just before breakfast, a good-sized group of long-beaked common dolphins appeared near the ship. The sleek bodies glistened in the sun while they surfaced and arched in graceful leaps. These streamlined creatures are smaller than the bottlenose dolphins from yesterday, and are more brightly marked. In The Log from the Sea of Cortez, John Steinbeck wrote:
“We have watched them for many hours, making designs in the water, diving and rising and then seeming to turn over to see if they are watched…They break the surface, and the blow-holes, like eyes, open and gasp in air and then close like eyes before they submerge.”
With difficulty, we pulled away from these delightful animals to eat our own breakfast and continue on to more adventures.
Isla Santa Catalina was a perfect stop for an afternoon of exploration. Snorkelers slid from the Zodiac into cool water rich with life. Urchins lay scattered across the rocky sea floor. Yellow-tailed surgeonfish, giant damselfish, and a myriad of other species swam unconcerned around us.
Hikers landed on a shoreline of rounded cobbles. Immense cardons towered above the sandy arroyo beneath the rugged slopes of granitic rock. This remote island is home to plants and animals endemic, or unique, to this part of the world, including the giant barrel cacti in the photo, found only here and on several nearby islands. The rotund columns look almost as if they have been slightly deflated, sagging somewhat in profile. We walked back to the landing where the sentinel known as Elephant Rock stood silhouetted by the sinking sun, then returned to the Sea Bird for a delicious turkey dinner.
