Los Islotes, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Of the approximately 30,000 California Sea Lions in the Gulf of California, around 300 (at the peak moment in June-July) consider Los Islotes as home. A few small boats bring tourists over from La Paz to see these marvelous animals. We visit this site to enjoy these animals on the rocks and swimming around us. The youngsters are the playful ones, showing off their swimming abilities to us, as this interested young sea lion. The cacophony of sounds is big: young and older males sparring constantly, and growling about it; females arguing about a position on the rock, hungry young desperately calling their mothers. And a large array of birds that use this island for breeding or resting: magnificent frigate birds, pelicans, turkey vultures, ravens, great blue herons, yellow-legged gulls, blue-footed and brown boobies! And crawling all over the rocks at the water’s level, Sally Lightfoot crabs that when adult, become reddish-blue. Under water we saw a rainbow of tropical fish, from king angels to goatfish! Sea urchins, different sea stars and corals attached to the rocks.
Earlier in the morning we had seen and followed a large pod of common dolphins for a while, loudly exclaiming “Ahh!” as they jumped up in the air!
Later in the afternoon, we anchored off the southern end of Isla Espiritu Santo at a beach called Playa Dispensa, where we walked on the island and extensively beach combed to our heart’s content.
Of the approximately 30,000 California Sea Lions in the Gulf of California, around 300 (at the peak moment in June-July) consider Los Islotes as home. A few small boats bring tourists over from La Paz to see these marvelous animals. We visit this site to enjoy these animals on the rocks and swimming around us. The youngsters are the playful ones, showing off their swimming abilities to us, as this interested young sea lion. The cacophony of sounds is big: young and older males sparring constantly, and growling about it; females arguing about a position on the rock, hungry young desperately calling their mothers. And a large array of birds that use this island for breeding or resting: magnificent frigate birds, pelicans, turkey vultures, ravens, great blue herons, yellow-legged gulls, blue-footed and brown boobies! And crawling all over the rocks at the water’s level, Sally Lightfoot crabs that when adult, become reddish-blue. Under water we saw a rainbow of tropical fish, from king angels to goatfish! Sea urchins, different sea stars and corals attached to the rocks.
Earlier in the morning we had seen and followed a large pod of common dolphins for a while, loudly exclaiming “Ahh!” as they jumped up in the air!
Later in the afternoon, we anchored off the southern end of Isla Espiritu Santo at a beach called Playa Dispensa, where we walked on the island and extensively beach combed to our heart’s content.
