Punta San Marcial and Isla Santa Catalina
In the pre-dawn darkness, we lifted the anchor and motored slowly out upon a glassy sea reflecting starlight. The winds of the last several days seemed to have exhausted themselves and only a barely perceptible swell rolled beneath our hull. As the shadow of the Earth slowly settled behind the Sierra de la Giganta Mountains of the peninsula, the eastern horizon glowed brighter and brighter. Once again the atmospheric conditions were not perfect and the anticipated green flash went unsighted by the skeptics and believers alike gathered on the bow. No matter, the silky smooth surface of the sea reflected sunrise colors and a curious pod of common dolphins came to check us out oh-so briefly before they moved on to more pressing dolphin business. After breakfast, our guests rode Zodiacs to the shore of the Peninsula at Punta San Marcial and chose between arroyo hikes or kayaking – or both! The landscape here, part of the continental land mass, is quite different than the small island we visited yesterday. And even more different was our afternoon destination some fourteen miles out into the Sea of Cortez: Isla Santa Catalina. Santa Catalina Island is composed primarily of basement rocks – ninety million year old granite and similar intrusive igneous rocks – and its twenty-five square miles reach over 1200 feet in elevation. Its size and elevation combine to offer plants and animals a wide range of conditions, and its distance from shore ensures that a relatively high percentage of endemism occurs among some of its plants and vertebrate species. Although no rattle-less rattlesnakes nor Santa Catalina side-blotched lizards were sighted on this cool, overcast day, the endemic giant barrel cactus stood sentinel from every arroyo hillside and watched over hikers and snorkelers alike.
In the pre-dawn darkness, we lifted the anchor and motored slowly out upon a glassy sea reflecting starlight. The winds of the last several days seemed to have exhausted themselves and only a barely perceptible swell rolled beneath our hull. As the shadow of the Earth slowly settled behind the Sierra de la Giganta Mountains of the peninsula, the eastern horizon glowed brighter and brighter. Once again the atmospheric conditions were not perfect and the anticipated green flash went unsighted by the skeptics and believers alike gathered on the bow. No matter, the silky smooth surface of the sea reflected sunrise colors and a curious pod of common dolphins came to check us out oh-so briefly before they moved on to more pressing dolphin business. After breakfast, our guests rode Zodiacs to the shore of the Peninsula at Punta San Marcial and chose between arroyo hikes or kayaking – or both! The landscape here, part of the continental land mass, is quite different than the small island we visited yesterday. And even more different was our afternoon destination some fourteen miles out into the Sea of Cortez: Isla Santa Catalina. Santa Catalina Island is composed primarily of basement rocks – ninety million year old granite and similar intrusive igneous rocks – and its twenty-five square miles reach over 1200 feet in elevation. Its size and elevation combine to offer plants and animals a wide range of conditions, and its distance from shore ensures that a relatively high percentage of endemism occurs among some of its plants and vertebrate species. Although no rattle-less rattlesnakes nor Santa Catalina side-blotched lizards were sighted on this cool, overcast day, the endemic giant barrel cactus stood sentinel from every arroyo hillside and watched over hikers and snorkelers alike.
