Islas San Esteban and San Pedro Mártir
Before sunrise, we had already wet our feet as we disembarked on a rocky beach of Isla San Esteban. The morning was cool; the new day’s sun appeared in the horizon. The desert landscape offered a variety of very special sightings; pinto chuckwallas, spiny tailed iguanas, interesting plants and birds and even the remains of an old “bacanora” processing area. Here, the endemic agaves were cut and cooked in a rustic way to manufacture this alcoholic beverage, more than a hundred years ago.
Later in the morning, we hiked again to find that the reptilian activities were much more intense. As the lizards, iguanas and chuckwallas gained heat under the sun, their metabolism sped up, making them faster and more eye-catching for the interested hikers. The silky flycatcher called phainopepla, as well as hooded orioles and even rufous hummingbirds were seen, some of which are not usually found on most of the islands of the Gulf of California.
Leaving Isla San Esteban behind, we sailed toward Isla San Pedro Mártir, a remote island that supports a massive population of breeding seabirds. Red-billed tropicbirds, brown and blue-footed boobies, brown pelicans and yellow-footed gulls find a safe place here to lay their eggs and raise their young on this guano-covered oceanic rock. Thousands of these birds could be seen from the ship as we circumnavigated the island. California sea lions also find a place to rest and breed on the rocky shoreline of San Pedro Mártir. This is such a fascinating place at this time of the year. I like to think of it as an explosion of life.
I had a chance to explore the underwater realm off this incredible island. With a sealed video camera I was able to bring to the ship’s screens spectacular images of marine organisms that thrive in these productive waters. The most stunning creatures encountered were a Mexican horned shark and a beautiful nudibranch, dressed in olive green with electric blue and black stripes. It is called Tambja eliora by scientists, and it would appear that no one has yet given it a common name. What a special place! What an incredible day!
Before sunrise, we had already wet our feet as we disembarked on a rocky beach of Isla San Esteban. The morning was cool; the new day’s sun appeared in the horizon. The desert landscape offered a variety of very special sightings; pinto chuckwallas, spiny tailed iguanas, interesting plants and birds and even the remains of an old “bacanora” processing area. Here, the endemic agaves were cut and cooked in a rustic way to manufacture this alcoholic beverage, more than a hundred years ago.
Later in the morning, we hiked again to find that the reptilian activities were much more intense. As the lizards, iguanas and chuckwallas gained heat under the sun, their metabolism sped up, making them faster and more eye-catching for the interested hikers. The silky flycatcher called phainopepla, as well as hooded orioles and even rufous hummingbirds were seen, some of which are not usually found on most of the islands of the Gulf of California.
Leaving Isla San Esteban behind, we sailed toward Isla San Pedro Mártir, a remote island that supports a massive population of breeding seabirds. Red-billed tropicbirds, brown and blue-footed boobies, brown pelicans and yellow-footed gulls find a safe place here to lay their eggs and raise their young on this guano-covered oceanic rock. Thousands of these birds could be seen from the ship as we circumnavigated the island. California sea lions also find a place to rest and breed on the rocky shoreline of San Pedro Mártir. This is such a fascinating place at this time of the year. I like to think of it as an explosion of life.
I had a chance to explore the underwater realm off this incredible island. With a sealed video camera I was able to bring to the ship’s screens spectacular images of marine organisms that thrive in these productive waters. The most stunning creatures encountered were a Mexican horned shark and a beautiful nudibranch, dressed in olive green with electric blue and black stripes. It is called Tambja eliora by scientists, and it would appear that no one has yet given it a common name. What a special place! What an incredible day!
