Isla San Esteban & Isla Rasa
During the night we cruised farther northward into the upper Gulf of California. By early morning we reached the region known as the Midriff Islands where we anchored near Isla San Esteban. As the eastern horizon brightened beneath a waning night sky, the earliest risers headed ashore for sunrise. Once on shore, some people chose to stroll in the quiet of the arroyo, enjoying the first songs of waking birds. Others of us ascended a low ridge to watch and photograph the sunrise beyond the arcing silhouettes of cardon cactus.
After breakfast we returned again to shore to explore the desert. Along the upper reaches of the cobble beach, yellow-footed gulls were incubating their eggs cupped in nests of dried seaweed. Farther inland we saw many huge cardon cactus, as well as the endemic hedgehog and mammalaria cacti. We also found the endemic lizard species that are only known from this island; pinto chuckwallas and spiny-tailed iguanas, both reaching up to two feet in length.
As we departed our anchorage, two fin whales were sighted. They were traveling northward in the channel between San Esteban and Isla Tiburon to the east. We had several views before we were lured to the aft upper deck to enjoy an outdoor deck lunch. With our own feeding frenzy nearly finished, and ice cream “paletas” still in hand, we were treated to an astounding feeding frenzy in the sea. Hundreds of long-beaked common dolphins were accompanied by brown boobies, Heermann’s gulls, elegant terns, and shearwaters of several species churning the waters around us. The ship turned to follow them southward, as many dozens of dolphins swam, leapt and cavorted alongside us for several miles.
Eventually we pulled away from the dolphins, and turned back northwest toward our original intended destination for the afternoon. Isla Rasa is a low, rocky and rather flat island that appears quite unremarkable from a distance. However, this small outpost in the sea is the annual nesting grounds for nearly half a million seabirds. On this island, of only 138 acres, 95% of the entire world population of Heermann’s gulls and elegant terns return every year to mate and rear their chicks. The island, shorelines and surrounding waters were teeming with these birds, here to begin their annual breeding cycle. We boarded our Zodiacs to see the island up-close from water level. Elegant terns screeched with glee overhead, and Heermann’s gulls by the hundreds dipped and bathed in the nearshore waters. Pelicans and cormorants were roosting along the shoreline, and many people also saw one of the resident peregrine falcons that also nest here. By late afternoon our calm day quickly turned windy. We raised our anchor and turned southward with the wind.
During the night we cruised farther northward into the upper Gulf of California. By early morning we reached the region known as the Midriff Islands where we anchored near Isla San Esteban. As the eastern horizon brightened beneath a waning night sky, the earliest risers headed ashore for sunrise. Once on shore, some people chose to stroll in the quiet of the arroyo, enjoying the first songs of waking birds. Others of us ascended a low ridge to watch and photograph the sunrise beyond the arcing silhouettes of cardon cactus.
After breakfast we returned again to shore to explore the desert. Along the upper reaches of the cobble beach, yellow-footed gulls were incubating their eggs cupped in nests of dried seaweed. Farther inland we saw many huge cardon cactus, as well as the endemic hedgehog and mammalaria cacti. We also found the endemic lizard species that are only known from this island; pinto chuckwallas and spiny-tailed iguanas, both reaching up to two feet in length.
As we departed our anchorage, two fin whales were sighted. They were traveling northward in the channel between San Esteban and Isla Tiburon to the east. We had several views before we were lured to the aft upper deck to enjoy an outdoor deck lunch. With our own feeding frenzy nearly finished, and ice cream “paletas” still in hand, we were treated to an astounding feeding frenzy in the sea. Hundreds of long-beaked common dolphins were accompanied by brown boobies, Heermann’s gulls, elegant terns, and shearwaters of several species churning the waters around us. The ship turned to follow them southward, as many dozens of dolphins swam, leapt and cavorted alongside us for several miles.
Eventually we pulled away from the dolphins, and turned back northwest toward our original intended destination for the afternoon. Isla Rasa is a low, rocky and rather flat island that appears quite unremarkable from a distance. However, this small outpost in the sea is the annual nesting grounds for nearly half a million seabirds. On this island, of only 138 acres, 95% of the entire world population of Heermann’s gulls and elegant terns return every year to mate and rear their chicks. The island, shorelines and surrounding waters were teeming with these birds, here to begin their annual breeding cycle. We boarded our Zodiacs to see the island up-close from water level. Elegant terns screeched with glee overhead, and Heermann’s gulls by the hundreds dipped and bathed in the nearshore waters. Pelicans and cormorants were roosting along the shoreline, and many people also saw one of the resident peregrine falcons that also nest here. By late afternoon our calm day quickly turned windy. We raised our anchor and turned southward with the wind.
