At Sea & Isla Santa Catalina
Today our expedition began, surrounded by flat, calm seas and gorgeous morning light; bottlenose dolphins joined the Sea Lion’s bow to ride. We spent the morning sailing through the productive Gulf of California. Mobula rays leaped out of the water, leaving big splashes as they disappeared back into the ocean. Crocodile needlefishes skimmed the water’s surface as if they were escaping from a predator. Red-billed tropicbirds, storm petrels and even a sea turtle were seen from the bow.
Later this morning a big group of long-beaked common dolphins were spotted. We approached to get wonderful looks of these majestic animals showing feeding behavior. I usually tend to underestimate their numbers, so my guess is that we were surrounded by a group of maybe four hundred animals. We got great looks at the remoras, fish that stick to the dolphin’s skin with their modified dorsal fin, which acts like a sucker. They get free rides on the dolphins and take small bites from the left-overs of the dolphin’s food.
Isla Santa Catalina was our destination for the afternoon. Here, we snorkeled for the first time. King angelfish, rainbow wrasses, and giant damsels were among the species seen. In these productive waters, marine life is diverse and abundant. This image of a shovelnose guitarfish was obtained at 35 feet deep; this was certainly a very exciting finding!
After snorkeling, we explored the island by foot. Our first introduction to the Sonoran desert environment was very interesting. Here we saw the unique giant barrel cactus that exists only on this island. Reptiles also evolved in isolation becoming new species; today we could find the endemic side-blotched lizard, desert iguana and chuckwalla. Walking through the desert we learned more on how certain species deal with this harsh environment and enjoyed the majestic scenery.
Today our expedition began, surrounded by flat, calm seas and gorgeous morning light; bottlenose dolphins joined the Sea Lion’s bow to ride. We spent the morning sailing through the productive Gulf of California. Mobula rays leaped out of the water, leaving big splashes as they disappeared back into the ocean. Crocodile needlefishes skimmed the water’s surface as if they were escaping from a predator. Red-billed tropicbirds, storm petrels and even a sea turtle were seen from the bow.
Later this morning a big group of long-beaked common dolphins were spotted. We approached to get wonderful looks of these majestic animals showing feeding behavior. I usually tend to underestimate their numbers, so my guess is that we were surrounded by a group of maybe four hundred animals. We got great looks at the remoras, fish that stick to the dolphin’s skin with their modified dorsal fin, which acts like a sucker. They get free rides on the dolphins and take small bites from the left-overs of the dolphin’s food.
Isla Santa Catalina was our destination for the afternoon. Here, we snorkeled for the first time. King angelfish, rainbow wrasses, and giant damsels were among the species seen. In these productive waters, marine life is diverse and abundant. This image of a shovelnose guitarfish was obtained at 35 feet deep; this was certainly a very exciting finding!
After snorkeling, we explored the island by foot. Our first introduction to the Sonoran desert environment was very interesting. Here we saw the unique giant barrel cactus that exists only on this island. Reptiles also evolved in isolation becoming new species; today we could find the endemic side-blotched lizard, desert iguana and chuckwalla. Walking through the desert we learned more on how certain species deal with this harsh environment and enjoyed the majestic scenery.
