Bonanza Bay and Los Islotes
For those that have never navigated in the Gulf of California, it was a novelty to experience windy conditions and a cloudy sky in a supposedly dry, desert area next to the ocean. In fact, this huge evaporative basin, also know as the Sea of Cortes, showed this morning its variable and unpredictable weather, but later warmed up. The sun was bright and high, and we had a wonderful beginning for our exploration. The first part of the morning was spent on the southeastern corner of Espiritu Santo-Partida island for hikes and snorkeling. We were very fortunate to encounter the elusive and almost mythical black jackrabbit at different moments during our hikes. This lagomorph evolved on this isolated and beautiful island and became a separate species from the one living on the peninsula, but few visitors have already seen it. We also had the first glimpse of the fabulous plants of the Sonoran Desert.
Later, the Sea Voyager was repositioned farther north to a rocky and isolated place known as Los Islotes, where a big colony of California sea lions lives permanently. The noisy animals were observed in many forms: some playing, some swimming, and many, specially the young males, fighting or arguing. The big bulls, also called beach masters, were seriously fighting or threatening other males as they are close to the peak of the breeding season. Many females have given birth, and newborn pups were seen, so the males are just excited defending territories and preparing for mating.
In the sky, literally hundreds of magnificent frigate birds were gliding waiting for blue-footed and brown boobies and yellow-footed gulls to chase to get the daily food.
For those that have never navigated in the Gulf of California, it was a novelty to experience windy conditions and a cloudy sky in a supposedly dry, desert area next to the ocean. In fact, this huge evaporative basin, also know as the Sea of Cortes, showed this morning its variable and unpredictable weather, but later warmed up. The sun was bright and high, and we had a wonderful beginning for our exploration. The first part of the morning was spent on the southeastern corner of Espiritu Santo-Partida island for hikes and snorkeling. We were very fortunate to encounter the elusive and almost mythical black jackrabbit at different moments during our hikes. This lagomorph evolved on this isolated and beautiful island and became a separate species from the one living on the peninsula, but few visitors have already seen it. We also had the first glimpse of the fabulous plants of the Sonoran Desert.
Later, the Sea Voyager was repositioned farther north to a rocky and isolated place known as Los Islotes, where a big colony of California sea lions lives permanently. The noisy animals were observed in many forms: some playing, some swimming, and many, specially the young males, fighting or arguing. The big bulls, also called beach masters, were seriously fighting or threatening other males as they are close to the peak of the breeding season. Many females have given birth, and newborn pups were seen, so the males are just excited defending territories and preparing for mating.
In the sky, literally hundreds of magnificent frigate birds were gliding waiting for blue-footed and brown boobies and yellow-footed gulls to chase to get the daily food.
