San Jose and San Francisco Islands
The islands of the Gulf of California are true laboratories of evolution. On many of them, complex assortments of unique wildlife are present. This includes my favorite animals, the reptiles and, among them, the rattlesnakes. In fact, almost every single island has at least one species of them. Others have as many as four. San Jose Island, where we landed early today, is not an exception; we found a red diamond-back rattler during our morning hike. The beautiful red-greenish individual was curled into a little hole, right under a bush on one of the arroyo’s edges. Found just by chance, we put it out very gently, avoiding any movement that could make it nervous. It was a magnificent male probably three years in age, as derived by the thickness and length of the tail and the size of the animal. It showed a beautiful full-grown rattle, with all segments present. There on the ground, it didn’t feel threatened and then posed for pictures.
We also found a couple of chuckwallas, those bulky, heavy iguana-allies of the desert. They were hidden together into a crack (made by erosion in the red sandstone), but showing parts of their bodies. When they feel a menace, they retreat into the fissures of rocks, then inflate their body, get clogged, and it is almost impossible to take them out. We didn’t even try to bother them, but took advantage of the situation and took many photos with our digital cameras.
In the afternoon, while navigating towards another island, we encountered several family groups of pilot whales. These cetaceans are in the dolphin, orca and sperm whale family, meaning that they are toothed whales. Big males were seen, with their outrageous, wide and curved dorsal fins, as well as some babies jumping and breaching out the water. This was our sixth marine mammal found during our expedition. Later, the Sea Voyager finally arrived to San Francisco Island, where we relaxed walking along the beautiful sandy beach and kayaked in the emerald-green colored sea. Some of our hikers went over the island to contemplate the interesting salt flats, and others reached the northern side where there are tide pools. It was the perfect end of a perfect day.
The islands of the Gulf of California are true laboratories of evolution. On many of them, complex assortments of unique wildlife are present. This includes my favorite animals, the reptiles and, among them, the rattlesnakes. In fact, almost every single island has at least one species of them. Others have as many as four. San Jose Island, where we landed early today, is not an exception; we found a red diamond-back rattler during our morning hike. The beautiful red-greenish individual was curled into a little hole, right under a bush on one of the arroyo’s edges. Found just by chance, we put it out very gently, avoiding any movement that could make it nervous. It was a magnificent male probably three years in age, as derived by the thickness and length of the tail and the size of the animal. It showed a beautiful full-grown rattle, with all segments present. There on the ground, it didn’t feel threatened and then posed for pictures.
We also found a couple of chuckwallas, those bulky, heavy iguana-allies of the desert. They were hidden together into a crack (made by erosion in the red sandstone), but showing parts of their bodies. When they feel a menace, they retreat into the fissures of rocks, then inflate their body, get clogged, and it is almost impossible to take them out. We didn’t even try to bother them, but took advantage of the situation and took many photos with our digital cameras.
In the afternoon, while navigating towards another island, we encountered several family groups of pilot whales. These cetaceans are in the dolphin, orca and sperm whale family, meaning that they are toothed whales. Big males were seen, with their outrageous, wide and curved dorsal fins, as well as some babies jumping and breaching out the water. This was our sixth marine mammal found during our expedition. Later, the Sea Voyager finally arrived to San Francisco Island, where we relaxed walking along the beautiful sandy beach and kayaked in the emerald-green colored sea. Some of our hikers went over the island to contemplate the interesting salt flats, and others reached the northern side where there are tide pools. It was the perfect end of a perfect day.
