San Marcos Island & Santa Rosalia
The second day of our expedition began with a pristine sunrise over the Gulf of California as the Sea Voyager sailed north along the East side of San Marcos Island. Groups of brown pelicans, Heermans’ gulls and blue-footed boobies added a touch of life to the open, calm waters while the rising sun illuminated the mountainous profile of the Baja California peninsula. Shortly after breakfast we landed on San Marcos and divided into different groups to explore the island; long and medium hikers admired many beautiful plants and animals and learned about the multiple adaptations that those species depend on in order to thrive in the desert. One such species was the Zebra-tailed lizard, which lifts its fingers above the sun-baked gravel during the hottest parts of the day. We even got a chance to see several tarantaula-hawks, a large wasp species well know for its habit to paralyze large invertebrates like tarantulas and grasshoppers before laying a single egg on top of its immobile prey, a future food source for the larvae.
Early in the afternoon we changed gears and explored the waters around the island; snorkelers and scuba divers admired numerous fish and invertebrate species like the King angelfish, the Cortez chub, the pyramid sea star, the bulls-eye stingray and the pencil sea urchin. Even a large school of young sardines was seen swimming around the swallows! Kayakers enjoyed a leisure paddle while watching the occasional osprey flying around looking for its scaled, aquatic prey.
Later in the afternoon the Sea Voyager entered the small harbor at Santa Rosalia, a former copper-mining town with a strong influence of the French that operated the mine until half a century ago. The abundance of old, rusty machinery and ruins of the old mine made the delights of the photographers, who took advantage of the low light to take great images. And as the day slowly came to an end we all enjoyed some cold beverages from the century-old Hotel Frances, the perfect ending for a great day.
The second day of our expedition began with a pristine sunrise over the Gulf of California as the Sea Voyager sailed north along the East side of San Marcos Island. Groups of brown pelicans, Heermans’ gulls and blue-footed boobies added a touch of life to the open, calm waters while the rising sun illuminated the mountainous profile of the Baja California peninsula. Shortly after breakfast we landed on San Marcos and divided into different groups to explore the island; long and medium hikers admired many beautiful plants and animals and learned about the multiple adaptations that those species depend on in order to thrive in the desert. One such species was the Zebra-tailed lizard, which lifts its fingers above the sun-baked gravel during the hottest parts of the day. We even got a chance to see several tarantaula-hawks, a large wasp species well know for its habit to paralyze large invertebrates like tarantulas and grasshoppers before laying a single egg on top of its immobile prey, a future food source for the larvae.
Early in the afternoon we changed gears and explored the waters around the island; snorkelers and scuba divers admired numerous fish and invertebrate species like the King angelfish, the Cortez chub, the pyramid sea star, the bulls-eye stingray and the pencil sea urchin. Even a large school of young sardines was seen swimming around the swallows! Kayakers enjoyed a leisure paddle while watching the occasional osprey flying around looking for its scaled, aquatic prey.
Later in the afternoon the Sea Voyager entered the small harbor at Santa Rosalia, a former copper-mining town with a strong influence of the French that operated the mine until half a century ago. The abundance of old, rusty machinery and ruins of the old mine made the delights of the photographers, who took advantage of the low light to take great images. And as the day slowly came to an end we all enjoyed some cold beverages from the century-old Hotel Frances, the perfect ending for a great day.
