San Pedro Mártir & San Esteban Islands
They said that good things always come in pairs, and today’s destinations were not an exception. After watching groups of long-beaked common dolphins and two fin whales, we dropped the anchor off one of the jewels of the Gulf of California, San Pedro Mártir Island. Located pretty much in the middle between Sonora and the Baja California peninsula, this volcanic island is surrounded by the three most important areas where upwellings occur in the Gulf. As a result, it is full of life and the sheer numbers of blue-footed and brown boobies flying around proves the point. We explored the coastline more in detail with the Zodiacs and got close views of many of the estimated one-thousand California sea lions that call this beautiful island home. Brown pelicans, Brandt’s cormorants and red-billed tropicbirds were also observed; many birds were seen flying around or perched on the abundant walls and rock structures built by the guano miners more than one hundred years ago.
During lunch time we headed north towards another island beauty, San Esteban. Despite our best intentions to arrive early in the afternoon, several fin whales spotted from inside the dining room made us stop. Large numbers of mobula rays were seen jumping out of the water or swimming just below the surface; bottlenose dolphins joined us and their high jumps off the bow delighted everyone. And as if all of the above were not enough, several sperm whales showed themselves and gave us the chance to admire their massive heads and wrinkled skins.
We enjoyed our afternoon hikes on San Esteban Island; with a varied desert plant community and several endemic reptile species, San Esteban offers many things to look at. And our quest to find some of those endemic species proved very successful, as several individuals of the largest reptiles on the island were located; the San Esteban Island chuckwalla is the largest member of its genus and a placid herbivore, whereas the more aggressive spiny-tailed iguana eats plants and small animals, baby chuckwallas included. And with fresh reptilian memories in our minds we all went back to the ship as another beautiful day slowly came to an end.
They said that good things always come in pairs, and today’s destinations were not an exception. After watching groups of long-beaked common dolphins and two fin whales, we dropped the anchor off one of the jewels of the Gulf of California, San Pedro Mártir Island. Located pretty much in the middle between Sonora and the Baja California peninsula, this volcanic island is surrounded by the three most important areas where upwellings occur in the Gulf. As a result, it is full of life and the sheer numbers of blue-footed and brown boobies flying around proves the point. We explored the coastline more in detail with the Zodiacs and got close views of many of the estimated one-thousand California sea lions that call this beautiful island home. Brown pelicans, Brandt’s cormorants and red-billed tropicbirds were also observed; many birds were seen flying around or perched on the abundant walls and rock structures built by the guano miners more than one hundred years ago.
During lunch time we headed north towards another island beauty, San Esteban. Despite our best intentions to arrive early in the afternoon, several fin whales spotted from inside the dining room made us stop. Large numbers of mobula rays were seen jumping out of the water or swimming just below the surface; bottlenose dolphins joined us and their high jumps off the bow delighted everyone. And as if all of the above were not enough, several sperm whales showed themselves and gave us the chance to admire their massive heads and wrinkled skins.
We enjoyed our afternoon hikes on San Esteban Island; with a varied desert plant community and several endemic reptile species, San Esteban offers many things to look at. And our quest to find some of those endemic species proved very successful, as several individuals of the largest reptiles on the island were located; the San Esteban Island chuckwalla is the largest member of its genus and a placid herbivore, whereas the more aggressive spiny-tailed iguana eats plants and small animals, baby chuckwallas included. And with fresh reptilian memories in our minds we all went back to the ship as another beautiful day slowly came to an end.
