San Esteban & Rasa Islands
After having sailed more than ninety nautical miles from San Marcos Island during the night, the first rays of light found us at anchor off San Esteban Island. Located in the Midriff region, possibly the most productive one in the Gulf of California, San Esteban Island is truly a magnificent place. Large cardon and ironwood tree covers most of the arroyos, whereas abundant galloping cactus and the endemic San Esteban agave grows in the steep, rocky mountains. Such was the beautiful scenario of our morning hike while looking for some of the charismatic endemic reptiles of the island. We didn’t walk far from the beach when the first spiny-tailed iguana was spotted on top of a cardon feeding on its juicy fruit. And a little while later, we discovered the first chuckwalla hiding below a cholla cactus. The largest member of its genus, the San Esteban Island chuckwalla is a peaceful vegetarian with a perfect camouflage that prefers to wait for the fruits to fall down.
Later in the afternoon we sailed farther north and dropped the anchor just off Rasa Island. A small island, just one-hundred and forty-two acres in area, Rasa is an awesome place; there ninety-five percent of the world’s population of both Herrmann’s gull and elegant tern nests. Declared a national park in 1964, Rasa became the first of all the Gulf’s islands to be protected by the Mexican law, putting an end to years of guano mining and egg collecting. The further eradication of introduced black rats and domestic mice in the 1990’s restored the island’s ideal conditions for the nesting birds and now Rasa is a model of conservation success. We all marveled at the explosion of life around the island and were witness of the renewal of life as thousands of young fledglings greeted us. All in all, a most enjoyable day!
