Isla San Pedro Martir
We woke up to another beautiful morning in the Gulf of California. We had the opportunity to stretch while we approached our destination for the morning: the guano covered island of San Pedro Martir. We dined on a delightful and filling breakfast and got ready to circumnavigate this small volcanic island that is home to approximately 35,000 nesting seabirds - mainly, blue-footed boobies and brown boobies. Other seabirds that nest here are brown pelicans and Hermann’s gulls, as well as a small colony of the beautiful red-billed tropic birds. It is also an important rookery for the California sea lion. During our Zodiac cruise we were able to see the baby birds, still with their fluffy feathers that make them look even bigger than their parents! The young sea lions had climbed the steep layers of rock and rested calmly while we cruised. The intricate geology of the Pliocene/Pleistocene aged island was exposed everywhere, especially when we entered some of the caves, where probably some fishing bats were sleeping on the dark ceiling. We also observed the guano dams that were built to collect such fertilizer during the 19th Century.
We came back to our ship to partkake in a delectable lunch and set sail in search of marine creatures. Not long after we set sail, a group of bottlenose dolphins approached to bow ride the ship. We could observe them as they leaped out of the water, swam underneath the boat, turned around underwater and kept us entertained for several minutes, just on time for one of our naturalist staff to shout “blooooow” indicating the large blow of a sperm whale! Yes! Sperm whales, two! No, four! No, six, ten, a dozen? Several spouts at the same time, all over, around us. We learned that they were resting at the surface before going down again to feed on their favorite pray, the giant squid that lives thousands of feet down. We were lucky to observe the sperm whales for several minutes before their final deep dive indicated by the lifting of their massive flukes!
We kept looking at blows in the distance as we continued our trip towards our next destination, also marvelling at the great activity at sea: seabirds, marlins, we did not want to miss anything!
Afterwards, another surprise from our energetic Hotel Manager and his team, ceviche on the deck! What a treat, we had snacks, chat with the naturalists and enjoyed the sea of Cortes!
We woke up to another beautiful morning in the Gulf of California. We had the opportunity to stretch while we approached our destination for the morning: the guano covered island of San Pedro Martir. We dined on a delightful and filling breakfast and got ready to circumnavigate this small volcanic island that is home to approximately 35,000 nesting seabirds - mainly, blue-footed boobies and brown boobies. Other seabirds that nest here are brown pelicans and Hermann’s gulls, as well as a small colony of the beautiful red-billed tropic birds. It is also an important rookery for the California sea lion. During our Zodiac cruise we were able to see the baby birds, still with their fluffy feathers that make them look even bigger than their parents! The young sea lions had climbed the steep layers of rock and rested calmly while we cruised. The intricate geology of the Pliocene/Pleistocene aged island was exposed everywhere, especially when we entered some of the caves, where probably some fishing bats were sleeping on the dark ceiling. We also observed the guano dams that were built to collect such fertilizer during the 19th Century.
We came back to our ship to partkake in a delectable lunch and set sail in search of marine creatures. Not long after we set sail, a group of bottlenose dolphins approached to bow ride the ship. We could observe them as they leaped out of the water, swam underneath the boat, turned around underwater and kept us entertained for several minutes, just on time for one of our naturalist staff to shout “blooooow” indicating the large blow of a sperm whale! Yes! Sperm whales, two! No, four! No, six, ten, a dozen? Several spouts at the same time, all over, around us. We learned that they were resting at the surface before going down again to feed on their favorite pray, the giant squid that lives thousands of feet down. We were lucky to observe the sperm whales for several minutes before their final deep dive indicated by the lifting of their massive flukes!
We kept looking at blows in the distance as we continued our trip towards our next destination, also marvelling at the great activity at sea: seabirds, marlins, we did not want to miss anything!
Afterwards, another surprise from our energetic Hotel Manager and his team, ceviche on the deck! What a treat, we had snacks, chat with the naturalists and enjoyed the sea of Cortes!
