This morning National Geographic Sea Bird repositioned to another protected bay of Espiritu Santo Island. The northerly winds persisted throughout the day, but as always, we found excellent places to spend the day. Our morning’s destination was Ensenada Grande. This bay is located on the west side of Espiritu Santo Island, and it is one of the most scenic places to offer kayaking and some of the best hikes around here.
Most of us ventured up the arroyo for walks of different lengths. The ones looking for a physical challenge, ventured up all the way to the opposite side of the island. Some of us took it easier and stopped to find interesting biological treasures as we explored the desert. One of those treasures was the endemic black jackrabbit, which exists on this island and nowhere else in the world.
Los Islotes was our destination for the afternoon. Still with considerable wind from the north, our captain skillfully anchored the ship on the lee side of the rocks that are home to about 200 California sea lions. Here we snorkeled near the sea lion colony and were fascinated by the amount of fish and the diversity that we found. Los Islotes was turned into a no-fishing reserve a few years ago, and the results have been very positive. Large leopard groupers can now be found in good numbers. These important predators used to be almost absent in the past due to overfishing, and now the local populations have rebounded.
The highlight of Los Islotes is obviously the presence of California sea lions. Although most of them were resting out on the rocks, a couple of young ones joined us to interact in a playful way. We had a great experience, enjoying the presence of these wild marine mammals, which feel so comfortable with our presence. The behavior of these highly intelligent creatures reassembles that of a friendly puppy dog, more so than a wild ocean-dwelling creature. We had another fantastic day as we explored the Gulf of California.
