Puerto Gato
Although the wind was confused, the morning sunrise was stunning. We cruised the channel between Isla Monserrat and the Baja Peninsula in search of marine mammals and whatever else we could find. We were close to a location of a research project headed by Dr. William Gilly from Stanford University. It is a program supported by Lindblad Expeditions and the National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration. It was the perfect time to gather a bit of data. Our ship’s officers and crew dropped an oceanographic device to 1200 feet in order to find an area in the sea called the oxygen-minimum layer. The equipment measures chlorophyll, depth, pressure, salinity and most importantly, the dissolved oxygen levels as it descends. The oxygen-minimum layer is rising in some parts of the Gulf of California and has numerous implications that affect ocean ecosystems. This research program has already helped scientists to interpret previous observations. The unit that was lowered contained a data logger that was uploaded to a computer when the device was pulled up and retrieved.
We cruised into Puerto Gato in the mid-morning and were soon immersed in the land. Oh my, what a spectacular place this is! The photograph for today’s expedition report doesn’t show it all. There are incredible red sandstone dunes that are fun to climb on. Flat arroyos offer easy hiking into beautiful sections of desert. Some hikers followed a route that took them through large car-sized boulders where the nimble could jump from rock to rock or weave through the spaces in between. Running down a large sand dune made some people laugh. Accessible foothills provided superb views in any direction that we cared to look.
The sheltered bay offered kayaking with extensive places to explore. Groups of brown pelicans dove at low angles into schools of fish, while royal terns dropped straight down from above. Snorkelers found the water to be full of life. In the afternoon, the tide dropped low enough to search for intertidal animals including sea stars, brittle stars and sea cucumbers. A beautifully banded ribbonworm was quite a surprise. Hikers in the desert found numerous birds such as black-throated and white-crowned sparrows, gila woodpeckers, a crested caracara, American kestrel, and a black-headed grosbeak. Even a couple of jackrabbits were spotted. Some took a Zodiac tour and watched an American oystercatcher eat an urchin and saw a coyote walk across a shrub-covered arroyo.
Later in the day the crew set up folding chairs and prepared an elaborate dinner on the beach that included barbequed chicken, tuna and ribs and miniature pizzas. Stories and a campfire were the finale of a perfect day.
