Exploring Isla San Pedro Martir and Adjacent Waters
The ocean had calmed down to a smooth mirror during the night, as we sailed into the area around Isla San Pedro Martir. And what a cetacean day! First we approached a gigantic pod of common dolphins, feeding on some small fish. They were accompanied by an enormous quantity of blue-footed and brown boobies, Heerman’s gulls, pelicans and even tropicbirds, all crashing into the water among the dolphins, catching fish. The waters were churning with immense activity, which kept on for a long time. In the distance two fin whales blew to their heart’s content, and among the dolphins, Bryde’s whales.
We stopped the ship, lowered our Zodiacs, and off we went to look closer at this bochinche (Spanish for “feeding frenzy”). Our dolphin watching soon turned into sperm whale watching. There were a good number of females to be seen, some with calves. So we approached a few, and on one occasion the calf, that is left by the mother on the surface while she deep-dives, approached our Zodiacs. We turned away from it but it kept approaching us. Indeed, pretty soon it was between the Zodiacs, which we had stopped so as not to bother the animal. Incredible! It is known that young sperm whales show this behavior sometimes, and we were witnesses to it!
Yes, eventually we had to return to our mother ship and proceed to our afternoon location, Isla San Pedro Martir. After lunch we were anchored off this marvelous island, seemingly white due to all the guano from thousands of these birds. The island has a long history of human enterprise; collecting the guano for, first, gunpowder (yes, the nitrate), and then, as a fantastic fertilizer. For years it was worked for this material, and eventually synthetic fertilizers were used.
The island also hosts a good number of California sea lions. All this we saw from the proximity of the beaches, by snorkeling and by kayaking around the island, as well as from the Zodiacs. The number of birds is overpowering. So is the noise of the thousands of tropicbirds and sea lions. Eventually we were all back on board and we left this marvel of nature to itself.
