Isla Santa Catalina
The most marvelous of all the islands in the Gulf of California, Santa Catalina was our destination today. En route to this island we encountered a small pod of bottlenose dolphins, some even bow rode our ship.
With a granitic origin, it hosts the most robust and healthiest cacti in all of Baja California. Whether origin or isolation and position in the Gulf causes it to receive its rain patterns is to be seen, but it was green and wet. The giant cardon forests and the endemic barrel cacti, twice the height of a human, dominated the local vegetation. Interesting migratory and local birds were seen, among them, shrikes, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, and white-wing doves, as well as red-tailed hawks, and ravens.
Our presence here began with snorkeling from the Zodiacs and short hikes. Later on these became longer hikes, hardly reaching a point with a magnificent view of the other side of the island and Elephant Rock Bay.
Isla Santa Catalina is known for the infamous rattle-less rattlesnake, of which we saw a small specimen, coiled in the shade of a bush. Scorpions are also present on the island: a small one was seen.
Good numbers of emerald-tailed lizards were seen running between the bushes in their eternal search for food.
The views obtained by our underwater specialis, were loaded with some rare fish (zebra eel) and numerous other lovely fish, such as King Angel fish, gray bar grunts, leopard grouper, wrasses and a big-eyed balloon fish, swimming among different soft corals.
The most marvelous of all the islands in the Gulf of California, Santa Catalina was our destination today. En route to this island we encountered a small pod of bottlenose dolphins, some even bow rode our ship.
With a granitic origin, it hosts the most robust and healthiest cacti in all of Baja California. Whether origin or isolation and position in the Gulf causes it to receive its rain patterns is to be seen, but it was green and wet. The giant cardon forests and the endemic barrel cacti, twice the height of a human, dominated the local vegetation. Interesting migratory and local birds were seen, among them, shrikes, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, and white-wing doves, as well as red-tailed hawks, and ravens.
Our presence here began with snorkeling from the Zodiacs and short hikes. Later on these became longer hikes, hardly reaching a point with a magnificent view of the other side of the island and Elephant Rock Bay.
Isla Santa Catalina is known for the infamous rattle-less rattlesnake, of which we saw a small specimen, coiled in the shade of a bush. Scorpions are also present on the island: a small one was seen.
Good numbers of emerald-tailed lizards were seen running between the bushes in their eternal search for food.
The views obtained by our underwater specialis, were loaded with some rare fish (zebra eel) and numerous other lovely fish, such as King Angel fish, gray bar grunts, leopard grouper, wrasses and a big-eyed balloon fish, swimming among different soft corals.
