Today when we visited Tower Island, also called "Bird Island" because of its large bird population, we had incredibly clear skies; it was a beautiful, warm day. The air temperature was close to 90 degrees F and the water temperature was 78 degrees. Because of recent rains in the islands, the cacti had incredible bright yellow flowers. The cacti on Tower are very special. They are an endemic species of prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ecchios var.helleri) which is found only on islands were there are no herbivores like land tortoises and land iguanas. This particular species of cactus has soft spines, and it is pollinated by land birds, which also feed on the cactus fruits. Birds disperse the cactus seeds, which is vital to cacti, because it is one of the ways their seeds can be spread around the island.
We ended the morning with swimming and snorkeling outings and some of our guests were surprised and delighted by a close encounter they had with scalloped hammerhead sharks, and lots of colorful fish.
