Los Islotes and Bonanza Bay
They say that the last is not necessarily the least, and today was a perfect example. Our last day of exploration in the Gulf of California began with Sea Lion cruising the calm waters on its way to Los Islotes, a couple of small islets and home of a busy colony of California sea lions. During breakfast, we all fought an internal desire to have an extra muffin or bacon, knowing that we should eat light in order to snorkel more comfortably. However, the water temperature here is a refreshing 70 degrees F, so we needed some extra calories, right? There's nothing like a good excuse, and the banana muffin basket empties quickly. Anyway, we explorers divided into groups to cruise around in the Zodiacs, and snorkel among the sea lions. Young sea lions greeted us with joy and fanfare, as anxious to swim with us, as we were to swim among them. Brave snorkelers soon discovered that nothing can rival a sea lion in the water and marveled at their grace and fluid movements, as if flying underwater; even braver undersea specialists, Sylviane Jaume and I, went SCUBA diving. Many different fish and invertebrate species inhabit the undersea realm at Los Islotes, and blue-chin parrotfish, yellowtail surgeon fishes, tangs, barber fishes and even a green moray eel were filmed. A young sea lion thought that Sylviane's fins were unusually interesting and decided to chew on them for a while. Later on, I received a more heart-stopping experience as a mature male tried to scare me with a charge (see photo). Result? Well, he won…
Around midday, we raised the anchor and sailed south towards beautiful Bonanza Bay, seeing a couple of rare dwarf sperm whales on our way. Once in Bonanza, life rolled smoothly: kayaking, snorkeling, hiking and leisure, and long walks on the beach marked the end of a great week. Quoting Jim Kelley, our fearless expedition leader, it was "another beautiful day in Baja California…"
They say that the last is not necessarily the least, and today was a perfect example. Our last day of exploration in the Gulf of California began with Sea Lion cruising the calm waters on its way to Los Islotes, a couple of small islets and home of a busy colony of California sea lions. During breakfast, we all fought an internal desire to have an extra muffin or bacon, knowing that we should eat light in order to snorkel more comfortably. However, the water temperature here is a refreshing 70 degrees F, so we needed some extra calories, right? There's nothing like a good excuse, and the banana muffin basket empties quickly. Anyway, we explorers divided into groups to cruise around in the Zodiacs, and snorkel among the sea lions. Young sea lions greeted us with joy and fanfare, as anxious to swim with us, as we were to swim among them. Brave snorkelers soon discovered that nothing can rival a sea lion in the water and marveled at their grace and fluid movements, as if flying underwater; even braver undersea specialists, Sylviane Jaume and I, went SCUBA diving. Many different fish and invertebrate species inhabit the undersea realm at Los Islotes, and blue-chin parrotfish, yellowtail surgeon fishes, tangs, barber fishes and even a green moray eel were filmed. A young sea lion thought that Sylviane's fins were unusually interesting and decided to chew on them for a while. Later on, I received a more heart-stopping experience as a mature male tried to scare me with a charge (see photo). Result? Well, he won…
Around midday, we raised the anchor and sailed south towards beautiful Bonanza Bay, seeing a couple of rare dwarf sperm whales on our way. Once in Bonanza, life rolled smoothly: kayaking, snorkeling, hiking and leisure, and long walks on the beach marked the end of a great week. Quoting Jim Kelley, our fearless expedition leader, it was "another beautiful day in Baja California…"
