Puerto Refugio and Bahia Alcatraz
After a night of cruising north from Isla Rasa, the Sea Voyager arrived at Puerto Refugio by sunrise. Located at the northern end of Isla Angel de la Guardia, Mexico’s longest island, this beautiful bay is a haven for both marine life and ships seeking a safe anchorage. We brave explorers divided into several groups in order to admire desert plants, reptiles or marine invertebrates, or get a workout while kayaking in the glassy waters. Those of us who chose to keep our feet wet went looking for the myriads of life forms that hide under the rocks at low tide, waiting for the water to return several hours later. Among those hardy creatures that risk rising water temperatures and salinities, loss of water and predators, we admired sun sea stars, porcelain and rock-slider crabs, snails and isopods. American oyster-catchers and the occasional eared greebe were our avian companions throughout the time we spent at the shoreline.
After a while, we joined the local California sea lions in their domains and marveled once again at their grace and agility underwater… God, I wish I could swim like a sea lion!
Later on, we sailed away from Puerto Refugio and into the Canal de Ballenas (whale’s canal) on our way to Bahia Alcatraz, located on the eastern side of Baja California peninsula. Once there, we were surprised to found the whole southern end of the bay covered by dead, juvenile Humboldt squid! Hundreds of the two feet long squid could be seen among the rocks and even floating along the shoreline. Many cephalopod species die shortly after laying their eggs, but the reasons behind this particular mass stranding remained unknown to us, as the squid individuals involved were too young to be sexually mature.
Many of us went snorkeling to get a closer look at the squid, as well as to inspect the wonderful, 15 feet tall Sargassum algae forests, and discovered quite a different spectacle underwater. Contrasting with the death scene above, a lot of different scavenger and opportunistic species of fish and invertebrates thrived eating the remains of squid. Sun stars, bulls-eye puffers and 5 feet long diamond stingrays were seen with their bellies distended with food (well, not the sea stars! They apparently have more measured habits at the table…) Even the occasional horn shark (see photo) was seen resting at the bottom, waiting for the protection of the night to continue its meal and the never ending cycle of nature…
After a night of cruising north from Isla Rasa, the Sea Voyager arrived at Puerto Refugio by sunrise. Located at the northern end of Isla Angel de la Guardia, Mexico’s longest island, this beautiful bay is a haven for both marine life and ships seeking a safe anchorage. We brave explorers divided into several groups in order to admire desert plants, reptiles or marine invertebrates, or get a workout while kayaking in the glassy waters. Those of us who chose to keep our feet wet went looking for the myriads of life forms that hide under the rocks at low tide, waiting for the water to return several hours later. Among those hardy creatures that risk rising water temperatures and salinities, loss of water and predators, we admired sun sea stars, porcelain and rock-slider crabs, snails and isopods. American oyster-catchers and the occasional eared greebe were our avian companions throughout the time we spent at the shoreline.
After a while, we joined the local California sea lions in their domains and marveled once again at their grace and agility underwater… God, I wish I could swim like a sea lion!
Later on, we sailed away from Puerto Refugio and into the Canal de Ballenas (whale’s canal) on our way to Bahia Alcatraz, located on the eastern side of Baja California peninsula. Once there, we were surprised to found the whole southern end of the bay covered by dead, juvenile Humboldt squid! Hundreds of the two feet long squid could be seen among the rocks and even floating along the shoreline. Many cephalopod species die shortly after laying their eggs, but the reasons behind this particular mass stranding remained unknown to us, as the squid individuals involved were too young to be sexually mature.
Many of us went snorkeling to get a closer look at the squid, as well as to inspect the wonderful, 15 feet tall Sargassum algae forests, and discovered quite a different spectacle underwater. Contrasting with the death scene above, a lot of different scavenger and opportunistic species of fish and invertebrates thrived eating the remains of squid. Sun stars, bulls-eye puffers and 5 feet long diamond stingrays were seen with their bellies distended with food (well, not the sea stars! They apparently have more measured habits at the table…) Even the occasional horn shark (see photo) was seen resting at the bottom, waiting for the protection of the night to continue its meal and the never ending cycle of nature…
