Isla Rasa, Baja California, México
And you thought the desert was lifeless! Not in Baja! We visited Isla Rasa (Flat Island) today, a small 250-acre island in the Gulf of California, Mexico. We saw hundreds of thousands of seabirds, mostly elegant terns and Heermann's gulls. They all breed on this island, on which we walked today (in a single file). Slowly we followed the researcher of the University of Veracruz, Dr. Enriqueta Velarde, who has dedicated her professional life to the study of these magnificent birds, here in Mexico. Almost 100% of all the breeding Hermann gulls and 95% of the elegant terns return here every year to breed. The sound is deafening, the flurry of birds flying out and in again with a fish in their beaks is exhilarating. By this time in the season, chicks are big already, hardly an egg in a nest anymore. These chicks keep near the adults, or hiding in the shade to avoid the midday sun. Cameras whirred and clicked, and then we returned to the Sea Voyager for lunch.
The afternoon was incredible. Hundreds of big, black pilot whales were showing off for us at the surface. A group crossed our bow, almost touching the ship. At the same time, two huge behemoths, fin whales, the second largest whale in the world (up to 75 feet) slowly swam in the vicinity of our ship, and then decided to approach us, in a long parallel swim, a few feet away from our side. Then they turned, swam under the ship, and went off to their own business. The pilot whales, also called pot heads, were so near to the ship that we lowered our Zodiacs and slowly approached them, providing us with incredible opportunities for good photographs. What a day!
And you thought the desert was lifeless! Not in Baja! We visited Isla Rasa (Flat Island) today, a small 250-acre island in the Gulf of California, Mexico. We saw hundreds of thousands of seabirds, mostly elegant terns and Heermann's gulls. They all breed on this island, on which we walked today (in a single file). Slowly we followed the researcher of the University of Veracruz, Dr. Enriqueta Velarde, who has dedicated her professional life to the study of these magnificent birds, here in Mexico. Almost 100% of all the breeding Hermann gulls and 95% of the elegant terns return here every year to breed. The sound is deafening, the flurry of birds flying out and in again with a fish in their beaks is exhilarating. By this time in the season, chicks are big already, hardly an egg in a nest anymore. These chicks keep near the adults, or hiding in the shade to avoid the midday sun. Cameras whirred and clicked, and then we returned to the Sea Voyager for lunch.
The afternoon was incredible. Hundreds of big, black pilot whales were showing off for us at the surface. A group crossed our bow, almost touching the ship. At the same time, two huge behemoths, fin whales, the second largest whale in the world (up to 75 feet) slowly swam in the vicinity of our ship, and then decided to approach us, in a long parallel swim, a few feet away from our side. Then they turned, swam under the ship, and went off to their own business. The pilot whales, also called pot heads, were so near to the ship that we lowered our Zodiacs and slowly approached them, providing us with incredible opportunities for good photographs. What a day!
