San Marcos Island and offshore waters
Well, let’s say that a normal day doesn’t begin with sperm whales before the general wake-up call. But as anything is possible here in Baja, that’s exactly the way we began this wonderful day: several of these largest of the toothed cetaceans were seen off the bow of the Sea Voyager as they repeatedly dove to the depths in search of their most likely prey item, the 4-12 feet long Humboldt squid. As they were not spending much time at the surface, we followed their example and decided to go down to the dining room for breakfast. And breakfast we ate, as we needed energy to keep up with the activities that waited for us! After landing on San Marcos Island, we brave explorers engaged in a number of different hikes, beach-combing, kayaking and snorkeling in order to appreciate different aspects of the marine and terrestrial life on the island. SCUBA divers and snorkelers enjoyed the great diversity of fish and invertebrate species, including the reef cornet fish, flatworm, Cortez angelfish and even the occasional barracuda. Hikers got their chance to learn about the numerous adaptations that animals and plants need in order to survive on a dry hot environment and they also were fortunate enough to watch the nests of ospreys and great blue herons.
Later on, we received a visit from the National Geographic’s “critter-cam” team, who arrived from their base in the nearby town of Santa Rosalia shortly before lunch (great timing!). As we sailed the deep, offshore waters between Tortuga and San Marcos islands while looking for sperm whales, they gave us a very interesting presentation about their different critter-cam adventures and findings. As the afternoon slowly continued its course, we explored the open waters and were able to watch up-close several different species of ocean-going birds, like the least storm petrel, brown and blue-footed boobies and a Gulf’s endemic, the yellow-footed gull (see photo). And once more we were fortunate enough to end a great day in the same way it began, cruising golden waters…
Well, let’s say that a normal day doesn’t begin with sperm whales before the general wake-up call. But as anything is possible here in Baja, that’s exactly the way we began this wonderful day: several of these largest of the toothed cetaceans were seen off the bow of the Sea Voyager as they repeatedly dove to the depths in search of their most likely prey item, the 4-12 feet long Humboldt squid. As they were not spending much time at the surface, we followed their example and decided to go down to the dining room for breakfast. And breakfast we ate, as we needed energy to keep up with the activities that waited for us! After landing on San Marcos Island, we brave explorers engaged in a number of different hikes, beach-combing, kayaking and snorkeling in order to appreciate different aspects of the marine and terrestrial life on the island. SCUBA divers and snorkelers enjoyed the great diversity of fish and invertebrate species, including the reef cornet fish, flatworm, Cortez angelfish and even the occasional barracuda. Hikers got their chance to learn about the numerous adaptations that animals and plants need in order to survive on a dry hot environment and they also were fortunate enough to watch the nests of ospreys and great blue herons.
Later on, we received a visit from the National Geographic’s “critter-cam” team, who arrived from their base in the nearby town of Santa Rosalia shortly before lunch (great timing!). As we sailed the deep, offshore waters between Tortuga and San Marcos islands while looking for sperm whales, they gave us a very interesting presentation about their different critter-cam adventures and findings. As the afternoon slowly continued its course, we explored the open waters and were able to watch up-close several different species of ocean-going birds, like the least storm petrel, brown and blue-footed boobies and a Gulf’s endemic, the yellow-footed gull (see photo). And once more we were fortunate enough to end a great day in the same way it began, cruising golden waters…
