Dawn broke in radiant splendor upon the National Geographic Sea Lion as she slowly cruised the east side of Isla Ángel de la Guarda. The colors along this side of the second largest island in the Gulf of California are all reds and oranges and yellows, and in the morning light they absolutely looked like a painted desert. Long-beaked common dolphins paced the ship in the glass-flat seas, their breaths punctuating the stillness of the water like miniature locomotives.
As we sailed we saw first two, and then three fin whales sub-surface feeding in slightly deeper water. We slowed to match this whale pace and our morning was spent in the presence of these leviathans.
Late in the morning a special guest appeared at the surface of the water right next to the ship: an adult leatherback turtle! This is the largest of the sea turtles worldwide and is exceptionally rare here in the Sea of Cortez. It is unique among marine turtles because of the scaleless leathery skin upon its back, formed into 7 longitudinal ridges. Very little is known about its natural history here in the Gulf, but their nesting grounds are located in the vicinity of Todos Santos on the Pacific coast of the peninsula. Leatherbacks feed almost exclusively on jellyfish, and clear floating plastic is perhaps the greatest threat to these giant turtles everywhere they are found.
Our weird and magical afternoon looked and felt like a chapter in a Dr. Seuss book! We traveled inland in an armada of various vehicles from Bahía de los Angeles to see the strange and comical boojum tree. This tree is one of the tallest and most charismatic plants in all of the Baja Peninsula. Some individuals can grow to be over 60 feet in height and live more than 350 years. Sometimes described as an upside-down carrot, the Spanish name cirio refers to tall wax candles used in early missions throughout the region. When in bloom the flower looks like a candle flame. The setting sun again painted our desert in reds and oranges and yellows, another perfect day on this remarkable journey.
