The morning was spent exploring Isla San Esteban, a small island once inhabited by the Seri people, a semi-nomadic indigenous group that subsisted on seafood and the many endemic lizards and snakes of the island. The most dedicated of us went over to the island before the sun came up, to maximize the golden hour as the light grew around us. At a more civilized hour all of us went back to the beach as the nesting endemic yellow-footed gulls watched from the rocks above. We respectfully played follow the leader, walking in a straight line to avoid their nests or mating plans. We made it to the arroyo and headed inland where we saw several impressive animals. The group favorites were the endemic and endangered piebald chuckwalla, the biggest of all five related chuckwalla species. We also enjoyed taking photos of spiny-tailed iguanas which tend to live in woodpecker holes on cacti.
We returned to the ship for yet another delicious lunch before getting back on our expedition landing crafts to cruise around the most remote island in the Sea of Cortez, San Pedro Martir. The island is uninhabited by people but at one time was used to harvest the large amounts of guano drizzling the rocks for fertilizer. Above the island was a swirling array of seabirds. We were lucky enough to see brown and blue-footed boobies, as well as the red-billed tropicbird which rarely makes it so far north of the tropical waters it is accustomed too. Below us curious sea lions swam about and checked us out as we listened to their melodious barking.
After a long day of reptile searching and bird watching we settled into the lounge for the nightly Recap session to listen to presentations on a variety of topics. We learned about Steinbeck’s connections to Baja from Brock, four-wheeler races from Kerry, and boatmances and boat goggles from Alisha. We were also serenaded by Sarah’s sweet beatboxing skills as Haley rapped her hit single, Bird Nerds.
After a very sociable dinner the guests settled into the lounge to critique each other’s photos before bedtime and the end of another eventual day on the National Geographic Sea Bird.
