We started our expedition in grand fashion today. Calm seas allowed us to navigate north all the way to Isla del Carmen. Here we found a smattering of bottlenose dolphins swimming quite leisurely along the shoreline. As we proceeded north around the island we found the leviathan of the marine mammal world–a blue whale. The massive length of the animal was astounding; its dinky little dorsal fin on the back seemed almost a ridiculously small ornament. As we proceeded towards our afternoon landing at Isla Santa Catalina, we found a fin whale. It seemed as though we are working our way down the list of marine mammals from the largest down.
On Isla Santa Catalina we did everything possible to enjoy the land and the sea: Hikes on the island, snorkeling in the shallow waters, kayaking the intricate shoreline. We observed many desert iguanas scurrying about the underbrush, one of the several endemic reptile species of the island. Today was a great start to our week investigating the diversity of life in the Gulf of California.
