We awoke to a green flash sunrise near Los Islotes. Not long later we found our first whale! This was a humpback, a species that has the engaging habit of lifting its flukes to make a deeper dive. We watched this whale fluke several times, and spotted a few more humpbacks in the distance before turning off for Los Islotes. “The Islets” are a perfect place for various sea creatures to take a break, and so are a wildlife hotspot.
After eating we hopped into our rubber boats for a close look. Seabirds nest volcanic tuff cliffs of Los Islotes. We saw brown and blue-footed boobies, pelicans, and the Gulf’s endemic yellow-footed gull. Vultures and frigatebirds soared effortlessly over the rocks. But best of all were the sea lions. About a 150 haul out here at this time of year. They sprawled over the rocks in unlikely attitudes of relaxation, or clambered about awkward chaotic motion. Sea lions are thigmotactic, enjoying contact with one another. Sometimes this results in their lying in cozy rows, but at other times it means one using his fellows as a highway to the sea. This often results in a great deal of mild yet vociferously-voiced indignation.
Later in the day we leapt into the sea to encounter sea lions on their own terms. Though they may lurch about on land, in the water sea lions are speedy and graceful as birds. They leap, race, pirouette, and soar like a cross between a ballerina and a puppy. Garishly glad in snorkel gear, we would look bizarre sea lions, were they not so used to us. And they know why we come—to entertain them. Sea lions seem to want to play with us, while maintaining a bit of coyness, and perhaps a desire to show us what masters of the sea they are.
By afternoon we arrived at Bahia Bonanza, a beautiful beach at the south end of Isla Espiritu Santo. The hills above the beach are distinctive, being chunky granite rather than the familiar Tuff. Some went walking into the desert, seeing cardons, agaves, and swollen-trunked trees. A few were lucky enough to see the island’s two endemic mammals—the antelope ground squirrel and the black black-tailed jackrabbit. Many stayed on the beach for a stroll or some quality relaxation time. Others took to kayaks or paddleboards.
The full moon rose from the sea and as evening fell we enjoyed a barbecue around a beach fire, and some lingered to sing Christmas carols with their toes in snow-white sand.
