Our second day in the Midriff Islands region was an extraordinary one; we woke up at sea heading towards one of the crown jewels of the Sea of Cortez, the island of San Pedro Mártir. But before we arrived there, we enjoyed the privilege once again of watching sunrise at sea. What a wonderful time of the day, when the eastern sky changes colors and eventually explodes as the fiery star that makes life on earth possible comes up above the horizon! The initially subtle purples and magentas turned into intense oranges and reds and painted us with similar tones. We anchored off the southern shore of the island shortly afterwards and got ready to explore on our expedition landing craft.
San Pedro Mártir is truly a spectacular place; located pretty much in the middle between the states of Sonora in the mainland, and Baja California in the peninsula, the island is also surrounded by the three main upwelling areas in the Gulf. As a result, life flourishes there and during our entire time around it we were constantly watching all kinds of marine creatures. The most striking characteristic of San Pedro Mártir is it looks white, thanks to the countless sea birds that make it home and deposit guano there. We observed huge numbers of both brown and blue-footed boobies on the rocks and flying overhead, together with Herrmann’s and yellow-footed gulls, eared grebes, magnificent frigatebirds, brown pelicans and red-billed tropicbirds. Some of us found a couple of tropicbirds in the water, engaged in a ferocious fight with each one holding the other by the beak.
But it was a group of young California sea lions that were the stars of the day; they followed us for a long time all over the island, jumping out of the water and playing with each other while constantly eyeing us with obvious curiosity. As much as we loved watching them, I believe that they were even more intrigued and curious about us!
San Pedro Mártir is such a dramatic place and full of life that it was declared a Biosphere Reserve by the Mexican government. We reluctantly sailed away from San Pedro Mártir and during the mid-afternoon encountered a small group of long-finned pilot whales in the deep, offshore waters south of the island, an unusual sighting of a very special species. What a wonderful day in the beautiful Sea of Cortez!
