Isla Santa Catalina
The sun rose behind Isla Santa Catalina touching the rock face of the Sierra de la Giganta range with bright gold and soft pink. The Baja peninsula glowed softly as the first light of day greeted many of us on the bow of the Sea Lion. Captain Graves had maneuvered our ship out of Porto Escondido just after 6:00am. We were heading southeast cruising towards our afternoon anchorage while giving some time to search for marine mammals. Our ship was cruising to the east of Isla Carmen in the Loreto Marine Reserve.
As if on call a small group of long-beaked common dolphins were spotted under a group of circling birds. A feeding frenzy was underway. Slowly the Sea Lion approached hoping for closer looks and maybe even bow riders! A few dolphins came up and took a free ride on the pressure wave created by the bow of the ship. To the stern of the Sea Lion dolphins followed and were riding the waves created by the ship. Soon the natural history staff requested that the ship stop near a larger part of the feeding frenzy. Pelicans, cormorants, frigate birds and gulls were on the surface as the dolphins forced the fish ball up through the water towards the surface. Standing on the bow we could hear the clicks and squeaks above water. A hydrophone was dropped to amplify those sounds and bring the underwater experience of sound to the bow.
Our afternoon destination of Isla Santa Catalina was still two hours away, so slowly, we pulled away from this feeding group of dolphins and birds and began a relaxed passage heading east. Lookouts were stationed through out the ship keeping a continual watch for marine mammals.
After a deck lunch at anchor near Elephant rock on the southwest side of Isla Santa Catalina, afternoon activities began to take shape. A snorkeling boat was anchored and shortly, three Zodiac shuttles brought water enthusiasts to snorkel in the waters around Elephant rock. While the snorkeling was in full swing, the long hike had already begun their climb to a lookout on one of the upper ridges of Isla Santa Catalina. Once snorkeling was finished, several hikes were offered in the late afternoon light through the main arroyo of this well-known island in the Gulf of California. Santa Catalina is the most eastern island in the southern end of the archipelago of islands running along the eastern coast of the Baja Peninsula. Due to its remote location, geologic formation and facing the northern currents of the Gulf, the botany of the island is quite famous for unique and some endemic species. We were here to see many unusual plants but one particular, the endemic cactus, Ferocactus diguetii or the giant barrel cactus! Once hikers made their way up over the large granite cobbles that make up the beach and entered the arroyo the display of cacti was unbelievable. Soil conditions, isolation, and this year’s abundance of rain gave great health and vigor to the cactus population of Santa Catalina. Flowers were everywhere in the form of decorating vines draped over cacti, and to the enjoyment of both naturalists and guests were the fruits of Machaerocereus (Stenocereus) gummosus or galloping cactus. To Baja’s Mexican population, this cactus is called the pitaya agria or sour pitaya. The fruit and seeds have been an important food for thousands of years, long before any explorer saw the Baja peninsula; the indigenous population considered this fruit a prize and a gift, as does the Mexican population of today. To honor that tradition, several of us broke open a large tennis ball shaped fruit and shared the sweet red fruit inside.
The sun rose behind Isla Santa Catalina touching the rock face of the Sierra de la Giganta range with bright gold and soft pink. The Baja peninsula glowed softly as the first light of day greeted many of us on the bow of the Sea Lion. Captain Graves had maneuvered our ship out of Porto Escondido just after 6:00am. We were heading southeast cruising towards our afternoon anchorage while giving some time to search for marine mammals. Our ship was cruising to the east of Isla Carmen in the Loreto Marine Reserve.
As if on call a small group of long-beaked common dolphins were spotted under a group of circling birds. A feeding frenzy was underway. Slowly the Sea Lion approached hoping for closer looks and maybe even bow riders! A few dolphins came up and took a free ride on the pressure wave created by the bow of the ship. To the stern of the Sea Lion dolphins followed and were riding the waves created by the ship. Soon the natural history staff requested that the ship stop near a larger part of the feeding frenzy. Pelicans, cormorants, frigate birds and gulls were on the surface as the dolphins forced the fish ball up through the water towards the surface. Standing on the bow we could hear the clicks and squeaks above water. A hydrophone was dropped to amplify those sounds and bring the underwater experience of sound to the bow.
Our afternoon destination of Isla Santa Catalina was still two hours away, so slowly, we pulled away from this feeding group of dolphins and birds and began a relaxed passage heading east. Lookouts were stationed through out the ship keeping a continual watch for marine mammals.
After a deck lunch at anchor near Elephant rock on the southwest side of Isla Santa Catalina, afternoon activities began to take shape. A snorkeling boat was anchored and shortly, three Zodiac shuttles brought water enthusiasts to snorkel in the waters around Elephant rock. While the snorkeling was in full swing, the long hike had already begun their climb to a lookout on one of the upper ridges of Isla Santa Catalina. Once snorkeling was finished, several hikes were offered in the late afternoon light through the main arroyo of this well-known island in the Gulf of California. Santa Catalina is the most eastern island in the southern end of the archipelago of islands running along the eastern coast of the Baja Peninsula. Due to its remote location, geologic formation and facing the northern currents of the Gulf, the botany of the island is quite famous for unique and some endemic species. We were here to see many unusual plants but one particular, the endemic cactus, Ferocactus diguetii or the giant barrel cactus! Once hikers made their way up over the large granite cobbles that make up the beach and entered the arroyo the display of cacti was unbelievable. Soil conditions, isolation, and this year’s abundance of rain gave great health and vigor to the cactus population of Santa Catalina. Flowers were everywhere in the form of decorating vines draped over cacti, and to the enjoyment of both naturalists and guests were the fruits of Machaerocereus (Stenocereus) gummosus or galloping cactus. To Baja’s Mexican population, this cactus is called the pitaya agria or sour pitaya. The fruit and seeds have been an important food for thousands of years, long before any explorer saw the Baja peninsula; the indigenous population considered this fruit a prize and a gift, as does the Mexican population of today. To honor that tradition, several of us broke open a large tennis ball shaped fruit and shared the sweet red fruit inside.
