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Costa Rica Cruise Review: Sea Voyager

Sunday, July 11, 2004

San Esteban and San Pedro Martir Islands

Our promising journey into the Sea of Cortes (or Gulf of California) began this morning in the waters that surround San Esteban, one of the oldest and more isolated islands in the midriff area. There we saw blows and decided to explore until we were able to see the backs and flukes of the animals. They were sperm whales, the largest of the so-called “toothed whales” or dolphins, and we stayed with them until they were out of sight. A few minutes later, the Sea Voyager anchored and we disembarked right after breakfast.

On San Esteban we walked on the wide arroyo and had our first introduction to the Sonoran Desert vegetation: the different hiking groups observed the magnificent cardon cacti with fruits, as well as limberbush (from which Seri Indians make baskets), agaves in flower, ragweed, galloping cacti and others. Several piebald or “pinto” chuckwallas were found heating up under the dense patches of jumping chollas, as well as some spiny-tailed iguanas, their closely related ecological competitors. A couchwhip (a non poisonous snake) was seen as it looked for cover under a thorny ironwood bush. Once we explored the island, some of us enjoyed a refreshing session of swimming from the beach, always observed by the inquiring yellow-footed gulls.

The plan for the rest of the morning was to deliberately cruise seeking for more marine mammals. We couldn’t have better luck as we found a great number of sperm whales. They were swimming slowly or even floating steady, behavior known as “logging,” right in front of the ship (photo). Under those circumstances, the calves were seen in what looked as nursing, and playing around the big females. Our Undersea Specialist and our Dive Master were sent in an effort to get some underwater footage. They swam and dove among the animals, and were close enough to be in the way of a large fluke hit. During cocktail time, we enjoyed the video presented by them.

Our first great day was finished on Zodiac cruises around San Pedro Martir, another small, isolated and basaltic island that constitutes the breeding site for the brown pelican and the blue-footed and brown boobies, and the home for a large colony of California sea lions. These animals are at the peak of the breeding season, so the males were defending the territories full of females with pups.

In only 24 hours, we experienced the very flavor of the Sea of Cortes.

Author: Adrian Cerda Ardura, Naturalist