Isla del Carmen and Isla Santa Catalina, Baja California, México
Shortly after sunrise, the Sea Voyager dropped its anchor off Arroyo Rojo, on the east side of Isla del Carmen: another new day full of surprises just began! Taking advantage of both early morning’s cooler temperatures and high spirits, we hiked along the dry arroyo and were awed once again with the myriad adaptations of desert plants and animals. Being relatively close to the peninsula, Carmen Island is very similar in terms of plants and animals to Baja’s Loreto area and we were able to watch desert iguanas, organ pipe cactus, hummingbirds, mesquite and cardinals, and even look for the elusive introduced desert bighorn sheep. Here, only a small number of endemic species or sub-species call Carmen Island home, in strong contrast with our next destination, Santa Catalina Island at which we arrived during lunch time. We brave expeditionaries enjoyed the clear and calm waters while snorkeling, kayaking, scuba diving or just plain sitting in the water; any of those activities providing us the opportunity to admire the submarine riches of the Sea of Cortez. Sergeant majors, king angelfishes and many others were so abundant that could even be seen from above the water!
Later in the afternoon, cooler temperatures let us hike along the island to look for some of the many endemic species present here and that make Santa Catalina Island so unique. Some are pretty evident, like the huge, 10 foot tall giant barrel cactus, while some others are more than a challenge to locate, like the curiously-called Santa Catalina rattleless rattlesnake. Our good luck continued with us, though, and we were rewarded with the sight of four individuals crossing the same arroyo that we were walking, their rattle-less tails proudly pointing up!
Our opportunity today to visit these two islands gave us ample reason to think on the uniqueness and importance of every island. Santa Catalina Island in particular astonished us with its high number of endemic plant and animal species. It is the highest of all the islands in the Sea of Cortez, isolated both by time and distance. This is the reason why Lindblad Expeditions adopted Santa Catalina Island in a recently created, ongoing conservation effort in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund and the Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación entitled “Baja Forever.” The funds raised by this campaign will be applied entirely to specific projects that would improve the ecological situation of the islands by eradicating introduced species or improving law enforcement, for example. With everyone’s help, we can make it happen and return something to a marvelous place that enriched our souls in so many forms…
Shortly after sunrise, the Sea Voyager dropped its anchor off Arroyo Rojo, on the east side of Isla del Carmen: another new day full of surprises just began! Taking advantage of both early morning’s cooler temperatures and high spirits, we hiked along the dry arroyo and were awed once again with the myriad adaptations of desert plants and animals. Being relatively close to the peninsula, Carmen Island is very similar in terms of plants and animals to Baja’s Loreto area and we were able to watch desert iguanas, organ pipe cactus, hummingbirds, mesquite and cardinals, and even look for the elusive introduced desert bighorn sheep. Here, only a small number of endemic species or sub-species call Carmen Island home, in strong contrast with our next destination, Santa Catalina Island at which we arrived during lunch time. We brave expeditionaries enjoyed the clear and calm waters while snorkeling, kayaking, scuba diving or just plain sitting in the water; any of those activities providing us the opportunity to admire the submarine riches of the Sea of Cortez. Sergeant majors, king angelfishes and many others were so abundant that could even be seen from above the water!
Later in the afternoon, cooler temperatures let us hike along the island to look for some of the many endemic species present here and that make Santa Catalina Island so unique. Some are pretty evident, like the huge, 10 foot tall giant barrel cactus, while some others are more than a challenge to locate, like the curiously-called Santa Catalina rattleless rattlesnake. Our good luck continued with us, though, and we were rewarded with the sight of four individuals crossing the same arroyo that we were walking, their rattle-less tails proudly pointing up!
Our opportunity today to visit these two islands gave us ample reason to think on the uniqueness and importance of every island. Santa Catalina Island in particular astonished us with its high number of endemic plant and animal species. It is the highest of all the islands in the Sea of Cortez, isolated both by time and distance. This is the reason why Lindblad Expeditions adopted Santa Catalina Island in a recently created, ongoing conservation effort in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund and the Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación entitled “Baja Forever.” The funds raised by this campaign will be applied entirely to specific projects that would improve the ecological situation of the islands by eradicating introduced species or improving law enforcement, for example. With everyone’s help, we can make it happen and return something to a marvelous place that enriched our souls in so many forms…
