Wildpics

We headed ashore to explore one of the most dramatic desert landscapes in the gulf. The endemic Giant Barrel Cactus is found only on this island and one other in the Sea of Cortez. Here Jojoba, Palo Verde and other plants typical of the Sonoran desert were seen alongside Baja endemics such as Palo Adan and Creeping Devil Cactus.
 
Several birds have adapted to the absence of water in this arid, but beautiful landscape. A family of Loggerhead Shrike was seen foraging. We saw the Ladder-backed Woodpecker and Ash–throated Flycatcher. The Black-throated Sparrow is a particularly striking bird in this habitat. 
 
We were interested in all the wildlife on the island. We found the Santa Catalina Island Rattleless Rattlesnake. Although this species is docile we kept a safe  distance. Most of us picked out the turquoise Santa Catalina Side-blotched Lizard, yet another endemic species. Some of us also had views of a Baja California Spiny Lizard and the wonderfully large and fast Desert Iguana.
 
Skiff rides along the rocky shoreline displayed the wonderfully transparent waters of the gulf and for some lucky birders a Wandering Tattler.
 
Back aboard ship we headed west towards the volcanic island of Montserrat. We had a wonderful views of this Red-billed Tropicbird displaying its tail streamers as it took off.
 
As the Spirit headed west we picked out the blow of a whale ahead. We were able to eliminate Minke, Sei and Fin whales but we identified longitudinal ridges forward of the blowhole which would positively identify it as a Bryde’s Whale, we also saw the whale’s tail too as it swam extremely close to the bow.

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… Suddenly an announcement came over the speakers, “Blue Whale and this one is fluking.”  Seeing a whale’s fluke as they dive for a deeper dive is the quintessential experience for all whale watchers. Seeing the fluke of the largest animal that has ever lived was a dream many of us had.
 
For most of the next hour we enjoyed excellent views of this Blue Whale, which had a calf as well. We watched as they rolled up to the surface, blew and then after several surfacing the mother raised her massive fluke out of the sea. After several breathing sequences the mother stopped fluking and we moved on.
 
From the crow’s nest a large blow was spotted backlit by the low sun in the west. It took the Spirit a while to get close enough before the call came over the speakers, “two Fin Whales are ahead of us”.
 
Perhaps this species lacks some of the allure of the Blue Whale. At 60-70 feet in length they are “only” the second largest whale. We observed their distinctive white lower right jaw and gray chevron repeatedly. Although this species never shows its fluke when sounding for a deeper dive, the overall size and sleekness of these whales was a treat to see.
 
We all agreed that observing three different species of baleen whale in a three-hour span was very good whale watching indeed. Almost to balance it out there was now a group of Common Dolphin that visited the boat. The seas were calm and now reflected the sunset glow as we cruised to the north end of San Jose Island and our anchorage for the evening.