This morning, we awoke east of one of the most isolated islands in the Gulf of California, Isla San Pedro Martir. The abundance of guano here tells the story of the sea's productivity, as this island serves as a nesting ground for a variety of birds that feed on nearby fish. These include brown boobies, blue-footed boobies, red-billed tropicbirds, brown pelicans, and Herrmann's gulls.
After circumnavigating San Pedro Martir, we returned to National
Geographic Venture and navigated to our next stop, Isa Rasa. The elegant
terns were so loud we could hear them as we approached at a great distance:
this island hosts nearly 90% of all the world's elegant terns and Heermann's
gulls. They’re especially plentiful from April through August, as they form
breeding colonies and raise their chicks here.
We then continued onward to Bahia de Los Angeles on the Baja California Peninsula. After driving inland for 20 minutes, we pulled aside and began exploring the surreal landscape of this part of the peninsula. Perhaps the most iconic plant species spotted here is the cirio, also known as the boojum tree.
