Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation… There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me. –Herman Melville
The National Geographic Sea Bird found herself in fog-like conditions at San Pedro Martir this morning. Staff and guests in the know realize that this island is the most remote of all islands in the Sea of Cortez. The guano “snow” color to this island is testament to the thousands of seabirds that call this isolated island home.
Launching expedition landing craft for a closer look we explored the caves and coastline teaming with life. Red-billed tropicbirds, brown and blue-footed boobies, yellow-footed and Heermann’s gulls, as well as pelicans in breeding plumage wheeled above our heads. Along the intertidal zone Sally Lightfoot crabs scampered while California sea lions leapt next to us.
The treasure of the morning was the Guadalupe fur seals, at first one, then two, and finally about a dozen individuals, all males, were identified. Thought to be extinct by the early 1900s, the usual range of this fur seal is from the Channel Islands off the coast of California to the remote island of Guadalupe 140 miles off the Pacific coast of the Baja Peninsula. Isla San Pedro Martir is considerably outside the normal range of this recovering pinniped.
Afternoon found the ship in traditionally productive whale grounds and once again it did not disappoint. Deep diving sperm whales surfaced in the distance. Our cautious approach was rewarded with close-up looks of one of the most unusual marine mammals. Almost like Hermann Melville’s fabled whale ship the Pequod, we slowly closed the distance to the logging forms of a harem group of sperm whales. Curiosity got the better of three young whales who turned to approach the bow of the ship. To our delight and amazement the trio passed directly underneath our view from the bow. Many small pods of sperm whales dotted the horizon as we kept our rendezvous with Catalina Island and we continued south.
