¡Mitad de la Semana! (Savannah Engelking)

 On Thursday morning we made our much anticipated journey to Isla de San Jorge (Bird Island). This island is one of over 800 islands found in the Sea of Cortez, formed by volcanic eruptions around 5 million years ago. The islands are incredibly important to the ecosystem here. After a quiet drive to the pier (I think we were all a bit sedated from the dramamine - but at least it worked and none of us got sick!) we boarded two small ships and made the hour long trip to the island, jamming to tunes the whole way! 

Once we were at the island I eagerly put on my wet suit and jumped in - and then immediately got out. It felt freezing! I was sure I couldn’t do it again. But the sea lions were so close, I had to try! I inched my way back into the water holding onto the boat and inflatable kayak. Finally, I was in! I swam toward the shore looking at anything I could see on the ocean floor. Anything to distract myself from the cold! I began to see shells and some rocks, and started to feel some of the warmer current from the more shallow waters - thank goodness. I could see anemone on the island's rocks and different mollusks stuck to the rocky shore. And then, SEA LIONS! They were so fast and so curious, the pups and females coming up to inspect us and then zooming away in the blink of an eye. The big males, less frequent, doing an occasional supervisory lap around the group. I ended up making 3 excursions to the shore, taking as many photos and videos as I could along the way. We all happily munched on our burritos as we made a trip around the circumference of the island, surveying animals entangled in nylon fishing nets as we went. The trip back to shore was great and the weather was wonderful the rest of the day.

Friday morning we again woke up bright and early to survey a Least Tern nesting area. These birds are a protected species of Tern that is found in North and South America, and their population is declining primarily due to human caused habitat loss. They lay elliptical, speckled, sand colored eggs in “scrapes” or shallow divots in the sand. While the reason behind the survey is serious and very important to the ecology of Puerto Penasco, the survey itself was adorable; it felt like we were Easter egg hunting on the beach - except we also had to be super careful because the nests and eggs are extremely well camouflaged. Overall we counted a few dozen anticipatory nests, as well as a handful of them with eggs present in the scrape! Unfortunately we did not see any chicks hiding among the washed up seaweed, not that it means they weren’t there hiding out! We had a lowkey afternoon, working on homework and spending some time at the beach before dinner. I am looking forward to our last couple of evenings here.

Hasta luego!