Location: Isla San Jose, San Franciscito Island, Sea of Cortez, Baja California, Mexico
Comments: We are anchored up in a beautiful bay with a crescent white beach and 500-foot high barren desert hills. This morning we went exploring in a mangrove lagoon at Isla San Jose. We ventured inside for over a mile and saw amazing upside-down jellyfish and tiny oysters in the mangroves. We also saw osprey, egrets, ibises and herons. We then steamed over to the protected bay at the south side of the small island of San Franciscito where some of our guests went beach walking (note from Mike – there are great puka shells on this beach!) and hiking to the top of the hill where there was a beautiful panoramic view. On the north end of the island, there is a salt flat where local fishing families come to gather salt used to process the sharks that they handline for.
On our dives there were jawfish that spat out unwanted debris knocked into their vertical tunnels. We also saw a pair of mating electric eels with the male biting and forcing the female on to her back. One of the visiting biologists was quite thrilled to be able to photograph an8-inch synaptic sea cucumber.
–Captain Dave
Weather: Clear skies, air temperature 77°F, strong norte wind 20 – 30 knots but calm seas in our anchorage
Water: Water temperature ranged from 66 to 70°F, an air temperature of 77°F.
