Viewing entries tagged
zodiac

Day 12, Preliminary Expedition: May 27, 2016

May 27, 2016 (Day 12)

We planned for an early launch so we could follow one of the pangas out of the bay. Bahia San Quintin is very shallow in places and there are no channel markers. While we were preparing to launch, only two boats took off, and we missed them. So, we headed out on our own. We had all eyes looking out in order to navigate through the maze of shallow areas to get to the mouth of the bay. JT was in charge of the GPS, Greg had the binoculars, and I was driving blindly. I could feel every time the motor would bounce off the bottom.

It was about a twenty-mile run out of the bay and up to Isla San Martin. It is a beautiful volcanic cone island with a spit of rocks that harbors a sandy beach. Again, I had to let the film crew off and stay on the boat. Nelson and Goldman took the “motor launch” called Todo Santos to this island during their expedition.

JT and Greg were almost immediately met by two Mexican biologists that were studying the island’s unique flora and fauna. A request for an interview was granted and they graciously escorted them around for a short tour. They caught and tagged a gopher snake during their walk. When Nelson and Goldman were here, they noted that gopher snakes and “alligator” lizards were found on the island in 1903.

The island is covered with a unique plant with velvety leaves commonly called a Live Forever, or Dudleya anthonyi. JT and Greg also came across an elephant seal hauled up onto the shore. In 1906, Nelson noted that “the island was once a breeding resort for the sea elephant and is now extinct there.” The elephant seal was once on the brink of extinction, being hunted for their rich blubber. Nelson also noted that they saw a few “leopard seals.” Either that was a miss-identification of a harbor seal or in 1905 the harbor seal was called referred to as a “leopard seal.” We did see a large group of harbor seals that took to the water as soon as we arrived on the island.

We arrived back at The Old Mill Restaurant and Hotel early in the afternoon, packed up our gear, and headed for the States.

The Old Mill Restaurant and Hotel

Day 5, Preliminary Expedition: May 19, 2016

May 19, 2016 (Day 5)

I woke to the sound of birdsong this morning. The song of a quail in the desert will always bring a smile to my face. As the sun rose, we were quickly on the move again, wanting to get to Loreto to get the boat fixed. When we arrived at the welding shop the owner told us his welding machine was broken and there was no one in town that could weld stainless steel. So we kept on, driving south and heading for La Paz. Being a big city and a large boating community, we were confident that we could find someone to fix the Zodiac.

Staying true to the film's name, The Devil's Road, we rounded the corner in the middle of the desert to find a dead cow in the roadway. There were car parts strewn all about the lanes and a dozen vultures perched in a nearby tree. We pulled over to film when a trucker passed, then stopped. He backed up, jumped out with a tow strap, and pulled the dead cow out of the roadway. We caught this on camera.

Truck driver pulling cow from roadway.

As we pulled into town and turned onto the Malecon, we rolled down the windows to take in the atmosphere. Every other bump produced a loud bang coming from the trailer. We pulled over to find that the leaf spring on one side of the trailer had partially failed and the axle was banging on the trailer rail. Fortunately we were only four kilometers from the boatyard that could fix it.

We were graciously greeted by Able Pino at Berkovich Boat Works. He agreed to do the work for us and committed to having it done by morning. We were very grateful for his help.

Able Pino of Berkovich Boat Works working his magic to weld the T-top on the Zodiac!

The director stopping to take a few shots of the scenery.

Tonight, we will go out to the point and camp on the beach for the night to prepare for tomorrow’s adventure. Our plan is to launch and visit Isla Espiritu Santo to spend the night. The next day we will head south to Isla Cerralvo.

We keep our fingers crossed that all goes as planned . . .

Day 4, Preliminary Expedition: May 18, 2016

May 18, 2016 (Day 4)

The Bahia de Los Angeles Natural History Museum is curated by Carolina, a lovely and charismatic woman that has put her soul into the museum and the natural history of the area. We were pleased when she agreed to an on-camera interview. We met her at nine this morning in the museum and she was great on camera.

The Bahie de Los Angeles Natural History Musem. Whale bones in foreground.

After leaving Bahia de Los Angeles, we headed to Guerrero Negro to get the T-top welded. We were delayed a bit by a few stops to film along the way. First, we stopped to film a Goldman’s agave plant in full bloom. Next we captured some horses and a donkey wandering through the desert before coming upon a dead donkey on the side of the road, several turkey vultures feeding on its carcass. As we slowed to pull over, we noticed a large bird in the road that had been hit—another vulture. As we got closer, we realized that, astoundingly, he was still alive. JT took a moment to get a few shots of him as he rest there, most likely paralyzed or stunned, blinking and looking at the camera.

Goldman’s Agave (Agave shawii ssp. goldmaniana) in bloom pictured here with Greg Meyer, scientific director of The Devil's Road (left) and JT Bruce, director of The Devil's Road (right).

JT, director, making friends with the locals...

Turkey vulture in road. Most likely stunned or paralyzed from being hit by a passing motorist.

We decided to move on to Loreto to get the T-top welded. I knew where the welding shop was and it was getting late, so we kept driving. A short stop in Vizcaino found no sign of Taco Kenny, or rather Kenny Martinez, who runs a taco cart called Baja Tacos with his wife. I met Kenny during a trip earlier this year, and quickly struck up a friendship. We checked in with him about our return trip and our plans to climb Goldman Peak.

Camping in the desert is always a treat. We found a side road, just south of San Bruno, that lead to a small pueblo and came to a shallow bowl-like basin to camp away from the roadway. We cooked our dinner and settled down with a cocktail around a fire.
 

Camp at sunset, near San Bruno.

Camp at night.

Day 3, Preliminary Expedtion: May 17, 2016

May 17, 2016 (Day 3)

An hour and a half, thirty miles of wind, and rough seas was all it took to get to Isla Rasa. The tide was flooding, which meant the access to the only viable landing was underwater. We circled the island hoping to find another option. We had to get creative to get the film crew off the boat, and get all the camera, sound, and filming accessories off without getting them wet. To anyone watching, it must have been a show.

As Greg and JT stepped off the boat, thousands of birds took to flight. At times it was difficult to hear one another over the noise of their calls. On this particular island (about one square mile) three main species of seabirds nest and mate here. In fact, nearly 90% of the world’s Elegant Terns and Heermann’s gulls breed on this island. The third bird species is the Royal Tern. The terns were not breeding. They did not show up this year and there may be a good reason. Climate change and the rise in sea temperatures as well as overfishing may have interrupted their food supply and they were forced to move elsewhere to breed, lay eggs, and raise their chicks.

(More on this issue can be read on Wildlife.org's site in an article published July, 2015.)

Nesting Heermann's gull. Photo credit: allaboutbirds.org

Photo credit robertharding.com

Though Nelson and Goldman did not visit Bahia de Los Angeles or its outlying islands, we wanted to highlight the importance of this tiny island. It was the first Gulf of California island to become a wildlife preserve. In the late 1950s and 1960s, scientists recognized its importance as a seabird breeding colony and in the early 1970s it was official. Early visitors collected the massive guano deposits and gathered thousands of eggs to feed hungry miners and residents around the gulf. This had a major impact on the bird’s ability to reproduce and sustain its population.

We arrived back safely, but with only one issue: the T-top on the Zodiac cracked partially through one of the four posts. Tomorrow will require a stop in Guerrero Negro for repairs before we can continue.