Isla San Esteban

Today we try again for Isla San Esteban. I am starting to get very used to this route as we pass Turner Island and Isla Cholludo. The water temperature at the boat launch today is 73.8 degrees Fahrenheit. We count 12 shrimp trawlers out in the bay and 1 sport fisher boat off the coast of Tiburon.

We saw a group of Longbeak Common Dolphins again today in the San Esteban trench. We took down the citing info which included: temperature (68.3), time ( 9:23), beaufort scale ( 1), depth ( >2,000ft), location ( San Esteban Trench), # of individuals ( 15-20), associated species (brown boobies), and behavior ( foraging). We assume that the dolphins are often here to forage due to the high productivity. This high productivity is associated with the upwelling up currents.

Today we also had a Seri elder, Manuel Flores Flores along with us. As we were off the coast of San Esteban he explained to us that the Seri have sacred marine spots which are usually situated in the confluences of currents. Off of Isla San Esteban lies one of these confluences. In the spring these currents create a physical barrier between Isla Tiburon and Isla San Esteban. So back in the day when the Serris would travel in boats called balsas they would use songs to rally courage against these currents, to change bad weather, to keep up stamina and just for fun. Manuel is on the Council of Ancients and is specifically fluent in the seri songs ( only 1/3 elders left who know all of the songs). One of the songs he sang for us was the Song of the Great Tide.


( Sorry that this video is sideways, I'm still learning to use my video-camera)
Other songs that Manuel sang for us include: Song for future good weather, Song for sea lion and shrimp competition, festival song, and The Concluding Song.

Other things that we learned about the seris include the fact that they consider the Leatherback turtle a member of their tribe. There were also fluid Seri population movements between Isla San Esteban and Isla Tiburon which were caused by resource availability.

Once we got onto the island we were greeted by a group of military. They were stationed on the island and were patrolling the any boat activity. They were as nice as military can be and did not give us much trouble.

We unloaded from the boat and took a short walk up to a spot were we could sit and learn more about the natural history of the island. We sat under a giant cardon. This picture includes a close up of some of the arms.

San Esteban has 2 minor campsites one for winter and one for summer.The rest of the San Esteban information is included in the handout.

From Emma's presentation we learned more information on the Seri presence on the island including the fact that the Seri camps were often found in places of non-permanent water sources. The group of Seris that lived here were known for their bravery and ability to live in harsh conditions. They lived here until the 1970s after that they were driven off the island by the military.
After the presentation we headed back to the boat to continue around the island. On the walk back we found San Esteban Chuckawalla which is endemic to the island.
As we followed the southern coast we saw small beaches with sea lions on them. These small beaches are used for mating spots by the sea lions. At the south western point there is Playa El Cascajal where the sea lions hang out. San Esteban has the largest sea lion colony in the Gulf of California. The waters off of this sand bar were filled mackerel. We rounded the sand bar and came upon a large dugg-out in the side of the island.
After this we went to our snorkeling spot. At first I was a little hesitant to get into the water with sea lions swimming around us but once I got in my fears subsided. It was interesting to be able to compare the snorkel spot from Las Cruces to the one here. Here the water depth seemed more deeper and less tide-pool like. I feel like the area of Las Cruces had a variety of different organisms specializing in areas of different depth but that the total ecosystem was compacted into a smalled total depth. Whereas at the San Esteban site these layers of the ecosystem where more clearly defined. I also was able to identify some organisms such as the King Angelfish unlike at Las Cruces where I was purely observing without the knowledge to id fish.

After a very productive snorkel session we headed out around the last section of the island. It was interesting to note the CONANP (La Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas) sign that was put up on the what was thought to be the fishing camp. Unfortunately the place that they put it in is not the fishing camp but instead a site of part of the sea lion colony. In oder to read the small print "do not land" sign you must land thus disturbing the sea lions. Often when the colonies are disturbed the dominant males will head to the water first trampling the pups. Thus this is an example of a environmental government agency being completely out of touch with reality.

As we headed back to the mainland we passed a resident group of Bottlenose Dolphins off the coast of Isla Tiburon.



( Wait till the second part of the video to see the dolphins.)