Isla San Jose and Isla San Francisco
Mutualism, parasitism, communalism, so many “ism’s,” what do these words mean? They are defining a variety of different relationships. You can find these words in a dictionary or you can come with us to Baja California and walk along the lush arroyos and see these relationships in action.
We started our explorations today at Isla San Jose; the foliage and flower lined arroyo held many surprises. A flower would attract our attention and as we would investigate closer, new discoveries were made. This little member of the nightshade family held a spider in camouflage. After a few moments, a potential pollinator came to the flower, only to be caught by the spider as a morning feast. We caught all three players of this drama in the photograph above.
A species of bursera was the host to brilliant red blooming mistletoe. The mistletoe was a well-defended feeding station for hummingbirds, and we could hear the hummers zinging around our heads.
We found a tarantula hawk (a pepsis wasp) working among the flowering vines which themselves used the trees as trellises. A velvet ant with its “Phyllis Diller” hairdo scampered zig-zaggingly across the arroyo. We were warned not to touch this fuzzy creature for it is actually a wasp, complete with a painful sting. The trees showed signs of munching, as there was a litter of “peppercorn frass” or caterpillar droppings sprinkled liberally under the Palo Blanco’s. The caterpillars were well camouflaged and invisible to us, however the butterflies were apparent and abundant as they fluttered about sipping nectar from blossom laden branches of the desert lavender and from the deep purple flowers of the malva rosa. A praying mantis egg case was found nestled deep in the foliage of the Palo Blanco. From the bottom of its inverted volcano in the sand we excavated an ant lion, a fierce looking predator, which ran around our hand backwards, dragging its piercing jaws behind it.
Upon return to the Sea Bird we repositioned southward to Isla San Francisco. The contrast in the two islands was quite striking. The granite of San Jose compared to the welded tuff of San Francisco. The protected tree lined sandy arroyo flat, compared to the wind swept saltpan, edged with halophytes. Such great diversity in habitats changed the look of plants that are now becoming familiar to us. Plants that grew to tree size in the arroyo, that we actually stood under and were shaded by, were now stunted and grew to only knee height. We explored the island as well as the shoreline and underwater realm, as we walked, kayaked and snorkeled our afternoon away.
Our evening ended with a festive beach barbeque, to guitar accompaniment we laid back in the sand, gazed at the sparkle and endless beauty of the Milky Way laid out on a black velvet background and sang along to “Puff the Magic Dragon.”
The name of our landing this morning was Bahia Encantada, or “enchanted bay.” The enchantment stayed with us into the evening as we reluctantly returned to the Sea Bird, well after dark, accompanied by bioluminescent sparklers igniting the wake of our Zodiac. Sweet dreams.
Mutualism, parasitism, communalism, so many “ism’s,” what do these words mean? They are defining a variety of different relationships. You can find these words in a dictionary or you can come with us to Baja California and walk along the lush arroyos and see these relationships in action.
We started our explorations today at Isla San Jose; the foliage and flower lined arroyo held many surprises. A flower would attract our attention and as we would investigate closer, new discoveries were made. This little member of the nightshade family held a spider in camouflage. After a few moments, a potential pollinator came to the flower, only to be caught by the spider as a morning feast. We caught all three players of this drama in the photograph above.
A species of bursera was the host to brilliant red blooming mistletoe. The mistletoe was a well-defended feeding station for hummingbirds, and we could hear the hummers zinging around our heads.
We found a tarantula hawk (a pepsis wasp) working among the flowering vines which themselves used the trees as trellises. A velvet ant with its “Phyllis Diller” hairdo scampered zig-zaggingly across the arroyo. We were warned not to touch this fuzzy creature for it is actually a wasp, complete with a painful sting. The trees showed signs of munching, as there was a litter of “peppercorn frass” or caterpillar droppings sprinkled liberally under the Palo Blanco’s. The caterpillars were well camouflaged and invisible to us, however the butterflies were apparent and abundant as they fluttered about sipping nectar from blossom laden branches of the desert lavender and from the deep purple flowers of the malva rosa. A praying mantis egg case was found nestled deep in the foliage of the Palo Blanco. From the bottom of its inverted volcano in the sand we excavated an ant lion, a fierce looking predator, which ran around our hand backwards, dragging its piercing jaws behind it.
Upon return to the Sea Bird we repositioned southward to Isla San Francisco. The contrast in the two islands was quite striking. The granite of San Jose compared to the welded tuff of San Francisco. The protected tree lined sandy arroyo flat, compared to the wind swept saltpan, edged with halophytes. Such great diversity in habitats changed the look of plants that are now becoming familiar to us. Plants that grew to tree size in the arroyo, that we actually stood under and were shaded by, were now stunted and grew to only knee height. We explored the island as well as the shoreline and underwater realm, as we walked, kayaked and snorkeled our afternoon away.
Our evening ended with a festive beach barbeque, to guitar accompaniment we laid back in the sand, gazed at the sparkle and endless beauty of the Milky Way laid out on a black velvet background and sang along to “Puff the Magic Dragon.”
The name of our landing this morning was Bahia Encantada, or “enchanted bay.” The enchantment stayed with us into the evening as we reluctantly returned to the Sea Bird, well after dark, accompanied by bioluminescent sparklers igniting the wake of our Zodiac. Sweet dreams.
