San Esteban & Tiburón islands
Today was our first day in the Gulf’s midriff region, an area of strong character and great natural beauty; early in the morning we landed on San Esteban Island, the third largest in the region and home of several interesting reptile species. We divided into long, moderate and leisure hikes and explored the desert environment looking for the cold-blooded creatures; soon we discovered the first representatives of the two largest and most charismatic species, the spiny-tailed iguana and the pinto chuckwalla. Both species are about the same size, although the former is a bit larger and slender, whereas the last is more rotund and heavier-bodied. Pinto chuckwallas are the largest members of their genus and despite their large size; it takes a while for a trained eye to discover them due to their perfect camouflage. Their skin closely resembles the colors of the red elephant tree’s bark and the roots of the cholla cactus. Adult chuckwallas are strictly herbivorous, whereas the large spiny-tailed iguanas eat plants and the occasional insect, bird’s hatchlings or even a baby chuckwalla, although a seasonal favorite is the cardón cactus’ flower. Both species are endemic to San Esteban Island.
During the afternoon we traveled east and the National Geographic Sea Bird dropped her anchor at Dog’s Bay, located on the southeast side of Tiburón Island, Mexico’s largest island. Tiburón Island is close to the mainland and has a much more complex floral and faunal community than the other islands; coyotes, jackrabbits, two toad species and many more creatures call it home. This is also the only island in the Gulf where both cardón and sahuaro cactus can be found together. We all enjoyed a great afternoon hiking the desert trails or beachcombing. When the sun disappeared behind the island’s hills a marvelous first day in the midriff region came to an end.
