Sea of Cortez Island Research

Hello all,

Our day at Isla San Marcos was a big success yesterday and today we focused on another island in the area: Isla Tortuga. 

Capt Chris and I hiked to the crater edge on this volcanic island. It was tough terrain with lava rocks and vegetation. We saw 6 rattlesnakes during our hike and we had lots of great views of the Sea of Cortez along the way.

We arrived at the crater and the view was tremendous! It was worth the trip. Everyone that made it there agreed. also everyone saw multiple snakes and lizards. Here is a photo from the rim of the crater!

We are north of Loreto and Bahia Concepcion, as you can see on the map at left, and will work our way south tomorrow. Our target island will be Isla Carmen, the large island off Loreto.

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello friends!

We are pleased to support a bi-national research and collecting expedition to many of the smaller and little-studied islands in the southern Sea of Cortez. In Cabo San Lucas, 25 botanists, mammalogists, herpetologiest, ecologists, conservationists, and citizen scientists boarded Searcher for the start of this exciting itinerary. Researchers came from San Diego’s Natural History Museum, universities in US and Mexico, and conservation organizations. Many aboard hope to discover and describe new species on islands not surveyed before. Stay tuned!

Captain Art will send reports from the field and photos when he can.

Lines away and ready for research!

SD Natural History Museum’s herpetology curator, Brad Hollingsworth, loads his snake traps onto Searcher in San Diego.

November 9:

Hello all,

We arrived at our first island this morning after breakfast: Isla San Francisquito. Our Searcher Natural History Tour passengers will recognize this island with the beautiful white sandy beach and steep cliffs to climb for the views .

On this trip, we anchored here to get everyone trained on boarding the skiffs safely and then everyone went ashore. The trip was a success with 10 new plant species not recorded before! Our on-board herpetologist, Brad Hollingsworth,  found all 7 expected lizard species too. Our photo is of the approach to the island with calm seas and beautiful Baja sky.

We are continuing north to our furthest northerly islands in the morning: Isla San Marcos and Isla Tortuga.

Guest captain, Jim Hughes, joined Searcher crew on this trip, including chef Geri Sue.

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Capt Art and crew loaded traps, plant presses, research equipment onto Searcher in San Diego.