Panterra :: MySchool Journal

Daily Journal

ESSMY

Day 5

Off to visit the fishing village of Isla Pardito.

The first group lands on the island.

The group starts disembarking from the panga.

We start at the top of the island. The building to the left
of the center of the picture was once a little school house.

Checking out the ribs of a very large whale.

(Roselyn appears to be chewing on one)

A couple of quaint homes.

Shark fins drying in the sun.

This is the area where the salted fish is hung to dry in the sun.
Unfortunately, the fishing village had shut down operation for

the week and most of the residents headed off to La Paz.

Two whale skulls (left - Sperm whale and right - Sei Whale)
A vertebrae lays along the wall.

After lunch we headed to the beach.
Some kayaked while the rest took the panga to shore.

Setting up for a snorkel.

Donning our gear we started in.

Dr. Bigras and Amelie dive in and once in the water their world
of comfort disappears and they become lost in the world beneath the sea.

Brown Sea Cucumber (1.5 feet long).

Guinea Fowl Puffer

Cheryl cruises through the water observing all the cool marine life.

Rainbow wrasses and a Sargent Major fish feed on the seaweed.

A stingray rests amidst the seaweed.

Hundreds of Common Dolphins were spotted off in the
distance and it looked like they were headed right towards us.

They were jumping, splashing and playing all around the boat.

Some glided through the wake of the boat.

Others came up alongside to check us out.

A mom and her baby break surface alongside the boat.

In front of the boat one jumps clear out of the water.
This was an incredible experience.

There were so many cool parts of the day it just
seemed fitting to watch the sun set on yet another amazing day.

Day five began with a bit cooler weather outside. There was some clouds. Everyone seemed a bit more tired then usual (we think the excitement of the trip was starting to catch up with everyone) Before breakfast we all lazed around. After breakfast there was a group of about 5-10 stingrays (naturalists thought they were bat rays) putting on a show near the boat by jumping around in their group. There was also a large group of sardines that were running on the surface of the water. While the boat sailed to its next destination, everyone was relaxed and taking it all in.

Once we arrived, we got the chance to explore a little fishing village, Isla Pardito. This village has been around since the Mexican revolution, when a husband and wife decided to take refuge on this island from the war. The direct descendants have been living on the island since then. It was pretty interesting to see the little village they had built. There was quite a few different skeleton pieces, including a huge whale skull and vertebras.

We returned to the boat for lunch, where three of the villagers came as guests for lunch. After lunch we went snorkeling. Some people kayaked from the boat to the beach. We saw a couple of different species of fish missed on the first time snorkeling there. A few of us encountered a stingray.

Once back on the boat en route to the next destination, we encountered a gigantic pack of dolphins. There must have been a hundred on the surface and several hundred below the water alone. Quite a few of the dolphins swam along side the boat, until breaking off to go back with the pack. The boat circled back around to follow them, so we could all watch them jumping and swimming. Sophie found a couple baby dolphins among them (they were very cute).

Dinner followed the dolphin sighting. Once it was dark, a halogen light was shone into the water to create a full moon effect on the water, as to be able to trigger a mock food chain. Little sardine fish flooded the surface, while a few bigger fish swam among them searching for prey. At one point a sea lion came close, but never surfaced too close to the boat.

Once the fish started to fade away, the light was removed and it was bedtime. That concludes the events for day 5.

Day 1 and 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 - part 1 | Day 4 - part 2 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 and 8

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