Nature Cruise

Last Saturday my sister's family, friend and I took a 5&1/2 hour nature cruise to and around the Coronado Islands. The islands are approximately 15 miles from San Diego and are within the Mexican territorial waters.

PORT OF SAN DIEGO
The cruise initiated from the Port of San Diego and we enjoyed exploring a bit before we left. Here's a small bit of the San Diego skyline down by the port.















Here's the obligatory jumping picture! Yes, my family has the spirit! Nice photo taking Vicki! Behind us is the Star of India - now permanently moored in the bay and acting as a naval museum.















There's some great public art to be viewed as you walk along the coast line. Here's a couple samples - one featuring Vicki.



















SAN DIEGO BAY
Here's some pictures taken while the boat was still within San Diego Bay (before getting out to the Pacific Ocean).

You can see why San Diego is such a favored retirement community. Imagine waking up in one of the houses that overlook the bay every morning!















The end of the land that forms San Diego Bay is Point Loma (where nearby Taylor and Courtney attend Point Loma College). Here's the lighthouse on the point. Interestingly, this is the second lighthouse they installed. The first one, for some reason, was built over 400 ft above sea level. The problem was, that when inclimate weather would come in the lighthouse would be obscured by the cloud cover and so the lighthouse was relatively ineffective.















A buoy in the bay. A warm spot for a nap.



















UNDER THE SEA

Common Dolphins
The first wildlife we came upon was a huge pod of common dolphins. The captain informed us that the pod was approximately 1/2 mile across. There were hundreds of dolphins all around us. We would drift into the pod and enjoy them swimming around us (right next to the boat - see 1st picture). Then, the captain cranked up the engines and the dolphins started running after us and playing! It was an awesome display.


























Grey Whales
Frankly, about the only exciting thing about chasing down a grey whale is to see a tail fluke. Once you see the whale blow (1st picture).. then you stand a chance of seeing them dive and show their tail fluke. Then, it's over and off to other sights and sounds. Note San Diego in the background of the first picture.






















Risso Dolphins
These initially look like killer whales.. with their large dorsal fin. However, they are Risso Dolphins. They are about 4 times the size of a common dolphin - but only about 1/10th as social. For the most part, they just kept their distance from our boat and kept on their way to wherever they were going. We were told that these type of dolphins are only spotted off the coast of San Diego a few times a year.










SEA BIRDS

Brown Pelicans
The Coronado Islands are one of the principle breeding grounds for the brown pelican. Approximately 12,000 inhabit one of the Coronados. These are incredible animals to see in flight as they fly incredibly low to the water in search of food. The second picture shows a couple in flight.
























Cormorants
These birds are amazing swimmers. We were told they swim even better that penguins and are fierce fishers.














Umm.. what do you suppose causes the tops of the rocks on the Coronados to be so.... white?? (Hint... what's the stuff that is white that gets on your car sometimes?).
















Boobies
These birds are relatively rare boobies. Apparently, there are only about 200 of them along the California coastline. Most of them nest on the Coronados.
















American Oystercatcher
This is a very unique with their dark body, yellow/pink legs and red beak. These are very rare birds and it was great to spot a couple as we toured around the islands.















ISLAND WILDLIFE

A beautiful cove. You can imagine just how beautiful the snorkeling is here during summer.















The boat got us quite close to several of the Coronados. In one cove we visited a couple sea elephants surrounded by a number of sea lions. Here's the big daddy.












Here's some beautiful blue sea urchins that are exposed during low tide which is when we visited the islands.











And finally, here's some sea lions luxuriating in the afternoon sun.