Another trip to Isla Isabelz

I just got back from another trip out to Isla Isabel, and it was probably the best trip I've done out there. To start, we took off from Punta Mita in the afternoon, with little wind and smooth seas, and suddenly there were tons of whales all over, and a bunch of dolphins, so I stopped the boat and went for a swim. They didn't show themselves to me, but I could hear the dolphins clicking at me, checking me out. I got back aboard and soon after we saw a marlin jumping, followed by a school of something big (maybe Tuna) and a flock of the same Black Noddy that I saw one before of at Roca Corbetena. They flew around and tried to snatch the fish the tuna (suspected tunas) were eating. I couldn't manage to convince the big fish to bite a lure of mine, however. Sunset followed shortly, and I missed my chance to get more photos of the Noddies, and we headed north into the darkness. It was a pleasant night with lots of stars and pretty smooth, and we got in the next morning without any fuss, to Isla Isabel. First off we jumped in and swam over to a group of Bigeye Jacks that lives in an archway underwater, and there is more to that family than I've ever seen before. They swarmed around me and it was very cool. Some of them are quite big. We did tons of snorkeling but the visibilty was never better than about 40 ft, mostly around 20.

 The Blue-footed Boobies were nesting and mating and we got lots of looks at them. I learned that the male birds whistle and the females honk. I also have been trying to figure out why some have dark around their eyes and others do not. Other than that, they look very similar. In the lower photo, however, look at the pupil of the two boobies and see if you can see one is smaller than the other. In fact, they are both about the same, but one has more black on the inside of the iris, and the pupil is circular, just hidden by the black iris.

We found a few nesting Tropic Birds and looked carefully at them, one was out hunting still and we found the baby "fluff nuggett" waiting for mama to come back.

 Probably the cutest bird on the island, and shortly afterward we saw the most ugly of all birds on the islands. Pelican Babies. They are like little house-elves, all wrinkled and nasty and wierd. 

 I got maybe the most unflattering shot of one with zits on its neck and wrinkles and an eyelid half closed. Or a nictitating membrane. 

 The adults are quite handsome however.

 I got a few nice shots from aloft with the kite of the southern cove and the west side of the island. Its hard to get the kite high enough to cover the whole island.

Also we were diving on the west side, where its a big drop off, and suddenly there were some Giant Manta Rays flying under us! I dove down and got some video, and here are some stills. This one was about 15 ft across I think, it was the biggest one I've seen close up. It waited for me to ride it, but I didn't have the guts.

 After 5 days out at Isla Isabel we sailed down to San Blas, and I managed to scrape through the channel and get in to the estuary at a -0.6 tide, though I touched the bottom a little. The bugs weren't too bad, but we went up to the fort to look around and got attacked by a lot of mosquitoes, and I don't know why they are only up there, but they are quick and the bites don't go away quickly. Still, I found a Russet Crowned Motmot up there and I got a nice shot of the old church.
Here is the Motmot, look carefully in the middle.

 As we returned to Bandaras Bay we saw a dead Dolphin wrapped in fishing gear. I can never really support commercial fishing because of sights like this. Also I prefer to eat my own fish I catch.

And lot of whales the whole trip. This one is a nice little breacher we sailed by.