Friday 28 February 2025 Chamela and Punta Perula

Grupo 3/Group 3. Mikaela, Sienna, Josh

Booby Day!

Theres nothing like waking up in the morning and knowing your going to get to see boobies. The brown booby is a seabird found along the coasts of Mexico and like its cousin the Blue-footed booby on the Galápagos Islands as well. A short bus ride to Punta Pérula forces the socks and sandels to come off, and the fishy air welcomed us to the beach once again.CONANP is an organization charged with managing the protection of local island ecosystems, including bird island. While waiting for lifejackets, we watched the tropical fish including a spotted box fish near the dock before climbing into the boats which would take us to bird island. With the opportunity of seeing whales in sight all eyes were on the water. “Look” a pod of dolphins was spied leaping from the water near our boats. On the rocks Frigatebirds, Pelicans, Brown and Brown Boobies and Snowy Egrets Caught our eyes as well! The beach was tucked within a calm cove fringed with cliffs dotted with cacti and had the clearest of turquoise waters. For an hour and a half we floated our built up aches away, soothing our numerous bug bites providing some much needed relaxation after some hard days in the field. We all shared Alexia’s mask and snorkel to have a peak at the fish under the water, most notably angel fish and an octopus.

What felt like too soon we packed up to return to the mainland, leaving not trace and throwing all of our beautiful shells and coral back onto the beach were they came. The captain of the Monkey 1 took his boat to the mouth of Diablo Cave, Naida remarked “I feel so alive” which resonated with her whole boat. For all of us, spotting Blue-footed Boobies was a once in a lifetime event!

After bidding good bye and thank-you we returned to the beach for lunch and a round of piña coladas. Steve slipped a couple bills to a wandering Mariachi band and Alexia demonstrated the norteño and soon got everyone up dancing! “TOOT TOOT” the old man’s popsicle cart was a popular treat while we waited for our food! Quesadillas, enchiladas and coconut shrimp filled our bellies before we returned to the sea to catch a few waves as the tide came back in. We swallowed so much sea water while body surfing, sand got everywhere. Father Steve called us children back to the bus to return to the research station for dinner and showers and a creature presentation about the Brown Booby by Josh.

Boats leaving Punta Perula. Photo David Lougheed