After hours of crashing surf, Lucio and I arrive on the eastern shores of Isla Espiritu Santo. We dock the boat near the shore and wade towards a white-sand beach. Immediately, the beach declares itself uninhabited with millions of unpicked shells, the half-eaten skeletons of balloon fish, and the unusual-looking skeletons of perished brown pelicans.
I pick up the sunbleached head of a former brown pelican. It is unusually light, as far as skeletons go. Even so with its long beak. Brown pelicans reach up to eight pounds, but the skeletons of these 7.5 foot wingspan birds are only nine ounces. In Baja, the brown pelican is brilliantly colored in red, yellow and white. He hunts for fish by gliding low over areas he suspects to hold a catch. He may glide for minutes, or simply fold his wings and 'bomb' himself into the water. This amazing act occurs all day long near the shores of the island. This constant act of a fragile creature literally crashing himself into the water almost constantly seems impossible. But the brown pelican is equipped with internal air-chambers that act as miniature shock-absorbing air bags.
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Conservationists involved in Isla Espiritu Santo also seek to protect the habitats of seals and sea lions in the area. What's always interested me is what is the difference between the two, and are they related?
