November 12, 2018
Hello all,
We landed today at Isla Carmen. We anchored in a calm spot and everyone went ashore for most of the day. The landing is a sandy beach and some people went for a swim after hiking to survey plants, insects, and birds.
Collected plants in presses, drying in Searcher’s warm engine room
Isla Carmen is known for its population of big horn sheep and there were multiple sightings of them today. There is a hunting lodge here, run by the owners of the island.
A few people have elected to camp overnight on the beach and a team who are studying the nocturnal animals will go over for a few hours to survey and set traps. We will go ashore early to collect the small mammal traps, retrieve the data and then release any animals. We will cover the south end of the island tomorrow.
One of the San Diego Natural History Museum‘s curators aboard now for this research expedition is Jon Rebman. He states:
The natural world that I seek out in the desert regions of Baja California and southern California provides me with scientific adventure, excitement towards botany, respect for nature, and overall feelings of peace and purpose.
Read more about Dr Rebman’s Botany Department here. We are honored to have Jon and the rest of the scientists aboard!
