Thanks, Robert, Pix and Lamar.
Karl, that's exactly what we did. For me, the highlight of the whole experience was snorkeling with the sea lions. Of course, none of the animals are afraid of humans, so the playful and curious sea lion youngsters, and some mamas would swim with us and around us and blow bubbles in our faces to get a real close look through our masks. A little unnerving with their speed and quickness in the water. They pulled off some Kamakaze moves very well. Coming at you point blank at full speed, and veering away at the very last second as they blow bubbles in your face. The first time I experienced it I was frozen.
Here are your Opuntias. It's difficult to appreciate scale, but these trunks might as well be on an oak tree. The tall one on the right is somewhere between 15-20 feet. Of course, the plant life in the islands is not very exciting. There were some islands we went to that had no more than a couple of lava cactus amongst only lava rock. We saw almost no plants at all. These were the youngest volcanic islands that haven't developed much plant life yet.