After some loss of life, Hezeta decided to return to Mexico, but Bodega y Quadra refused to follow him without having completed the essential mission, which was to locate the Russians.

He continued northward on the Sonora and got as far as what is now close to Sitka, Alaska, reaching 59˚ North Latitude on 15 August 1775.

[3] The vessel, its full name Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (generally known as the Señora) with a crew of 16 was intended to perform coastal reconnaissance and mapping, and could make landfall in places the larger Santiago was unable to approach on its previous voyage; in this way, the expedition could officially lay claim to the lands north of Mexico it visited.

A narrow passage between Sonora and Maurelle Islands, Hole in the Wall, is the site of extremely powerful tidal currents and whirlpools.

Discovery Mountain, on the western part of Sonora Island, has a Canadian Coast Guard radiocommunication station.