Bahia de los Angeles

[mogurnda]

Hey all,

 

While my wife is in DC, desperately trying to keep the tanks alive after the storm, I am sitting on a porch in Mexico watching terns, pelicans, boobies and gulls diving into the water a few yards offshore. It's hard to believe that DC even exists when I am in a place like this.

 

I have been coming down here for the past few years to volunteer with a group called Ocean Discovery Institute. They are quite an amazing group of people, who work with students who are traditionally underrepresented in science to get them motivated and prepared for college. Part of that is a 5-week field session, where they work on projects in marine ecology down here in the bay, and a very old friend of mine is one of the scientists overseeing this part of the curriculum. My part is to give a few lectures and hang out with the students as a visiting scientist.

 

The bay is gorgeous, the kids are amazing, and I learn at least as much as they do. Because the bay is so productive, and the ecosystem so unusual, it is a Biosphere reserve, and I hope that will help keep the place healthy. The fishermen can earn a good living, but there is always the worry that it will become overdeveloped.

 

It is hard to explain how much fun it is, even though I am sweaty, dirty, and hot. Maybe some photos will help. I took most of them, but one of the graduate students is a fantastic photographer, so a few are hers.

 

We all sleep outside of the station, and wake up to this

 

 

Between the lousy connection here and the bugginess of photobucket, this may take a few tries.

[hbh]

Hot? Buggy? I'll gladly trade places with you, Dave! It is hot and buggy here but hands down you have the better view and fun! Enjoy your time there!

[mogurnda]

Yeah, I guess I can't complain. I can jump in the bay when it's hot, and the fridge works.

 

Here are wome from a few days ago, when we went out to the islands.

 

On the way out, we came across a small group of sea lions "rafting" with their flippers out of the water to warm up. Her eis the big male.

 

One one of the islands, Coronadito, there is a colony of blue-footed boobies. This was taken by the graduate student who works there.

 

On another trip to the same island the next day, we had set some stuff up and were waiting on shore for the rest of the crew before getting on the boat. Some dolphin swam in slowly, and then spent about 10 minutes swimming back and forth in a leisurely way, poking their heads out to look at us. Then they moved off and started to frolic.

 

Have to run to a meeting. More soon.

[hbh]

Wow! That is awesome! Next time take your wife!

Any chance you know how a teen could do/join in on something like this?

[Coral Hind]

Nice pictures! It looks like a very peaceful place. You are lucky not to be on Campus this week. We had power but with the lights out on 355 and Georgetown Rd it was a pain getting around.

[mogurnda]

Yeah, it sounds like a total mess. I got a message that our power finally went on the day I left. I am now in San Diego for a few days, so I have better internet connectivity and it is wonderfully cool. I almost needed a sweater at a barbecue last night.

 

Any chance you know how a teen could do/join in on something like this?

For the moment, he or she would have to be a student at Hoover High School in San Diego. The good news is that NOAA is trying to clone the program for the Chesapeake Bay area. It is not clear what that would look like, but I will post as I know more.

 

It is hard to photograph the station, because no angle really captures it, but here is a view on the bay side, just before the students wake up. we are all on cots outside at night.

 

Some of the students were working on a project to reduce turtle bycatch by putting UV LEDs on gill nets. It seems to work well to keep the turtles out, but they also have to be sure it does not reduce the fishermen's target catch or they worn't use them. I normally work on the islands, but went out for ine morning to pull nets and count fish.

 

One of the students, a fisherman and his daughter. Most of the students are hispanic, making communication much easier.

 

They pulled in a turtle on one of the other boats. Fortunately it was fine, and they could release it.

 

Once again, I have to run, but will keep posting as time permits.

[mogurnda]

One of the other main projects looks at the flow of energy from the sea to the land. The sea is very rich, because of nutrients upwelling from deeper water, while the land is pretty sparse. By looking at beetle populations and the movement of stable isotopes, they are getting a good look at how animals on the land make use of stuff that washes up, or guano, or dead birds.

 

For me, the islands are also just plain cool.

 

Cabeza de Caballo (looks like a horse head from above)

 

 

The Gemelitos

 

 

 

Photobucket just crashed again. More in a little while.

[mogurnda]

One of the fisherman catching fish for the beetle traps.

 

Pata, with a view toward Bota. Less stark than the Gemelitos.

 

It looks like a tough year for pelicans. They are very aggressive around the boats and where the fihermen were cleaning the fish, and I saw at least 4 dead ones washed up on different mornings.

 

i have to end with a whale shark. I did not see any this visit, but the setup crew came across this one, and there were quite a few others sighted.