Snorkeling with LIONS.. SEA Lions

One of the best parts of the trip was getting to snorkel with huge sea lions!! I have always seen lots of sea lions when visiting California but to get to see them so close up was unreal. They would swim right up to you and look you right in the eyes. It was a bit scary because the male sea lions were always close by and they are almost twice as big as the females and pups. The male sea lions have a distinctive feature called a sagittal crest. This can be spotted on their head almost like a Mohawk. It is thought they have this to help with fighting other male sea lions. Sea lions are also very different from Seals even though they are commonly confused for one another. Sea lions can flip their fins around sort of like arms to help them "walk" while seals can not. Also they have long necks and can turn their heads like we can. Another easy way to tell them apart is to look for their ears! Sea lions will always have ears and seals won't.

From scrach; with love

After returning to CEDO on our last day I looked foward to a nice home cooked meal. The resturants we visited during the trip (though very good) can not compare to a meal made by people who have a passion for the food they prepare. Such people visited us on our last day in mexico. A lovely local women and her family came by CEDO to prepare a farewell dinner for us. We were told that the meal would likely be the culinary highlight of the trip. After our exam and presentations no time was wasted, the dinner bell was rung and dinner was served. I was the first to get a plate, not knowing how much food was made I did not want to miss out on the best she had to offer. I was by no means dossapointed, the food was beyond amazing hands down the best home cooked mexican food I have ever tasted. The ingredients were extremely fresh and you could pratically taste the love that went into cooking them. I could of kissed the women who blessed us all with that amazing meal, I refrained from doing so and chose instead to thank her and her family profusely. After our amazing dinner we capped the day off with a night of talking, laughing, dancing, and smores around a camp fire as we recapped our week long adventure in Puerto Penasco. Our last night in mexico was a memory I won't soon forget and if I ever have the chance to spend time there again I will look up the women who cooked for us on our last night because I will most definitely be staying with her.

Oysters by the ocean

Thursday morning we set out to travel the estuary near CEDO by kayak. A few feet from the spot where our kayaks were being prepared you could see a tiny shack, tables, and boxes floating in the water. We were told that this was an oyster farm ran solely by women and that the oysters collected here found their way to a resturant a short cars ride away. Having never tried oysters before I figured what better way to experience it then having fresh oysters imported from a whopping mile or so away. After kyaking I worked up an appetite and the only thing on my mind was oysters. A few of our group memebers were on the fence about trying it but due to being stranded by high tide and flooded roads along side the exertion of the trip we decided we could all use some food. As we arrived to the resturant my expectations were met with something completely unexpected. The "resturant" was not quite a resturant but more of a shack with a kitchen. The friendly staff took our order immediately as we enjoyed the laid back atmosphere of the oyster shack overlooking the estuary. When our food finally came I got a little tutorial on the finner points of eating oysters. A splash of habanero hot sauce and a toast later it was bottoms up. All in all the experience was amazing turns out I'm not a huge fan of raw oysters but if given the chance I would do it again in a heart beat, just with oysters that are slightly less raw.

Tommy guns and toppings

In my mind the last place you would except to find amazing pizza and wings was mexico but I was pleasantly suprised to find the opposite was true. After our trip to bird island where we scuba dived and snorkeled with the island inhabitants including groups of curious sea lions we made our way to Al Capons, a pizza and seafood resturant in the middle of town. The whole time I thought "pizza.... in Mexico, it's probably not that good" but my expectations were challenged by the unexpected. We sat at our both and went over the menu as the golden state vs spurs game played on the television. One of my group members and I decided to split a meal that basically amounted to carne asada nachos on a pizza along side a dozen bbq hot wings. We talked and laughed until the food was placed in front of us and for a split second it was silent like the calm before a storm, eventually our hunger got the best of us though and we all dug in. The food was amazing, on a scale of one to ten, ten being the best, it was a strong 8 maybe 8 1/2. It was not the best pizza I've ever had but a very, VERY strong contender state side or other wise. Our trip to Al Capons was a little slice of America in Mexico and a nice interlude to the food we've had thus far and the food we'd experience in the days to come.

My third blog post

I am glad to have been alive and well enough to visit all of the different intertidal zones. We started out in the sandy intertidal, then the rocky intertidal, and ended with the mudflats today. Often we would find the same species in different locations. We found sun stars and orange sea stars in both the sandy intertidal and rocky intertidal. We found the fire sponge in all 3 intertidal zones, the largest quantity of that species I found to be in the mudflats. 

There were octopi and brittle stars, barnacles attached to shells or rocks, types of brown algae, blue crabs, and tons of hermit crabs that we saw in all 3 as well. 

Different types of intertidal could be so very different but have similar creatures in every location. 

Even so there were some more specific to certain areas like the Fiddler crabs we found in the mudflats and the Goby or other fish that relied on tide pools of the sandy intertidal. 

Where we are at right now in the mudflats would be about 6 feet deep in water when at high tide. The shore is so far away at this point, it can barely be seen in this photo. 

    Katy Consoer

The mud flats

For our final excursion, on Friday we journeyed out to the mud flats. A larger flat muddy inner tidal zone. There was a lot to see and discover. But without a doubt the most interesting find was when we decided to take a look at the inside of a mussels shell. A nursing mother octopus had taken up residence and made it her home.
   Jesse Roman 

Baby octopus on a clam shell

A small octopus pretending to be its molluscan brother

Fwd: Blog post 3

Kayaking was one of my favorite activities this trip. We went kayaking in an estuary to learn about what estuaries do and what creatures live in them. Estuaries are areas of water where the salt water from the ocean and the fresh water from a river meet. They contain a lot of bivalves, which are things like clams and other creatures that can live off the soft muddy bottom sediment. Some areas in the estuary where we were were deep and pure blue while others were more shallow and covered in different plant matter. The pure blue water made it so tempting to jump in. It looked like a nice blue Gatorade on a hot day! I got to learn the proper way to kayak, which was really cool and helpful. I got to sit in the front seat and every time there was a big wave I got soaked but the water was incredible and nice and warm.

Going to the intertidal near CEDO

Bright and early on Wednesday morning we gathered up and walked down to the low tides which was the lowest I've ever seen a tide. It exposed 3 sections of coral and rocky outcropping for us to explore the biodiversity within. As we begin to traverse the intertidal we begin to see all the different species at the varying depths. Starting at the farthest coral formation we started our search and found many hermit crabs occupying foreclosed snail homes. A surprising find was a rather large octopus was stuck outside of a tidepool trying to stay moist and hide from shorebirds. We managed to get him safely into a deep tidepool where he was able to hide in the rocks. We explored this area alittle longer and slowly moved back as the tide begin to rise covering the exposed coral once again.

Thursday morning at 6:00 a.m. we drove to malecon. To check out the hard/rocky Inner tidal zone. The topography is large volcano rock's although the Sharpe edges have been smooth out by the tides, by nature they are still somewhat sharp and tough to walk on. But even in this rought terrain; I was amazed by they over abundant life present.

   Jesse Roman

Diving at bird island

We first got to the dock in the morning ready to start the trip. It took about 2-3hours to get to the dive spot. Once we were there we were greeted with curious sea lions. We begin to get ready to dive first we got our gear ready and started to jump off the boat along with everyone snorkeling. The first dive was awesome saw a lot of different species. In addition we had many curious sea lions swimming around us and investigating. On our second dive on the otherside of the island we saw a lot more sea urchins and I even saw a sting ray that I startled  when I was floating above there hiding spot. Diving makes you feel like your an observer to an alien planet.

Selfies with animals

For the past two mornings we have gone out into the intertidal zone of Puerto Peñasco. We go out and look for sea creatures under rocks and in the sand. This has been a blast because we are finding the very things we learned about in lecture right there in real life!! Some of these animals are literally out of this world so it is amazing to get to find them and hold them. Applying what we learn has been the most memorable part of this trip. We have one more day so lets hope we find even more critters of the sea tomorrow. Photos featuring: sea star, praying mantis, dr. C with a fish, amd Efraín with praying mantice, sun star, and an octopus

Tide Pools

In Puerto Peñasco, part of our trip here involves exploring what's called the Intertidal Zone, or the thin area of the coast that is exposed by the tides. We've learned a lot about the kinds of organisms that live there, and since we're here, we actually get to see them for ourselves. Usually, we found the most interesting specimens underneath large rocks, but some were also out in the open. Part of the appeal in looking is that you don't know what you're going to find.
We went to two different local beaches to check out what kinds of plants and animals can live in the intertidal zone. The first day, we checked out the beach near CEDO, and found tons of crabs, snails, as well as a few sea stars and even two sun stars, which look like regular sea stars, but with way more than 5 legs. These guys prey on everything in the reef, even other sea stars. Someone even came across an octopus that somehow got stuck on the sand. He was probably about a foot long!
The second day we went to the rocky stretch of coast just to the South of the old town district, el Malecón. There was no sand here, just large, black rocks covered in algae, lichens, and barnacles. There were tons of echinoderms, so lots of brittle stars, sea stars, and by one person's count, five sun stars. Sea anemones seemed to be anchored to every rock, and a few of them that remained underwater had bright, vibrant colors. We found one anemone that had retracted, but it's outside was hot pink with white spots, and it's fair to guess that when extended, it looks pretty cool. Sea cucumbers liked to congregate together with brittle stars underneath large rocks, and when you lifted the rock, they'd make tiny squirting noises and try to hit you with little jets of water. We also found a baby octopus that had cleverly camoflouged itself with the soil, but after the rock had been moved, it became stressed and turned a bright red.
Next time you're at the beach for a day or two, take note of the tides- a quick Google search will tell you everything you need to know. During low tide, chances are that you'll find some interesting stuff in the Intertidal Zone. Just remember to bring gloves, because not everything is friendly, and to be respectful of the local environment by not harming or keeping anything you might find.

Off to the Salt Mines, and relaxing at Punta Coyote

The Trona Salt Mine is about an hour's drive around the Baja from Puerto Penasco, and is a dry, sere white-scape of jumbled boulders of crystalline minerals.  Daniel S., an owner of the Mine, was our host in explaining the history and processes involved in extracting the raw material for distribution for many different uses.  The area is a federally-protected preserve, so no large-scale mechanized work is permitted.  Once scraped from the surface of the earth by simple hand methods (such as dragging an old car hood) the salt minerals are processed into sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and other minerals for use in manufacturing and also in many beauty, health, and skin products.

Daniel then hosted us for a very relaxing hour at his lovely all-by-its-self beach-front bungalow at Punta Coyote, mere steps from the water.  His home has many murals inside and out - with for sure the most beautiful mural of Our Lady I've ever seen for an outdoor shower! 

Tomorrow, into the Estero Morua via kayak with the incoming tide till we run aground on the mud flats for study of its denizens...Then ride the tide out to get Back to CEDO.   

Fwd: Blog post

At Bird Island it's about a 3 hour ride by boat. The Island is locally known as Isla de San Jorge, it is a nature preserve and a Federal offence to step into the Island. During this time the calfs are still young and dependant on there mother and as we quickly found out also; extreamly corious. As soon as we jumped in the water, we where immediately greater by curious youngsters. 

Jesse Roman

Fwd: Blog post 2

Sent from my iPhone

One of the best parts in my opinion about getting to go to Puerto Peñasco is getting to see all the different buildings and the way they decorate their homes on the outside. There are sooo many murals all over the place on almost every wall. There are also tiles on a lot of the walls. They are painted different colors and are all mismatched. All the murals are all very bright and all had something to do with the ocean. My favorite mural was one with a mermaid and a blue whale swimming along side each other. The colors were so bright and the details in the whale amazed me. They were so accurate. It makes me think just how connected I feel to the ocean and the creatures that live in it. And it shows just how beautiful our ocean and the creatures living in it are. Puerto Peñasco is such a bright town with lots of color and amazing buildings that catch your eye.

   Hannah Lee

The salt mines

It was just another day at Cedo where for today's trip we went to the local salt mines to learn a little about  how salt is gathered. Salt mines are mainly in locations were salty water was once abundant, and now that the water is dried up, only salt is left.

Now one that a salt mine would be like any mine right, just be some sort of cave in a mountain. Well that's actually wrong in this case as a salt mine is on the surface covering a lot ground and made up of huge stones like a quarry.

The salt mine was kind of like a farm only you farm salt not vegetables, and it's government protected. Their were also a few wet area of the area so you couldn't walk everywhere.

Their are a few natural springs at the salt mine which attracts animals to the area. A lot of the area of the mine contain concentrated pools of salt that were form do to a little help from rain water.

At Bird Island it's about a 3 hour ride by boat. The Island is locally known as Isla de San Jorge, it is a nature preserve and a Federal offence to step into the Island. During this time the calfs are still young and dependant on there mother and as we quickly found out also; extreamly corious. As soon as we jumped in the water, we where immediately greater by curious youngsters.

La Isla de San Jorge - Monday, May 22

9:30 AM

The day started early. I set my alarm for 5:30, fully expecting to be dead tired on the boat ride, but thanks to an unexpectedly freezing shower and a welcome cup of coffee, I was wide awake for the trip to the island.
It's a three hour cruise to la Isla de San Jorge, and the view is incredible. We travelled away from the coast at a slight angle, watching the detail and the buildings slowly fade from view, while the crests of the island came into greater focus. There was also the local wildlife to keep us occupied, and from the boat we could see sea lions lazily floating, fins up, absorbing the rays of the morning sun. Birds flew in the wake of the boat, taking advantage of the temporary clarity of the water to make a catch. If you've never been, the Sea of Cortez is a vibrant blue, and from the boat you could see it hug the sandy coast, stretching on to the horizon. Pictures don't quite do it justice.
We're approaching the island, so soon we'll get to explore what lies below the tranquil surface. I'm looking forward to it!

***

Around 3:00 PM

We're on our way back to the port now, and it seems like everyone, including myself, is trying to fend off sleep. A siesta seems in order after a day like today.
When we finally arrived at the island, it took us a few minutes to get everyone ready to get into the water. The divers had the most equipment to put on, so they went first. The people who were snorkeling, which included me, didn't take much longer after that to get started. Part of this involved clumsily putting on a wetsuit in the confined space of a boat restroom, which is sort of like trying to put toothpaste back into a tube, only you're the toothpaste and the tube really hates you. After squeezing into one and cycling through three different masks, I finally got out into the water. Naturally, the first thing I did was receive a mouth full of nice, cold, salty water. I probably should have tried clearing my breathing tube before inhaling my daily sodium intake, but I guess that's just my style. Mortal peril aside, I got my bearings and began to explore.
The area we were in was surrounded by sea lions and various birds, and while the water isn't crystal clear, visibility to the bottom was fairly good. We were immediately greeted by sea lions, who had been swimming about the boat playfully while we got ready. Once in the water, the sea lions would jet up to us from behind in what felt like an attempt to scare the crap out of us- and admittedly, it did startle me more than once. They even got close enough to touch, although we were told in advance to keep our distance for our safety, and for obvious reasons, trying to pet a wild sea lion is not advisable. These sea lions didn't seem to get the memo about personal space, but it was adorable to watch them rocket about around you and play, so for a few minutes we let them while we continued exploring, before wandering away from them.
After the sea lions, I ran into a school of fish casually swimming about, and they didn't seem too phased about a human floating in their midst, though unlike the sea lions, they kept their distance. There were at least 50 of them, each with the same white and black stripes and a yellow tail. Wading out further, a barnacle-covered outcrop shallow enough to stand on hid a sea star near the base, hugging a boulder.
We spent the next few hours snorkeling, and went to a different area about halfway through. A few students even tried freediving, and someone even managed to nab a shell from what looked like several meters down.
This outing was definitely one to remember. I wish we got to spend more time snorkeling, and the next time I get the opportunity, I'm getting scuba certified so I can participate in real dives. I'll absolutely try to do this again as soon as I can!

Bigger than life

A real fin whale skeleton! CEDO has a full fin whale skeleton on display. You don't realize just how huge certain types of whales are until you are staring their skeleton right in the baleen (which basically is a bunch of keratin strips packed tightly into a whales mouth instead of teeth so they can filter out the small plankton as food like a giant comb). 

Blog 1

Monday was quite an exciting day, even for us snorkelers. I got to experience playful, defensive, and sometimes aggressive sea lions. They are fast and flip and swim in all directions. The babies were the most interested in us and the Bulls (the males) were the most defensive. At one point, while kayaking near the rocks that a ton of sea lions were occupying, the Bull moved from the rock into the water in an initial effort to protect that area. He made a move in my direction and at that point I was told to come back to the boat before I ended up in the water. 

This wasn't the only marine life I saw. There were a couple schools of Sargeant Majors that we saw in the rocky intertidal. 

I also saw pelicans looking for a meal all along bird island. According to Dr. Bennett, they are not very discriminatory eaters. 

Woke Up Like This. 5/21/17

Here at CEDO we get to sleep outside on the deck with the stars shining all around us and the ocean right in front. Not only is this place magical because it it insanely gorgeous but also because they are working towards a better world. CEDO (center for the study of deserts and oceans) is working towards sustainable fishing and is all about environmental education. Our adventure here has barely begun and I am anxious to keep learning and growing here in Puerto Peñasco.

Below and Above the Deep Blue Sea

Yesterday, our group of amateur but enthusiastic marine biologists motored to Isla de la Jorge on the boat Sirena de la Noche for snorkeling and scuba.  The cruise was a slow but steady three hours from Puerto Penasco on very calm seas.

The several very small rocky outcroppings which make up the island host a multitude of sea birds, who have made the rocks white with guano.  The birds' calls were loud, but overwhelmed by the barking and baying of the many sea lions.  Snorkeling was in murky conditions, but still a startling adventure made so by the sudden zoom-bys of the sea lion pups, who are very curious.  Good thing no appearances were made by any belligerent males.

Today, we were off to transect the high tide/low tide expanse of beach at Estero Mauro, adding to the ongoing census of nests of the least tern and plover.  The nests blend in well with the colors of the beach, but we were successful in finding about a dozen or so with unhatched eggs, all told.  Katie also conducted a fearless necropsy on a dead grebe to see if there were remnants of plastics in its gullet, but none were seen.

Tomorrow we're out the front door of Cedo to the beach investigate the creatures of the rocky intertidal zone.      

Taking part in scientific research!

Today, on the 23rd day of May, we ventured into The Morua Estuary to survey the different species of birds along with their nests and eggs. For those that may not know and Estuary is the meeting point between a river and an ocean. The river produces large amounts of sediments and nutrients into the Estuary while the ocean provides tides and salinity, both of these aspects together create a very successful natural habitat for many species. This is why we decided to go see some of the migrant bird species that nest there during certain times of the year. We saw three main species during our survey, the American Oystercatcher, Wilson's Plover, and the Least Tern. 

This egg was laid by an Oystercatcher. The easiest way to distinguish these from the other two species is their size. The other two species' eggs are generally very small, usually around half the size of a chickens egg, while this one, as you can see, is around the same size possibly even slightly larger than a chickens egg. 

While exploring the Estuary we noticed a few dead birds and we had a theory that these birds were dying because they were eating too much plastic. After a short time we decided to basically do a field autopsy on these birds. 

Fortunately, after we opened two birds, there was no evidence of plastic in the birds stomach ruling that out as a cause of death. However, it is important to be aware of this problem because many marine animals are found with plastic in their stomachs and it's causing a decline in population. 

-Brandon Gutierrez

Estero Morua

This morning we went to estero Morua, to do some bird nest and bird egg counting for a survey. We did this activity to see how a few certain bird populations in the area we growing as it is breeding season.

We checked to see how they were growing by looking for nests that still had some eggs in them. Then we recorded what we found on special charts as we went along.

The birds eggs that we were focused on looking for were Least Tern eggs which were light green with black spots. We also kept an eye for Wilson's Plover and American Oystercatcher birds and nests as well

We also looked for any young birds and as well as adult females flying around. Together we found a decent number of eggs, and saw some cute birds wandering around.

Yesterday we chartered a boat, the Sirena de la Noche, and took a three hour trip to Isla de San Jorge for snorkeling, scuba diving, and to see some sea lions living there. The sea lions were constantly barking as if they were speaking to each other.

The waters where we were snorkeling were quite murky, and it wasn't very deep either (about 20 feet). we saw a few small schools of fish and a few fish that were on their own. There were a few sea lion pups swimming around us, and playing with each other like energetic kids.

The mountains of the island were white thanks to the bird guano (hence the English name bird island). The island had many birds on it that mainly consisted of seagulls and herons.

Afterwards, we had some great American style pizza at a place called Al Capone's. There were several wandering guitarists playing songs on request.

This morning we participated in a survey of the Morua where specific birds will

On the Beach, and on the trail of the illusive Vaquita...

A good crew, ready to save the world (or at least the tip of the Baja)...
     Tony Halas

Transformations

Even our students are turning into local sea creatures! Pictured is Diondre as the local totoaba!  Tomorrow we go out on one of our excursions to see more of the local sea life.  We will leave at 7 a.m. on a chartered boat to visit Isla San Jorge or Bird Island which is the 2nd largest sea lion colony in the Gulf of California.  It is a 3 hour boat trip each way but snorkeling and diving with sea lions will be worth it!

We have arrived and are learning already!

Students listening to a talk on the natural history of Puerto Penasco and learning about CEDO's role in community education and sustainable fisheries.

Here we go!

And this is just the food!