Gulf of California

Whale Tail
© Miguel Ángel Cisneros

Whales
The blue whale (the largest animal that has ever existed and is endangered), the fin whale, humpback whale, grey whale, sperm whale and orca are abundant in the Sea of Cortez and the Baja California Peninsula, where they reproduce and feed. The Sea of Cortez provides a unique opportunity to enhance the scientific knowledge of these species, as the basis for their conservation.

Sea Turtles
Five species of sea turtles feed and spawn in this region, loggerhead, olive Ridley, leatherback, hawksbill and black, the last three are endangered. The main spawning and nesting zones are located along the coastlines of Sinaloa, Nayarit and Baja California Sur, while the main feeding zones are the Midriff Islands and the western coast of Baja California Sur.

Sharks and billfish
River mouths, estuaries and coastal lagoons are breeding zones for shark, like the white shark, thresher shark and the scalloped hammerhead shark, among others. The sea mounts and rocky reefs in the Gulf of California are aggregation areas for billfish stocks like the swordfish, sailfish, marlin and Mahi-mahi. Their migration routes are unknown and there is limited information regarding their biology and ecology, which makes their conservation difficult.

Shrimp
Fifty seven percent of the Mexican vessels that are devoted to shrimp fishery are located in the Gulf of California. For every kilogram of shrimp, 14 kg of other species are trapped. The bycatch of this fishery affects over 100 fish species and between 85 and 114 invertebrate species. On the other hand, shrimp fishery is among the 11 that are at the maximum exploitation level in the Gulf of California, along with sardine, lobster, blue crab, corvine, porgy, sole, whitefish, sea bass, octopus and shark.

Vaquita
The vaquita porpoise lives in its natural habitat in the Upper Gulf of California and Colorado River Delta Biosphere Reserve; it is one of the world’s smallest and most threatened cetaceans and the single marine mammal endemic species in Mexico. Its distribution is limited –it inhabits only a very restricted region in the Upper Gulf of California; nowadays, less than 150 specimen of this species survive. The vaquita was unknown to science until about 50 years ago and it is currently included in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources as a Critically Endangered Species.