Sea of Cortez Species List

(as of 5 February, 2010)


“What was the shape and size and color and tone of this little expedition? We slipped into a new frame and grew to be a part of it, related in some subtle way to the reefs and beaches, related to the little animals, to the stirring waters and the warm brackish lagoons. This trip had dimension and tone. It was a thing whose boundaries seeped through itself and beyond into some time and space that was more than all the Gulf and more than all our lives.”
John Steinbeck – Log from the Sea of Cortez.

Mammals
Bottlenose Dolphin
California Sealion
Short-finned Pilot Whale
Killer Whale
Bryde’s Whale
Black Jackrabbit
Antelope Squirrel


Birds
Laughing Gull
Brown Pelican
Yellow-footed Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Osprey
Belted Kingfisher
Double-crested Cormorant
Brandt’s Cormorant
Reddish Egret
Snowy Egret
Caspian Tern
Magnificent Frigatebird
Tricoloured Heron
White Ibis
Whimbrel
Turkey Vulture
Willet
Great Blue Heron
American Golden Plover
Greater Yellowlegs
Blue-footed Booby
Eared Grebe
Brown Booby
American Oystercatcher
Common Raven
Northern Mockingbird
Lesser Goldfinch
Cassin’s Finch
Blue-grey Gnatcatcher
Gila Woodpecker
Black-throated Sparrow
California Gnatcatcher
Red Cardinal
Costa’s Hummingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
Heerman’s Gull
Violet-green Swallow
Black-capped Night Heron
Red-tailed Hawk
Verdin
Golden Eagle
Spotted Sandpiper
Canyon Wren
Black-vented Shearwater
Peregrine
House Finch
Little Blue Heron
Great Egret
Lesser Scaup
Red Billed Tropic Bird
Craveri’s Murrelet
Lesser Nighthawk
White-crowned Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Green-tailed Towhee
Western Scrub-Jay
Ladder-backed Woodpecker



Fish
Yellowtail Surgeonfish
Bicolor Parrotfish
Leopard Grouper (including a golden phase)
Manta Ray
Green Moray
Moorish Idol
Guineafowl Puffer
Cortez Rainbow Wrasse
Giant Damselfish
Scissortail Damselfish
Flatiron Herring
Blue-and-Gold Snapper
King Angelfish
Barberfish
Sergeant Major
Pacific Beaubrummel
Mexican Hogfish
Longnose Hawkfish
Yellowfin Surgeonfish
Finescale Triggerfish
Coral Hawkfish
Cortez Damselfish
Mexican Goatfish
Rainbow Runner
Pacific Sierra
Spotted Porcupinefish
Yellow Jack
Convict Tang
Machete
Banded Guitarfish
Spotted Green Puffer
Threebanded Butterflyfish
Diamond Stingray
Wounded Wrasse
Spottail Grunt
Cornetfish
Bumphead Damselfish
Cortez Garden Eel
Blunthead Triggerfish
Cortez Grunt
Graybar Grunt
Panamic Fanged Blenny
Orangeside Triggerfish
Jewel Moray
Bullseye Stingray
Yellow Snapper
Barred Pargo
Blue-and-Yellow Chromis
Zebra Moray
Sunset Wrasse

I can already hear the invertebrate taxonomists that I used to work with “where’s the invert list!!??” But this really is a place of fish, although the coral warrants mentioning. Also looking at this list it seems that I need to learn how to identify the beautiful reptiles here! More books required….

Photos: Short-nosed Rock Lizard, Short-finned Pilot Whale, Bottlenose Dolphins, Green Turtle, Yellow-footed Gull, Immature Brandt's Cormorant, Brown Pelican, Speckled Rattlesnake, Wilson's Plover, California Sealion, Espiritu Santo Striped Whipsnake

What is it?

Calling all Ichthyologists!

We found this weird monster in a bay on Espiritu Santo Island. We can only imagine that it is a deep sea fish (it has gills, we checked). So if anyone has any idea what species it is, we would love to know. This very dead specimen is missing its jaw, so we think maybe it was caught by a fisherman (what a surprise that would be!) and quickly chucked off the line. It measures 4.2 meters (yes we went ashore with a tape measure). It really frightened our friend Barbara when she came across it while snorkeling in the shallows!

Epilogue (a few days later)



We have found our species, well at least the genus. We went to the National Park office armed with our photos and found someone there who studies fish and was very interested. She told us that it was indeed a deep sea fish, called an Oarfish or Peces Remo, which means paddle (Regalecus sp), so named because it is so flat. It is almost never seen alive, only washed up dead or nearly dead. The longest ever recorded fish is of this species, and one washed up in Western Australia a couple days ago and made the news (amazing what you can find on Google). She also kindly gave us these photos which show the fish with more colour. Mystery solved.

Sea of Cortez

This is the time of year when everyone living in the northern temperate climate dreams of spring, the returning warmth of the sun and longer daylight hours. It is not surprising that we recently had some friends willing to travel great distances to visit us in the Sea of Cortez. The furthest was Barbara, coming from Scotland where the winter is particularly grim this year. Space on Narama is small and there aren’t many luxuries. Our shower, for example, is a bag of water heated by the sun, hung from the boom over the cockpit. It’s not very private and the water is only hot if you shower between noon and about 4 pm, outside these times it is fairly chilly, made worse if there’s any breeze blowing in the anchorage. But these are relatively minor sacrifices. Besides, we have been lucky with our wildlife sightings, exploring gorgeous desert islands, paddling meandering mangrove lagoons and snorkeling in crystal blue water full of fish, which all make us feel incredibly fortunate.
When Jared and Christie joined us after Christmas we had four experienced marine mammal observers onboard. The pressure was on! We saw a large pod of Short-finned Pilot Whales, followed by Killer Whales, which we thought were harassing a Bryde’s Whale. Cameras were poised to catch a major feeding event, but nothing dramatic transpired. It has been a lovely few weeks of enjoying this place that Jaques Cousteau described as “the world’s aquarium.” We are slowly learning to recognize most of the common fish species after snorkeling nearly everyday.
Bryde's Whales: Photo Jared Towers.

We are about to settle in an anchorage not far from La Paz and get back to work. Unfortunately it’s not gainful employment, but work on Narama. We can’t pass up all this fine weather without taking the opportunity to varnish, polish, reseal the toe-rail, fix the starter on the engine… and so the list goes on.

Southern Baja

A new species of fish took our line the evening we sailed from Bahia Magdelena for the 180nm jump down to bottom of the Baja peninsula. Thus we feasted on dorado for the next two days - magnificent in all respects, the colours are so vivid when it is first caught . It got off the hook before I killed it, so another bloody mess in the cockpit while it slid around with the boat bouncing merrily along and me trying to subdue it with a little brandy and a winch handle. Fish don’t have eye lids, so they see the winch handle coming with every strike, the large fish with big eyes make this process fairly unappealing, hence the alcohol(for the fish). Approaching the sprawling condos and tourist traps of Cabo we ran out of wind after a good sail down with only 4 sail changes. I wonder how Steinbeck would have described the jet skis, para-sailers, cruise ships, dinner cruisers, glass bottom pangas, sports fishing vessels, tall ships……… all crammed into the protection of the small Cape. All this in only 30 years! So we left the next morning. Our planned early departure was delayed by heavy sleep and we paid for it as we beat into 25 – 30 knots and steep sea’s later in the day, so Bahia Los Frailes was a welcome relief late that evening.
As part of a national park, the waters and reefs here were teeming with fish. Even the snorkelling around the boat with large schools of green jacks that adorned each of the dozen boats in the anchorage was an experience. Not a bad place to be stuck waiting for weather. Manta rays often leaped out of the water nearby and we had a potluck beach dinner with other cruisers, flew a kite, cut Heidi’s hair and hiked on the white sand beach and hills above the bay. The need for internet to organize Christmas plans and work contracts for Heidi (now dissolved) and a fairly dire need of water (down to 30L) pushed us on. So another day of heavy weather motor sailing into 25- 30kns for another 46 miles up to Los Muertos. Finding our needs here but still running low on most other things (the only fresh things on board now are a few limes and ½ a chili, the yeast is done so its all un-leven bread, and no more eggs for baking), so we have been creative with the canned food supply and growing lots of sprouts. Our perceived short supply of tucker is relative to the plentiful larder we are used to, in reality we could make do for much longer, but we are fortunate having the option to restock. Many of the small fish camps that we have past don’t always have this option. So we stayed till the northerly winds abated and had a great sail most of the way around to La Paz. Now it is clean up time for us and the boat to rid the many layers of salt that has slowly coated everything.

Mag Bay Reunion

Six years ago we were introduced to Baja on a kayaking trip to the remote mangrove channels north of Bahía Magdelena (Mag Bay) by our friend Rick, a great adventurer and kindred spirit. Sailing Narama south was a perfect opportunity for a Baja reunion. So we met Rick in Asuncion a few weeks ago, where Angela and Miguel were gracious hosts to us all six years ago. They were wonderful to us once again; son Miguelito took us fishing for the day, then Miguel BBQed our tuna that evening. It was a special treat to take some of the family out for an afternoon of sailing as a thank-you and have a hundred dolphins swim past.
Sailing with friends in Asuncion

On the next stage of our reunion, Rick paddled out to meet us in Puerto Magdelena, for a week of exploring new territory in Mag Bay. First a hike up the ridge on Isla Magdelena for spectacular scenery of the outer bay and mangrove channels, then we sailed south to anchor in an isolated little bay on Isla Margarita. Stevo and Rick did an overnight reconnaissance paddling trip to see if it was possible to cross the “Rehusa” a potentially narly mouth of water where wind and tide can whip up and be unfriendly to kayaks (no crossing this time). Heidi explored on land from the anchorage and discovered a beautiful lagoon full of birds and a great hike. So we all went up a canyon into the middle of the island, which we named “Arroyo Mariposa” after the multitude of butterflies on all the greenery lining the canyon. We even found a pool of fresh water to freshen up on the return – a rare treat in Baja!

Vulture Silhouettes

Rick is an avid fisherman and caught us a fine dinner of Corvina, Spotted Bay Bass and Halibut, which we cooked over an open fire on our beautiful beach. It was a quintessentially perfect evening – sunset, bottle of wine, fire, great food and company, in a week of great sailing and exploring. As Rick would say, “we’re living like millionaires!”

Dining out on the beach

Mag Bay Species List

Magnificent Frigatebird
Long-billed Curlew
Willet
Elegant Tern
Brown Pelican
Snowy Egret
Great Blue Heron
Reddish Egret
Black-crowned Night Heron
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Little Blue Heron
White Ibis
Green Heron
American Oystercatcher
Spotted Sandpiper
Marbled Godwit
Osprey
Western Gull
Western Grebe
Belted Kingfisher
Caspian Tern
Mangrove Vireo
Double-crested Cormorant
Brandt Cormorant
Turkey Vulture
Great Egret
Semipalmated Plover
Heerman’s Gull
Red-tailed Hawk
Peregrine
American Kestrel
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
Golden Vireo
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Raven
Black-throated Sparrow
Loggerhead Shrike
Costa’s Hummingbird
Whimbrel
Forster’s Tern
Western Sandpiper
Sanderling
Mangrove Warbler
Eared Grebe
Tricoloured Heron

Isla Guadalupe

Rock Formations on Guadalupe

A lovely NW breeze meant that we could set sail inside the breakwater in Ensenada. We tacked among the freighters anchored in Bahia Todos Santos and headed west into the setting sun. We thought that we would likely spend the night at the nearby islands of Todos Santos, but found all the anchorages full of aquaculture nets. While we approached a fellow came out in a panga to let us tie up to a mooring for a “propina” or tip for el Jefe. We stayed long enough to prepare dinner and watch a huge pod of dolphins in the last of the setting sun. It would take us two nights to reach Guadaupe Island in light winds, which had us frequently changing sails and occasionally give up and run the engine. We approached the north end of the island just after sunrise and spent the better part of the day heading south. We saw stark and stunning volcanic geology and occasional pods of dolphins throughout the day. Some friendly fishermen told us that the village on the west side had a large swell running right now and was therefore unsuitable. They were happy to give us a couple Jurel or Yellowtail for our dinner.
Guadalupe Island has enough endemic plants and birds to make Darwin giggle, so we were anxious to explore onshore the next morning. However with steep shores and the swell running and wrapping around, we had to satisfy ourselves with a kayak cruise. We had wonderful looks at Guadalupe Fur Seals, which are endemic breeders here and were declared extinct not once but twice and have managed to recover from the brink to healthy numbers. Females and nursing pups were among the boulders along the rocky shoreline and we were impressed at the pups’ agility compared to Steller Sealions which we have worked with at home in BC.
Guadalupe Fur Seals

With no sheltered place to land, a few more rolly nights likely and a perfect sailing breeze filling in, we made the decision to set sail again. Frustrating to be so close to a village of friendly people, an island full of natural wonders and the permit which took half a day; but once again the conditions at sea rule! Just before leaving we traded some fresh fruit for lobster so I could have a good lunch underway. Then we proceeded to catch a tuna later that afternoon for dinner. With a great breeze and shorter crossing we arrived at San Benitos Islands the next day. This is also a small outpost with interesting wildlife and a tiny village of about a dozen houses for fishermen and their families. We gave one fisherman some club soda to drink while in his panga and later while we were ashore he invited us to his house. He answered our constant questions about island life, fishing and wild animals. He built a picket fence around his dusty yard, complete with a gate to protect his small boy from breeding Elephant Seals. I looked at that fence and thought it might keep his three-year-old inside, but I’m not sure it would stop a bull Elephant Seal if he wanted through! We sat on his porch and chatted until well after dark as his wife fed me lobster (Stephen just had to watch as he’s allergic!) and gave us spices and recipes for our next catch. It was a great evening, even with our language challenges. Our anchorage here seemed to have all the non-breeding Guadalupe Fur Seals and as we lay in bed that night we listened to their funny sounds.

My Lunch!

¡Bienvenidos a Mexico!

Point Loma Sunrise, San Diego


We have arrived in Ensenada after a lovely overnight sail from San Diego. It felt so good to sail out among the warships and submarines past Point Loma. Yesterday we spent the entire day sorting through the necessary bureaucracy to import the boat, get visas, etc. The most exciting piece of paper of the day was permission to sail to an offshore island. Weather permitting, we'll visit Guadalupe, 200 miles offshore. Arriving in Mexico feels like an important transition into some real exploration! We no longer have a cell phone and will likely be out of touch even more.