Shrimp Trwaling

Journal Shrimp Trawling Ashley M. Moore

On November 15th, 2007 four students and I boarded the Guaymense 1º which is a shrimp boat that resides in the Sea of Cortez. On board was a crew of eight rugged men whom were truly amiable. The youngest crew member was 24 years old and went by the name Rigo. Rigo was born in Guadalajara, lived in California for a couple of years and now currently resides in Guaymas. Rigo’s English was well spoken and quite easy to communicate with most of my information was gathered from him. The captain was quite a character! He was an over-weight gentleman with a smile ear to ear, his name was Randy. He was born in Baja and worked on a trawler with his father since he was 13 years old. He became a captain at the age of 19. The other men were in their thirties and forties and due to my lack of Spanish I didn’t communicate with them that often.

The shrimp boat also known as an otter trawler was seventy feet in length and 25 in width. It was made sometime in the 1980’s and seems as if it has been rusting away since then. There are two funnel-like nets called “chinchorros” which are 45 feet wide. Attached to the nets are the otters which are two wooden planks that once leeward into the water it then spreads the nets apart and keeps them open. Below the otter boards is a long chain that wrestles the seafloor disturbing any shrimp and other species into the net. The boat is equipped with three freezers that can hold up to 100 ton of shrimp and by-catch, majority of that being shrimp. The recent introduction of freezers is a phenomenon has changed fishing today and enables the fisherman to stay out for longer periods of time.
Their targeted species were Brown Shrimp in which they would receive 100 MXP per kilo for the smaller ones, and 180 MXP per kilo for the larger shrimp. They also caught Japanese shrimp which was sold locally and would be sold for at the cost of 8 MXP per kilo.

Guaymensa 1º is owned by a gentleman named Luiz Zaragoza. The boat is stationed out of Guaymas along with an additional 240 shrimp trawler. The boat owner receives 100,000 USD per ton of shrimp; while the other men receive 2,500-1,800 USD per ton. The workers seemed quite frustrated with their wages. They wouldn’t be able to make ends meet without the illegal by-catch selling they did on the side. They would sell under the table to local fishermen also known as “guatero’s. The by-catch averaged at about 6-13 MXP (0.60-1.30 USD) per kilo.
Under the table market in MXP:
Large shrimp (100)
Small shrimp (50)
Japanese Shrimp (8)
Sharks and rays (8)
Flounder (13)
Sand bass (6)

First and for most I couldn’t believe the low value the fish and shrimp had. After doing research, I realized there were several processing steps the fish and shrimp go through which differ from the other catch. Each step requires a different organization; which of course ups the price, in order for the organization to take a percentage. The shrimp goes through seven different stages. They are as follows:

Boat owner à Boat operator à Processors à Importer/Exporter (OGP) à Wholesalers à Retailers à End Consumer
Guaymense Primero scraped the ocean floor for over ten hours that night in four different sessions. The inventory went as follows:
• 1. By-catch
-Highest discarded biomass of any fishery.

Three tons (3,000 kilo’s) of by-catch equals just barely over 100 kilo’s of shrimp.



1st Trawl 2nd Trawl 3rd Trawl Last Trawl
Est. By-catch 500 Kilo 500 Kilo’s 500 Kilos 1 – 1 ½ Ton
Shrimp 14 Kilo’s 28 Kilo’s 24 Kilo’s 35 Kilo’s

This chart shows that approximately for every 100 kilos of shrimp caught 3,000 kilos of by-catch is either severely damaged or killed. One kilo of shrimp is sold to Ocean Gardens Inc. for 180 MXP ($18.00). On this particular night, the boat made 1,800.00 USD from their catch and discarded 3 tons of by-catch. Considering much of the by-catch is an essential part in the local small scale fisheries economy the rate that the owner is receiving for shrimp is severely under valued. Through observations it is safe to assume that at least half of the by-catch is salvageable and profitable and most of the discarded by-catch could be sold at a profitable cost to companies that provide fish meal to other fisheries. Reported from the fisherman the by-catch can be sold from 6-12 MXP per kilo. If we estimated 10 MXP ($1.00) per kilo, the by-catch profit would be 1,500.00 USD. Other factors should also be taken in consideration such as physical alteration to seafloor causing nutrient disruption; more research must be done in order to go further into detail.
One must ask themselves why the 3 tons of by-catch on this one particular night is not taken into consideration. If the trawlers were fined an appropriate amount for their excess by-catch, owners would have to raise the cost of shrimp. Shrimp would then be considered a delicacy and not readily available to the average citizen thus making lowering the demand. This would in turn have a sufficient reduction in the catch of shrimp while still supporting a profitable occupation and economy.
This proposal has been proven to work in other fisheries such as tuna industry. After the dolphin scare that happened in the 90’s, boat owners were allotted two hundred dolphins per year, anything over that they were assessed a fine for. Boat owners went to full lengths to avoid dolphin by-catch and even risked workers lives by putting divers into the net to guide the dolphins out. With fines, shrimp trawler owners would be forced to invest into better technology to reduce the wasteful by-catch in order to benefit profits.
With less demand for shrimp, some boats will be forced to retire. Luckily, there is already a program set into place to ensure their wealth. Retired boats are allotted 100,000 USD to stop working. This program is funded by Packard. This has many positive effects on the ecosystem as well as the trawling fleet. Less competition ensures higher catch probability for the working trawlers.
In the past once a specific resource receives more attention and the prices go up people have the tendency to take advantage of that and pursue that fishery stronger. This happened to the octopus in the Gulf of Mexico. In one year the octopus population dropped so dramatically the demand was high and the price jumped from 18 MXP per kilo to 50 MXP per kilo. Enforcing quotas on small and large scale fisheries for shrimp will be essential. A recommendation to the quota could be to analyze the previous years catch and profits and base quotas upon that.
In the years of 1993 to 2002 the UN statistical by-catch ration reported over 150,000 million tons of by-catch. (Loranye…..) The shrimp industry is going in a downward spiral. Governmental officials of Mexico are putting the large scale shrimp fishery and small scale fisheries at risk. Actions must take place immediately before any further devastation occurs to the Sea of Cortez.

In the first time recorded by Prescott College, a sea turtle was reported in the by-catch. It was very emotional for me. My heart dropped to my stomach when I saw the 50-60 pound loggerhead laying restlessly on top of the 1 ½ ton of by-catch. It was a very sobering experience. For everybody knows that I have had great experience with rehabilitating sea turtles at the Marathon Sea Turtle Hospital. This time I was without a guide. Liz, Sue, and Whitney were not there to guide me through the process. My instincts kicked in and I took charge. I developed a plan with my class mates and we successfully released the sea turtle and watched is frantically swim away. The experience was very intense for we got the loggerhead and had to wait another two hour before releasing it back into the water due to the nets already dragging in the ocean. There was about a 3-5 minute time period when we had the opportunity to release her. This inspired me in several ways so I decided to develop a protocol for sea turtles that get caught in trawling nets:


Protocol for Sea Turtles that are Caught in Trawling Nets

• Remember your goal on the trawler is not to save sea turtles.
• Sea turtles can and will bite off your hand if you are not careful
• Immediately remove sea turtle from by-catch area.
• Assure the sea turtle is not in way of fishermen, a good place would be close to your by-catch innovatory area.
• Assign one person to observe the sea turtle and ensure it is not crawling around the deck.
• If the sea turtle is frantic and moving around, gently but with force place your hand on its head while covering the eyes. It should be enough force that its lower jaw is resting on the floor, but not stressing the turtle out.
• If the turtle continues to move around hold it by the nochal (front most scute aligned with the turtles neck) while positioning yourself behind the turtle
• If that doesn’t work, while holding the nochal gently sit on the turtles shell but not with all of your weight.
• Have somebody grab a drenched (with h2o) rag or handkerchief and place it over the sea turtles head to cover the eyes.
Handling the turtle
• Do not attempt to lift a sea turtle by yourself.
• Communicate with your partner and ensure a designated place for the turtle.
• When standing on the left side of the turtle, place you left hand on the nochal.
• Place your right hand on the bottom scute.
• Count to three and lift.
• Keep in mind the turtle will be very upset and smack you in the thighs with flippers, take the pain and DO NOT DROP IT!
• Remember safety first.
Releasing the turtle
• Be calm. There is only a 3-5 minute period in which you can release the turtle due to the short period of time when the nets are up.
• It is absolutely necessary that the nets are up before releasing the turtle (no matter what the crew recommends). This may mean that you have to wait 2-4 hours for the next trawl. However, try to release the turtle as soon as possible. (Sea turtles can stay out of the water for days at a time)
• Communicate with captain to figure out which way the boat is turning. If it is turning right, you have to release it on the left side or else it will get sucked under the boat and chopped up by the propellers, and vice versa.
• You will see a rope connecting to the left and the right nets, no need to worry about that, the turtle will probably avoid that.
• When releasing the turtle, have two people lift it up on the side of the boat, rest it, count to three and let the turtle do a belly flop.
Record as much data as possible, weight, size, species, male/female, etc.


Overall my experience was phenomenal. I felt incredibly comfortable with the crew and feel they were extremely helpful. The night was sobering and the daunting images still haunt me to this day. I plan to do my senior project on this topic and welcome anybody and everybody to this idea.



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St. Pedro Martir Rat Eradication

So I am a little behind on my blog because the past couple weeks have been moving at a very past pace. Previosuly I mentioned that we had a guest speaker from Gesi come to the station and talk to us about the eradication that would happen on St. Pedro Martir. Well it finally happened. Prescott College Marine Conservation class had the great piviledge to partake in this incredible conservation effort. We assisted Gesi with manuel labor and had dropping bate on the island. Most of it was thrown by boat, and sometimes by land for hard to reach places such as caves and beaches. We got to observe the helicopter drop tons on bate and the island and also act as a safty crew as well... so here are some pictures, enjoy.

WWF & CONANP

Ashley M. Moore

The Gulf of California is home to more than 900 Islands, 530 species of birds, 34 species of marine mammals, 900 species of tropical fish, and 749 species of invertebrates (World Wildlife Foundation, 2007). In addition the gulf has 60 marine ports: 15 for commercial use , 20 fishing ports, 17 tourist’s ports, and 8 petroleum and industrial ports (NOAA, 2006). Activity from the 60 ports is a great threat to the biodiversity that exists in the Gulf of California. One can only imagine the impact of overfishing conducted by large and small scale fisheries, pollution from trash and sewage, and the ecological foot print left by visiting tourist, etc. Throughout the field trip, we made it a priority to gain first hand knowledge of fishing and industrial ports, aqua and agriculture plants, and small and large scale fisheries through observation. The accumulation of knowledge through hands on activities and observation is a very important step to take for anyone focusing in marine conservation.
The class took a two day field trip to San Carlos, Miramar and Guaymas to speak to two associates from World Wild Life Foundation, Alejandro Rodriguez and Diana Crespo. We also stopped at the head quarters of CONANP to speak to Ana Luisa Figueroa. WWF and CONANP are non profit organizations and government agencies that focus to limit stress factors by conservation projects; something I will explain in detail later. We had the opportunities to interview the people involve and listen to projects that are currently occurring in the region

WWF is an interesting organization. I view them as “organizers,” They research certain conservation issues by hiring outside biologist, draw attention to the issue and bring other organizations and NGO’s together. This can be very positive for bringing excellent organizations together and sharing opinions and ideas to get the job done. It is a very interesting concept. I like to refer to this as the funnel effect; brings organizations together pinpointing a specific conservation project. They also fund a large amount of the projects; their annual budget is approximately one million dollars a year. The receive funding through other WWF organization, primarily from the United States and by Packard.
However, bringing several governmental agencies and NGO’s can have conflicting ideas. WWF tends to focus on large and “sexy” conservation projects involving many important NGO’s and governmental agencies such as, GESI, CONAMP, Conservation International, etc. In turn, there is neither time nor money allocated for small scale community based issues. WWF is also known to protect beautiful animals compared to not so beautiful animals, hence their logo. The same thing could be said about land in the Gulf of California. They have invested so much time, money and energy into beautiful islands such as San Pedro Martir to get additional protection and it was very successful; it is now a biosphere reserves. Meanwhile, seventy percent of the coastline from Kino Bay to Tastiota is being consumed by aquaculture plants and estuaries are disappearing rapidly every year. I am forever grateful for WWF work and their incredible achievements and also for having the time in their busy schedule to talk to the class. I also believe they take away conservation opportunities on the community based level.
The class had the beautiful experience to meet with Ana Luisa Figueroa has been the director of islas in Sonora and has been for the past 13 years. She is originally from Mexico City where she received her bachelors specializing in marine mammals. She then received her masters degree in Santa Cruz, California specializing in endemic mammals. She spoke about the history of the Natural Reserve system and the difficulties the organization went through. She stressed that up until the 1990’s, all of the islands were protected but no actions were taking place to actually protect them. They were simply stated protected on paper. Later in the 90’s, CONANP received a 16 million U.S dollars from GEF funds which is part of the World Bank, to use for conservation purposes regarding the islands. She commented on the difficulties the company and her self went through because the government would control the money and there were several steps they had to go through in order to receive it. Many times, employees would spend money from their personal pockets and then reimbursed months later. In turn it was hard to keep employees around. In 1997, Figueroa started a nation wide trust fund where they were able to put the rest of the 16 million dollars and only use the interest gained. This enabled them to access the money without going through the government.
SAGARPA, PROFEPA, NAVY, PGR, CONANP,
Talking with her, it seems as if CONANP is evolving and focusing on long term monitoring. She explained a NGO can perform a number of successful projects but one has to monitor such projects for years afterwards to ensure it was successful. Figueroa and her team are developing a manual for the current laws of the region. Many agencies have agreed to get involved such as, SAGARPA, PROFEPA, NAVY, PGR, CONANP and regulate along with enforce the laws. In order to achieve this, they would like to invest more money for better enforcement. This would include guns, fast reliable boats, updated equipment and technology. As of right now the only way they can enforce laws is through education and the navy. I was extremely impressed with Figueroa and her work. I am extremely excited that the company is starting to focus on enforcement, it is needed desperately.

La Borbolla Shrimp Aquaculture Plant

Ashley M. Moore & Alan Berman
10/27/2007
Private Tour guide: Cezar Patiño, Aquaculture Biologist and Plant Manager

Land – La Borbolla private land
Plant - Semi-intensive system with 1 major season that last 6 to 7 months, no aeration only emergency aeration for example is different life stages require more 02.
White Shrimp are grown 0 – 30 grams.
5 metric tons of shrimps harvested form 360 hectares
Employees – 15- 17 full time, technical workers and 70-80 seasonal laborers

When we first arrived, we admittedly had our tires disinfected before entering the plant. The plant takes extra precaution to avoid any possible diseases such as White-spotted virus. Cesar Patiño then greeted us and took us on our tour.


The aquaculture plant begins at the sandy shore just south of San Nicolas Point, and other than the intake, is on privately owned, arid land. A sea water intake, that is dredged and supported by rock piers, is the beginning of a 4 kilometer long canal that runs downhill to the aquaculture plant located inland to the South East of the intake. This canal circles around the shrimp tanks and is pumped into the system through one filtered entrance. Here, a slope supports easier flow into the ponds, along with three huge pumps that are run by diesel and work 24 hours at the height of the season. These pumps allows for 3.5 cubed meters of water to enter into the system constantly. Water leaves the system constantly as well, propelled by the current generated by the pumps and by gravity. The outtake is 8km south from the intake and empties directly into the sea. The intake pumps circulate out 30 % of the entire water supply daily, and two filters at 5 and 2000 “micras” control the entrance of predatory and competitor species.
The aquaculture season begins in April, when the tanks are plowed and fertilized and ends around late October, as we now see only 13 out of 55 ponds working.
The season is comprised of three stages, preparing the tanks, seeding the tanks and growing the shrimp, and finally the harvest. Shrimp are harvested at 14-18 grams and then again at up to 30grams. Feeding is comprised of independently supplying each 6.5 hectare tank with food throughout the different life stages of the shrimp. Initially, fertilizer is added to boost the natural production of phytoplankton that feeds the shrimp larva. When the shrimp reach 3-5 grams they begin a diet of factory produced feed made mostly from grains and that also consists of anchovy fishmeal and ground shrimp heads. The heads are collected from the shrimp at the processing plant and provide crucial chitin for developing the forming shell. The meal also contains supplementary vitamins and minerals. While 35 to 40 % of the diet is protein, the rest is made up of carbohydrates and supplements. Feed is dispersed 3 to 4 times daily, by 4 teams of 2 people that hand deliver by way of tiny motor boats. The range of feed quantity that is delivered depends on many factors and is regulated by means of test feeding. In this process, flat mesh baskets less than a meter in diameter are filled with a controlled amount of feed pellets. These are then placed in the approximately 1.18 meter deep tanks, at the end of 6 evenly spaced, thin wooden docks that extend about 1/3 of the width of the tank, so that the shrimp can access the feed. After a certain time interval, these baskets are pulled up and counted individually for remaining feed pellets. Based on the variations, Cesar and others will make educated decisions on how much feed, if any, will be applied. In general, shrimp are voracious and the ratio of feed purchased to the mass of shrimp is 2 to 1. The quantity of shrimp per tank can be up to 32 measured tons in a given season, so that 64 tons of feed must be purchased. Unlike terrestrial livestock, it is not an easy task to even estimate the number of animals per tank at any given time. Thus, a variety of carefully measured and some speculated indicators must be taken into account. For example, a large amount of gulls feeding on a tank means that the shrimp are not healthy enough to stay in deep water.
A crucial part of the growing operation that ensures a full and healthy harvest is the biological laboratory where water, stock, feed, and other variables are tested. Two female biologists are responsible for this work, and their job includes testing for bacteria once a week in every tank. The entire management of the system depends on their analyses. For example, problem specific changes are made in the regulation of feed and feed quantities, the addition of antibiotics, anti-bacterial agents or fertilizers, and the flushing of nutrients to maintain oxygen richness. Any agents that need be applied directly to the shrimp are incorporated in the shrimp’s diet. Antibiotics and other agents are chosen with care in order to maximize their effect in marine conditions, and a 30 day time interval must be allowed to clear these agents before the harvest. According to Cesar, most of these agents are only active for up to a few days before dissolving in the environment.
The harvesting of tanks is also a machine run process aided by manual labor. In the 6.5 hectare tank 400 kilos of shrimp is produced then sold at the end of the season. A large vacuum is placed into the shrimp tank to remove all shrimp. Then it is separated into 40 bins. The bins are then sent to the processing plant to be processed. Along with the shrimp, the water is removed and drains back into the canal then flows out to the Gulf of California.

Isla Detil (Turner Island)

Isla Datil (Turner Island)

Geography and Physical Features:
Isla Datil (Turner) is located just off of the southeast shore of Isla Tiburon (28* 43’ 00” N, 112* 19’ 00” W.). In fact, Isla Datil is still connected to the southeast shore of Isla Tiburon by an underwater peninsula extending 5 kms long southward. The island became isolated during Pleistocene-Holocene era due to erosion.
The island is 1 sq. Km., 1200m’s in length and 800m wide. The highest point of the island in 180 m. Due to its jagged and rough topography, the islands offers many different environments including canyons for several different species to thrive in. There are only a few rocky beaches but most of the shore line consists of high cliffs. One can find metamorphic rock such as quartz diorite, shale, and chert. Chert is known to be the oldest rock in Bahia Kino. One can imagine that you would find the same rock on the Southeast side of Isla Tiburon as well.

Flora and Fauna:
For its size, it has an incredible abundance of flora and fauna making it a very vital island. The island has over 99 species of plants with Cacti and shrubs most dominant. The highest productivity of plants occurs along the east side of the canyons and the east and north facing slopes. As Isla Tiburon receives a great percentage of rainfall so does Isla Datil during summer-fall rains.

Birds, Mammals and Reptiles:
The Island represents one of the most important nesting grounds for the Osprey in
the Gulf of California.

Mammals (4 Spp) :
Perognathus intermedius – Rock Pocket Mouse,
Chaetodipus intermedius minimus – Rock Pocket Mouse,
Neotoma varia – White Throated Wood Rat
Peromyscus eremicus collatus - Cactus Mouse

Reptiles (6 Spp):
Crotalus atrox - Dwarfed Rattlesnake (endemic)
Gophorus agassizi - Desert Tortuous
Masticophis flagellum - Coach Whip
Uta stansburiana - Common Side Blotched lizard
Phyllodactylus xanti - Leaf-toed Gecko
Ctenosaura hemilopha - Spiny Tail

Historical and Current Human Use:
Historical the island was use by the Seri’s for hunting and harvesting. However, in 1872 they were run off the island by the Mexican Army. Five Seri men were killed, along with a Seri women left on the island to die. Today the Island is used by commercial small scale fisherman fishing for cucumber, octopus, and lobster.

Conservation Issues, Management and Suggestions:
Isla Datil is protected under the Flora and Fauna Protected Area but has no specific management plan. A management plan should be in place to monitor human impacts and survey significant areas of nesting birds such as the Osprey. I feel this island has been severely over looked and more updated research should be conducted for its unique biodiversity and landscape.

DUST STORM!!

Today was a day off, or as most instructors like to call it “a student directed day”. A nasty wind storm blew in around 10:00 am, and is still going on right now at 11:00 pm. The winds were blowing at 50 mph. I’ve gained a new appreciation for the desert. I grew up in the Florida Keys and experienced high winds on several occasions. However, I’ve never realized how harsh Mother Nature could be. The boys decided to go surfing, so I wondered down to the beach to observe. As I was making my way down there I was being pelted by grains of sand that felt like there were breaking through the first couple layers of my skin. Debris of all sorts was flying by. I had an old ripped up piece of fishing net fly into my ankles and get entangled. I immediately thought of a helpless marine creature as soon as I untangled it and allowed it to fly away. With high winds normally come lots of rain where I’m from, but in this situation, the high winds brought flying debris and dust. My eyes were crusty and my nose was clogged up with dirt and sand. My entire body was layered in dust. I wouldn’t dare try to swallow because my throat was clogged with dirt and sand. I was amazed that people could actually live here, even more amazed with the animals that have been surviving in such harsh conditions. I wondered what the Seri’s were doing right now, and then I felt sorrow for the shrimpers for being in terrible waves. I feel weak and extremely impressed with the animals and humans that made their home here in the desert.

Finally San Esteban!

After recovering from the last boat trip, we once again set to sea two days later (the 20th). This time we had the wonderful privilege to have a Seri elder as our guide. Our main goal was to cross the Sea of Cortez yet again to reach San Esteban. We couldn’t have picked a better day. The sea conditions were perfect, on a Beaufort scale the waves were maybe 1, but probably .5. There was literally steam coming off of the calm sea which made the panga ride quite pleasurable. We saw a pod of dolphins but didn’t stop to observe because our time was limited and every minute was crucial. However, after passing Isla Dalil we couldn’t resist the oh-so inquisitive Long Beak Common Dolphin. We estimated a pod of 30-40. Lots of photos were taken and Tad spoke about the differences in the species species that we saw.
Manuel, the Seri elder had us stop at a certain point before reaching the island. He explained that his people were very fluid and would travel back and forth to islands in the Sea of Cortez in of search food. They would get stuck on island for weeks at a time and would have to wait out storms. Translated quote from Manuel about a particular song they would sing: “Seri’s would wait on shore line with high winds and sing to keep their spirits up”. He referred to the area that we stopped at as “where the current collides” or “The place of the giant current.” This is an important cultural spot for the Seri’s. Before crossing this particular current they would sing a song to meditate and to build up stamina and courage. Before even entering the water the females would sing four songs to the men to encourage them. Also let me stress that the way the crossed the sea was on raft-like canoes made from reeds tied together at the end.
Something else Manuel pointed out was that the Seri culture is being lost more and more each day. The kids are not learning the songs, and I believe he stated that there are only maybe 3 men that know all the songs. On July 1st they celebrate New Years. They get together and have contests of who can sing the most songs and carry the tone the best. Manuel has never lost. It was a great privilege to have him with us that day, for the tribe has been around for 4,000 years and could be gone tomorrow.
We set foot on San Esteban and were immediately approached by the Mexican Army. It seems as if they were camping out on the islands for possibly several days. It is harvesting season for marijuana, and from what I hear the military has been in full force. Just a few weeks ago the military busted a group of smugglers. They had to toss out kilos of pot from their boat as they were being chased. Needless to say the fishermen had a real good catch that day. The men were nice to us and offered any assistance they could. We hiked about 300 yards in and sat around a very large cardone that stood probably 15 – 20 feet tall. We had the opportunity to ask question to Manuel. Manuel told us a story about the young Seri men climbing to the top of a mountain and sliding down a steep slope in sea turtle shells in order to ensure their man hood. On the way back Tad caught a San Esteban Chuckwalla. He explained a bit of the anatomy of the chuckwalla then I had the opportunity to hold it.
Snorkeling that day was amazing! Absolutely flipping amazing! We snorkeled with dozens of playful sea lions. I can not express in words how amazing was to the swim with sea lions, but I’ll try. It’s kind of like going to the beach and playing Frisbee with your favorite puppy, but even better. The area alone was gorgeous. I have learned a very valuable lesson: snorkel around Cosme. He has been fishing commercially for years. His eye is trained to spot certain animals like sea cucumber, starfish, crustaceans, octopus, eels, etc. That man finds the coolest things. We wrapped things up and called it a day.

Boat Trip 10/18

It was a semi-calm day when we set out to sea in the panga on the 18th of October. We passed pelicans and terns as we were nearing Isla Datil. As we approached Isla Dalti we saw a pod of approximately 10-15 Common Bottle-nose Dolphin. We soon came upon of a flock of Booby’s foraging in the rich trench between Isla Tiburon and San Esteban. The currents in the trench are a vital part of the marine ecosystem because it creates an incredible upwelling of nutrients that attract many fish, such as sardines, anchovies and herring to come to the surface to forage. Below the diving birds were Long-beaked Common Dolphins that were taking advantage of the abundance of Chanidae and Clupidae. We estimated 200 dolphins on the surface and another 200 plus dolphins submerged. The Long-beaked dolphin seemed inquisitive of the boat and would come dangerously close. Fortunately, their accuracy is phenomenal and they know when to split from the boat. They played in the wake and along the sides of the boats gunnels, jumping in and out of the water. The experience attracted us for over an hour, and by then winds had picked up. We had another forty minutes ahead of us to reach our destination. The Panga bounced vigorously through the white caps and 25 knots winds. We had to abort our mission to San Esteban and find a safe place to snorkel closer to the mainland. We decided to visit Isla Tiburon. It was less windy and the current wasn’t so strong because of the inlet. We snorkeled for about an hour. We identified around 35 species of fish. Some classmates got the privilege to spot a Black Sea Turtle which is closely related to the green. By looking at pictures, I would estimate the turtle to be around 4 years of age and approximately 25 pounds. After we snorkeled Cosme’s, excellent trained eye captured an octopus to share with the class. The ride back was intense. I felt like I was once again doing my rescue diving in the Florida Keys during hurricane season. Everybody has a sore back or knees and we all got completely soaked. But, that is what you pay if you want to be marine biologist.

For the people that are interested in marine mammals I will distinguish between the two species that were identified today:

Common Bottlenose Dolphins are the most well known dolphins to humans. They are the most abundant dolphins seen in aquariums and other sort of attractions. Flipper was also a CBD (Common Bottlenose Dolphin) I’m sure everybody has a slight understanding of their characteristics. To get into more detail, there is variability between inshore CBD and offshore CBD. Off shore dolphins tend to be larger and also darker; the inshore dolphins are slightly smaller in size and lighter in color. Both however have wide heads and body along with a shorter beak when compared to other species. They also have counter shading characteristics (darker on top, lighter on bottom). This could be for camouflaging. When they are on the surface the light belly blends in with the sky, and when they are near the bottom, they tend to blend in with the ocean floor. That’s a quick and easy way to explain it. The CBD are cosmopolitan species that occur in oceans and peripheral seas at tropical and temperate latitudes (Pieter Folkens, 2002). They often favor coastal areas such as islands, atolls, bays, and estuaries. However, there is also a pelagic population that live far off shore.

The Long-beaked Common Dolphin
This Species has a variety of characteristics throughout different populations from variations of skull size, body size and fin size. They are smaller than the CBD weighing about 330 pounds. It is named after its long beak They display a great example of counter shading. The upper portion of the body is dark gray to black, with dark flippers. The LCD are typically found in near shore tropical and warm environments. They have been spotted all over the world such as, Venezuela, Argentina, west coast of Africa, etc

Yes, and if you are wondering what the red stuff floating around the water is, well, that would be the red tide.

Old Kino Bay

We were sent out to gather basic information on Kino Viejo. Lorayne wanted us to become familiar with the town, culture, fishing industry, economics and the environment. The town itself is a mixture of both urban and third world elements. Through our observations, we noticed that the town's economical survival depends on small scale fishing and tourism (46 %fishing and aquaculture and 43% convenient stores and craft stores). The tourists that visit Old Kino are mostly weekenders from Hermosillo. Aside from those residents involved with the fishing and tourism industry there are some retirees who call Old Kino their home. It was quite interesting to see 500,000 dollar homes on the beach that they probably purchased for 20,000 dollars in the 70’s or 80’s, and then across the street observe shacks seemingly pieced together from found materials. Fishermen were selling fish and shrimp right from the pangas. Some were selling seafood out of their homes or on the streets. It’s a good possibility they are not permitted to do so. They gave the Mexicans incredible deals and tried to scam us; as is the custom with tourists, quite a bit. A group of non-local (St. Felipe) fishermen offered to sell us 1 kilo of shrimp for 100 pesos, another group that were locals offered a kilo of shrimp for 60 pesos. Fishing regulations are not enforced, and this may be the biggest downfall of the industry. Kino Viejo fisheries are declining dramatically. This could be a result of the non-local shrimp trawlers as well. I will talk about the shrimp trawlers later as the course progresses. Prescott College strives to bring the fishing community together to talk about conservation.
We wandered on to the beach that was littered with sea shells, pelicans, sea gulls, dead fish, old decaying fishing nets and a lot of trash. We approached several fishermen that were super excited to talk to us. They were happy to answer any questions we had and allowed us to take several pictures. Two policia came up to the fishermen on 4 wheelers. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch that conversation. Through my observations, the most popular fish caught were flounder. In restaurants they were selling puffer fish and liza, which is mullet. As the Sea of Cortez is being fished out more and more everyday, fisherman are resolved to catching fish of a poorer quality.
There were dogs roaming the streets and eating rotten food. I am almost convinced that their digestive systems are more evolved than domestic dogs. The children all seemed happy. There was an organized all boy soccer game going on as well. I witnessed a lot of children playing soccer amongst themselves in the yard too. Strangely enough, there was a circus going on. I desperately want to visit the circus. I feel it will be very emotionally disturbing seeing how they treat the animals.