Legal Tools for Conservation Workshop

This weekend was the culmination of months of planning and work on everyone’s behalf to host the “Legal Tools for Conservation” Workshop at the Kino Center. The focus of the meeting was getting people together from as many different backgrounds as possible to come up with a conservation action plan for Estero Santa Cruz. In total there were about 50 local community members, ecology club students, scientists from the university, fisherman, conservation groups, and government officials. The meeting lasted the whole day and consisted of various presentations and round table discussions.

For a little background, Santa Cruz is a negative estuary (no fresh water input) of over 5,000 hectares that borders the town of Bahia de Kino. It is one of the areas of study for the Waterbird Monitoring Program, so I am getting to know it well. It is home to at least 84 different species of waterbirds (many endangered species), has 19 nesting waterbird species, and is composed of halophytic vegetation including black and red mangroves (both endangered species). In Mexico, there is no one government agency that is in charge of maintaining wetlands. Over the Last 10 years, there has been a gigantic boom in shrimp aquaculture development along the coasts. In the state of Sonora alone 25,000 plus hectares are developed for aquaculture. There is very little regulation of the industry as a whole, and there are many detrimental impacts on the environment, people, and flora and fauna. (DON”T EAT SHRIMP!!! That will be another blog, but it’s horrible farmed or ocean caught)

For the workshop I presented a 15 minute talk about the birds of the estuary. It was my first time presenting formally in Spanish. I stuttered over some words, but I think overall people could at least understand what I was saying! As pretty much the only group studying birds in the estuary, Prescott has the majority of data collected (thanks Abram!) which is going to be very important for pursuing legal protection. While we came to many conclusions during the meeting, it seems that the main thing we can do is apply the site for protection under Ramsar (The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance). While the site in fact already applies for 3 different bird based international recognitions, Ramsar is the one with the most teeth. We will be applying this summer with the goal of being internationally recognized next year. This would be a major step in the protection of this important area. 

On the Home Front

With just over a week until the big taller (workshop) that Prescott is hosting on "Legal Tools for Conservation," I have been running around like crazy to get everything done. I will be presenting a short talk on the birds of Estero Santa Cruz (and need to brush up on my spanish a bit!), and will be helping facilitate the round table discussions. Between that and my surveys I have been keeping  pretty busy, but I have had chance to start a small garden!


I love planting seeds and watching them turn into something you can eat! At first I was a bit skeptical of trying to grow veggies in the desert, but I've learned that it can be done. One of the more ambitious students from last semester planted a nice little garden at the station. When she returned to Prescott, she asked me to take care of it for her. I'm glad I did because it has provided me with many tasty salads (you can't buy much good lettuce here). Some of the other plants didn't do as well, but I think that has to do with the soil. Once these lettuce plants finish for the season, I will be fertilizing the soil, etc. so I can replant. I decided to start container gardening at my casita and transplant the vegetables to the bigger garden at the station once they are ready. It is really nice to use recycled materials (yogurt containers, bottles, etc.) that otherwise would be thrown out here  for growing plants. I have started beans, tomatoes, spinach, swiss chard, cucumber, and a bunch of herbs. Just last week they started to emerge.

On a quick Ocotillo note, the dog continues to be a source of  many frustrations, but also joy, and much entertainment. Here is just one example of him being himself... In these pictures he wanted to be near us so much, but with our little table there is no room for him next to our feet. He decided to crawl under the table

and slept up against the wall. Classic. 

Bird Eats Bird

The high count for the Double-Crested Cormorants was 1,594 active nests in December, which means there is a population of roughly 3,100 using the island (incredible for an area of roughly 1km)! Currently there are only about 100 birds still with nests and chicks. As the cormorants are winding down their nesting, the mixed wading bird colony is taking over the bottom of the cliffs. Right now there are about 500 Brown Pelicans nesting and 12 Great Blue Herons. The pelicans either nest in shrubs or grasses on the ground, while the herons believe it or not, are nesting up high in the Cárdon Cactus! It is so weird to see such a large and awkward bird nesting in cactus, but that is how they do it here. The pelicans have a beautiful red or orange gular sack that really stands out. Both adults take turns incubating the nests. I have seen them flying in twigs and other materials to form their nests and even feed each other.

Despite the beauty of life, this place never lets you forget the role death plays in the cycle. While conducting my survey the other day on Isla Alcatraz, I caught a glimpse of a falcon eating something. As I got a better look, it turned out to be a Peregrine Falcon ripping apart what I think was an Eared Grebe. Standing nearby was a Black Vulture just waiting for the falcon to turn over the scraps of its meal. 

Brown Pelican flies in to relieve mate

Pelicans at their nests

2 white Ibis feeding on Alcatraz

Peregrine Falcon rips apart what looks like an Eared Grebe

From the Whale's Mouth

I never thought I would get a glimpse inside a whale’s mouth, but that is exactly what happened this week. Every opportunity to tag along on visiting classes’ boat trips provides a chance to see something amazing. This week I joined the Coastal Ecology Class and Héctor, our Marine Mammal fellow, out in the bay to look for whales. Héctor is conducting a photo identification project mostly focused on Fin Whales and Sperm Whales to monitor populations and use of this area (the Gulf of CA is a crucial feeding ground for resident and migratory marine mammals). We were wrapped up in scarves and hats as the wind whipped off the water, but the day did not disappoint. Arriving to shallow waters off San Nicolas, we spotted a pod of Fin Whales feeding. Since they are baleen whales, they eat mostly krill by filtering large amounts of water through their mouths. To do this they sort of roll on their side with a fin out while taking in tons of water through their mouths and then pushing it back out. Not only did we get to see this incredible behavior, but we were even close enough to look inside the whale’s mouth and see the baleen! 

The other highlight was seeing about 20 Blue Whales throughout the day. Blue whales are the largest living mammal and are also baleen whales. Their skin looks more like a speckled grey and blue color, and their sheer size is jaw dropping. Many of these whales were also feeding. They do what’s called “lunge feeding” where they push forward really fast and take in the water. The whales were very calm and were coming very close to the boats. At one point a Blue Whale surfaced just past the bottom of our boat, allowing for a great view of its massive white silhouette. 

The other boat and a Fin Whale

The Blue Whale from underneath

Blue Whale Dorsal Fin

Blue Whale skin

Inside a Fin Whale's Mouth!!!! baleen!!!

Fin Whale Dorsal Fin