Sea Lions at Cabo Pulmo
Our journey began as we boarded the ship in San Jose del Cabo. The palms of San Jose’s rare and famous wetland formed a rich green backdrop for our gleaming vessel.
Once on the ship, we tended to the necessities of life aboard, with orientations and lifeboat drills. Then our ship headed out to sea. Not long after, we found the first of our marine mammals – dolphins were skipping about the surface of the sea, accompanying a humpback whale.
After a bit of time with the whale, we adjourned to the first of our meetings – a guided discussion about a poem, to get us in the right frame of mind for future thought and conversation.
By the afternoon, we reached Cabo Pulmo National Park. This park is a marine reserve established largely by local fishermen to protect the resources upon which they depend. Some of these people joined us briefly on the ship and spoke movingly about their experience with the reserve. Soon we boarded Zodiacs to snorkel around some of the park. Evidence of protection was immediately clear. Red fanlike soft corals – rare in many parts of the Gulf of California – were abundant. We swam with an impressive school of jacks – a large group of sizable fish likely only in an area with little fishing pressure. Along the way we saw a haul-out of sea lions, alternately lounging peacefully and uttering noisy barks.
Late in the afternoon, we heard an illuminating discussion between Carl Sarafina and Steve Gaines about global overfishing and the advantages of no take zones.
Today was a fine introduction to the sights and sounds of the Gulf of California, and also to the problems the area faces, and – perhaps – some of the solutions.
