BAJA CRUISING NOTES

JIM

WHICH ANCHOR IS BEST?

GROUND TACKLE & TECHINQUES

YOU'RE DRAGGING: WHAT DO YOU DO?

I WANT TO CHARTER A SAILBOAT
BAREBOATING vs. A CREWED SAILING VACATION

LITTLE THINGS MAKE A DIFFERENCE: PART 1

THE WILDLIFE IN THE SEA OF CORTEZ

SEA LIONS

ARE YOU SAFE IN MEXICO?

CHUBASCOS

KEEPING COOL DURING THE SUMMER AND WHY AWNINGS SHOULD BE WHITE

DINGHIES AND MOTORS, THE BIG DECISION

In the past 16 years of sailing in the Sea of Cortez, we have encountered quite a variety of the wildlife that inhabits our little world. We never know when, where or what we are going to see. One day as we sailed into San Evaristo, we spotted two killer whales frolicking in the shallow water, just where we wanted to anchor. We felt like intruder Mist", waiting for the whales to move on.      Sailing near Isla Partida one afternoon, one of our guests spotted what at first glance seemed to be dolphin playing in the wake of the dinghy. Not dolphin though, Pilot whales! This is unusual because Pilot whales are normally very shy. This was a small pod of about 12, shinny black with bulbous heads, and some ventured up to the hull for a closer look at us. They stayed with us for several minutes before peeling off in group formation. What a thrill! While out fishing in the dinghy I'm always coming across schools of dolphin. When they're around it's time to pull in the lure and play. Dolphin love to ride the bow wake of large boats; whenever they're around "Irish Mist" we always feel it's a sign of good luck. Dolphin also like to swim fast. When in the dinghy we'll go towards the outside of the school, turn up the speed, and various dolphin will swim over and race the dink. The dink never wins! Jumping and doing flips right in front of us, they'll get so close you can reach out and touch them. For sure you're going to get wet.      One afternoon while on our way to our anchorage for the night, the first mate saw a small dolphin jump out of the water a few yards off starboard. Suddenly we were surrounded! Hundreds of dolphin, dolphin as far as the eye could see! They were moving in a huge school through the San Lorenzo Channel and we were right in the middle of their path. The spectacle was breathtaking!      At anchor we have had whales swim by the boat, sea lions barking at us, small manta rays jumping and doing their flips, and, of course, the dolphin feeding and playing. In La Paz at certain times of the year the dolphin will come into the bay to feed every day, swimming right by the boats at anchor.      There are many species of birds in the Sea of Cortez, but the ones that will always get your attention are the frigates, seagulls and the pelicans. Usually around sunset, especially when there's a lot of bait fish, the pelicans will do their dive bombing act for dinner...and somehow always come up facing the opposite way. The frigates will swoop down, snatch the fish with their talons, and as they fly back up, will flip the bait into their mouths. Sometimes they miss, and it's really something to watch, as they swoop back down and catch the fish before it hits the water! Of course, there's the seagull always trying to steal the bait from the other birds. This is great entertainment for the cocktail hour. Other favorites are the snowy egrets, herons and the small underwater swimmers, the grebes.      There's plenty of sea life beneath the water. Snorkeling and scuba diving open up a world that we take for granted, but many people haven't seen. The many colorful reefs hide a variety of tropical fish with incredible colors and shapes, some of which are found only in the Sea of Cortez. Without a doubt the highlight of many trips is swimming with the sea lions at Los Islotes. Always around are the curious little babies that will swim right up to you with those cute little faces. Of course, there're always the big males who usually stay on the rocks and bark away, posing and preening, never really a threat unless you're incautious enough to swim in too close. Of all the stories of encounters with sea life in the Sea of Cortez, this one by Jim Glover* is one of the best. I hope you enjoy it. A WHALE TALE Touched by a whale...      I was windsurfing as usual at La Ventana, near La Paz, on a regular 5.0 meter sail day (about 20kts of wind). Nothing special was happening until I spotted an explosion in the water about 2 miles offshore. Right away I knew it was my old friends, the whales. So, as I have done many times before, I sailed out to get a closer look. I caught up to two humpbacks that were swimming along all by themselves. They were upwind of me about 100 yards, spraying me with their fish market breath. I was trying to sail slowly and higher into the wind to get a closer look, but I stalled the sail and slid into the water. As I got my equipment ready to do a water-start, I looked down and saw the ocean floor moving...coming up at me...and just as I realized what it was, I slid off her back to one side, holding my board downwind away from me with one hand. The fear for a second was overwhelming, and as I was looking for the tail she just slid by another 100 feet or so, and slowly raised her tail in the air, gracefully slipping beneath the water. By then I was totally overwhelmed with nothing but joy, as I was touched by a whale! It was one of the greatest experiences that I've ever had.      **Jim is a sail maker, and the owner of Velas de Baja in La Paz. Whenever the wind is blowing you'll find him out at La Ventana windsurfing. TOP OF PAGE Sea Lions      One of the most popular activities on board "Irish Mist" is swimming and/or kayaking with the sea lions. We have been going out to Los Islotes to visit the sea lions for years. It wasn't until this past Spring that we were actually able to see the birth of one of the little guys. For weeks afterward we watched his progress as he started to pull himself around, and then entered the water. We were discussing this with one of our guests, who just happens to be the Dean of Biology at Berkeley. He sent us this article on sea lions which comes from "The Encyclopedia of Reproduction". It's a little on the technical side, but we feel it's very interesting, and we hope you enjoy it. Everything you ever wanted to know about Sea Lions      Sea Lions generally mate annually and pregnancy (gestation) lasts about 8 months. In most animals this would mean that they would be giving birth at a very different time from the mating activity in the harems. However, you may have noticed that this is not the case since birthing (parturition) of young actually occurs at the same time they are mating. When we were there, we saw the new pups but the big bull males were there and mating would have occurred recently. This synchronization of mating and birthing is accomplished by a trick called 'embryonic diapause' . As soon as they mate, the egg is fertilized and starts to divide, but the development of the new embryo is arrested at an early stage (goes into diapause) and it does not start growing again until about 8 months before the next mating season (about 4 months from now). This means when they return to the harems next year, they will be giving birth to the babies that are being started now.      Some kinds of pinnipeds (sea lions/seals) don't feed at all when they are nursing. Seals may feed but most of the milk energy for lactation is derived from the energy stores already present when they give birth. Pinnipeds are one of the few mammals that can do this. In seals, weaning is abrupt and occurs soon after birth (it can vary from 4 days in hooded seals to a maximum of 6 weeks in Weddel seals). Sea lions are different in this respect. The mothers only stay with their pups the first week or so and then periodically go to sea to feed because they don't store up enough energy for the entire nursing period. These feeding trips vary from 1 to 14 days, depending on species. They usually wean the pups within a year.      In relation to this nursing strategy, it's interesting to note that pinnipeds in general have extremely rich milk, usually more than 50% fat. Their milk is actually like whipping cream. This is why the pups can grow so fast. Sea lion milk is not as rich as seal milk (up to about 65% fat). Another sad story relates to the composition of other things. I'm sure you are aware of people with lactose intolerance which usually develops after about 5-6 years, after they are done nursing. Well, pinniped milk lacks lactose completely and even the newborn pups are highly lactose intolerant. This was discovered when people tried to use cow's milk to nurse deserted babies that were found. The babies usually died from the lactose.

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