Secret Spot 7 Summits Blog: Report from the Sea of Cortez! B^)

Report from the Sea of Cortez! B^)

(This dispatch is available with plugins at: http://blog.secretspoteverest.com/2011/06/21/report-from-the-sea-of-cortez-b.aspx)

Phill Michael in Shangri La in Spring 2011

Ahhhhh...currently, I'm removing toxins from my body in Shangri La...while a full and sweet Chandhrama smiles upon me. Yakpudu and que bueno...all at once!

Here's that report from the Sea of Cortez:

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Michael Fishbach's Report from the Sea of Cortez for 2011

The 2011 season was one of fine weather and a fairly consistent season. We went out 26 days on the sea and saw Blue Whales on 23 of them. Our largest count was 15 Blue Whales in one day. The winds were cooperative this season, with many flat calm mornings. We had good numbers of both Finback and Humpback whales this year.

We had very low number of Common Dolphins but very high numbers of Bottlenose Dolphins. We did see a Gray Whale. Pelagic birds were low in number, water temperature was fairly high, there were no jumping Manta Rays, and balls of fish with accompanying diving birds were at a minimum.

Without any doubt the highlight of the year on the water was the Valentines Day disentanglement of Humpback Whale just south of Isla Carmen. We can be assured that we saved this young whales life as the net had the individual almost totally immobilized. It was a humbling experience for all and not without risk. Seeing a full surface display from this freed whale including 40 breaches is a sight none of us will ever forget. It also has shown me that some new equipment including proper types of knives for cutting net will become standard equipment aboard in the future.

Loreto is about the same, with the exception of a new timeshare resort that is almost completed south of town. This resort threatens to bring significant numbers of low end tourists flocking onto the sea and into the nearby mountains, and both of those environments could take a serious hit if things are not managed properly.

Final numbers for the years include 35 different Blue Whales photographed, including 3 cow/calf pairs. Also 1000 Bottlenose Dolphins in one day was an all time record. The number of cow/calf Finback Whales which was not recorded seemed to be an all time record as well.