The Log from the Sea of Cortez: from a 2020 perspective
By Paul Sterry
It seems a lifetime ago but in early February 2020 I paid a return visit to Baja California after a gap of something like 30 years. For those who don’t know, Baja is the 1,200km-long finger-like peninsula that projects down the western side of Mexico, battered on one side by the Pacific Ocean and embracing the Sea of Cortez on the other. Famed for its marine life it is the region’s whales that are the primary draw for wildlife enthusiasts; and indeed, cetaceans were what lured me back three decades after my first visit.
An abiding memory from previous trips to Baja were of course the Gray Whales, and I was looking forward to renewing our acquaintance. Copyright Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd
It was a wonderful trip, don’t get me wrong, but inevitably my memories are now seen through the prism of what has happened subsequently. To set the scene, the trip started just before Covid 19 had become a household name, and ended just before lockdown began in earnest; for most of the journey I, like my fellow travellers, lived in blissful ignorance of events that had begun affecting the wider world. It feels like I returned to an altered version of the reality I left, and writing this, just a few weeks later, it is hard to recall the adventure in isolation from our changed world. Consequently, this blog is as much a reflection as a trip report, one that uses imagery to help recall the highlights and poignant moments.
My interest in Baja was piqued by the author John Steinbeck whose novels Cannery Row (published 1945) and the sequel Sweet Thursday (published 1954) I first read in my late teens. Located in Monterey, California they are set in the era of America’s Great Depression, against the backdrop of an exhausted Sardine fishery and with unemployment and poverty a daily reality. Add to the mix deception, unrequited love and suicide and it doesn’t sound like light reading material does it? But actually, it really is because Steinbeck has a gift for finding humanity, charm and warmth in almost any situation.
Central characters in both novels include a group of derelicts - well-meaning wastrels led by Mack - plus local grocer Lee Chong and Dora the madam of the Bear Flag Restaurant (the local brothel). All human frailties are laid bare in the books: selfishness, greed and manipulation but also compassion and kindness. In keeping with the book’s societal slant, when sickness spreads through Cannery Row, it is the girls (prostitutes) of the Bear Flag who comfort and feed the sick while they are recovering. What Steinbeck excels at is holding a mirror up to society and it doesn’t take much imagination to find heart-warming and bone-chilling parallels with what’s going on today.
The relevance of the books to Baja California lies in the central player, a marine biologist called Doc. His character was based on a friend of Steinbeck’s, a real-life marine biologist called Ed Ricketts in whose company Steinbeck embarked on a marine collecting trip to the Sea of Cortez. This was the inspiration for his book The Log from the Sea of Cortez, published in 1951, a ‘must read’ for future would-be travellers to the region.
Back to the trip itself, it was organised by seasoned whale watchers Mark Carwardine and Rachel Ashton, aboard an admirable boat called the Spirit of Adventure. We embarked from San Diego, California, travelled down the west coast of Baja, then rounded the tip and explored the Sea of Cortez; the trip ended at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Typically, I am one who shies away from group activities but to see Baja’s whales there is no alternative other than to join with others. Fortunately, I found myself alongside as harmonious and companionable a collection of individuals as you could hope to meet. Together with the Spirit’s long-suffering and professional crew it was a reminder to me, a solitary soul by inclination, that human companionship does have a bright side, something that perhaps Steinbeck could have told me had I re-read his books.
Set against a backdrop of downtown San Diego, a Great Blue Heron surveys a scene that appears awash with money. But like cities the world over, there are alternative versions of reality not always immediately in evidence. At this particular spot, behind the camera – quite literally – were rows of motorhomes. Some of the owners were those climatic migrants known in the US as ‘snowbirds’ – people who flee harsh winters in northern latitudes in favour of sunshine states like California. However, also among them were people for whom their motorhome was their only home. Copyright Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd
As we headed south down the west coast of Baja, we encountered an array of interesting seabirds including Black-vented Shearwater (left) and Black-footed Albatross (right). Copyright Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd
Close-encounter whale watching in the Gray Whale breeding lagoons is popular and has a profound economic importance to local communities who operate the pangas and police the interactions between visitors and whales, thereby minimising disturbance. In many situations around the world it is easy to be cynical about the virtues of ecotourism because so often it turns out to be just plain tourism exploiting wildlife. But here the whales really do benefit from the visitors who provide income directly to their local guardians; this is probably as close as it gets to genuine ecotourism. But you have to wonder what life has been like for the locals, in these times of isolation and the temporary death of tourism. Copyright Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd
It is easy to assume that apart from hunting by indigenous people in their Arctic feeding grounds, and running the gauntlet of predatory Orcas on migration, all’s well once more in the world of Gray Whales. However, Mark’s inside and in-depth knowledge informed me that at the Mexican State and National levels there are mutterings about wanting to use the whale’s breeding havens for salt production on an industrial scale. Once again, there is a danger that a few people’s greed will translate into environmental contempt and ecological disaster. Copyright Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd
For some visitors to Baja – not our group I hasten to add - the whole ‘touching a whale’ experience probably starts life as just another a bucket-list item, one to be ticked off alongside visiting Venice or driving Route 66. But, however shallow the motives, almost everyone finds these encounters moving, almost beyond words. Hopefully these cetacean ambassadors have converted more than a few indifferent visitors into ardent conservationists. Copyright Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd
Rounding the tip of Baja you enter the Sea of Cortez and pass through areas where Humpbacks congregate. Renowned for their seemingly playful behaviour, flipper-slapping is among the most entertaining of the antics in their repertoire. Copyright Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd
From time to time, we encountered pods of Common Dolphins and fortunately for us on most occasions they showed great interest in the Spirit of Adventure, often riding alongside or bow-riding for minutes on end. Copyright Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd
Most people’s encounters with Brown Pelicans are land-based and it is easy to think of them as rather clumsy, almost comical birds. But see them in their element – the open ocean - and their mastery of wind and wave, not to mention their fishing abilities, casts them in an entirely different light. Copyright Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd
Approaching the southern tip of Baja California, our seabird encounters took on a tropical flavour with species such as Masked Booby (left) making an appearance. Entering the Sea of Cortez proper, Yellow-footed Gull, a Baja endemic, was a highlight. Copyright Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd
The Sea of Cortez is one of the most reliable places on earth to see Blue Whales and no trip to Baja would be complete without seeing these leviathans. Fortunately, on our adventure we had several prolonged encounters. Copyright Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd
Taken with a GoPro camera and the invaluable assistance of local guide Hernando, this Whale Shark was photographed in protected waters off La Paz. Hunted elsewhere, here at least they are worth more alive (driving ecotourism) than dead. As an aside, the Spanish given name Hernando translates as explorer, and was the familiar name used by Hernán Cortés aka Cortez, the conquistador after whom the eponymous sea is named. Copyright Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd
Returning to the subject of Mark Carwardine, I neglected to say that I have known him since school days and that fellow Baja-adventurer Andrew Cleave was his biology teacher in a previous life. In the intervening years we have kept in touch but gone our separate ways, all three of us following our passion for wildlife and the environment. But with maturity and seniority upon us, it was great to touch base again. Andrew and I are now trustees of the conservation charity Birds on the Brink and Mark has kindly become a member of its Advisory Panel. Mark’s tales from New Zealand feature in the Birds on the Brink ebook, which you can download. The charity derives income from the international competition Bird Photographer of the Year (BPOTY) and it is great to know that Mark is also a judge for BPOTY’s Conservation Documentary Award.
I had an abiding memory from my previous trips to Baja of ‘superpods’ of Common Dolphins. It was reassuring to encounter them again and they provided hours of photographic fun, with plenty of opportunities to play with the creative side of digital photography. Copyright Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd
For those who like their marine life on the large side Baja is probably the ultimate destination and for this, and all sorts of other reasons, it was a truly memorable trip. Who knows if I will ever get the chance to repeat it? So, for now, forced to stay at home, I am dialling down my expectations and turning my attentions to wildlife close to home. But try as I might, I don’t think a perky Blue Tit will ever be a match for a majestic Blue Whale.