The Gulf of California
The Gulf of California first appeared 5.3 million years ago. Baja California was a part of a North American plate. It got rifted apart by powerful tectonic forces. The gap was filled by water of the Pacific Ocean, known as the Gulf of California or the Sea of Cortez. The earlier Spanish explorers believed that there was an island in California that was nothing but a paradise on earth. This body of water was named the Sea of Cortez because a Spanish invader Harnan Cortez was the first one to send expeditions to the gulf. The Gulf of California is the youngest sea on earth. It is wedged between Baja California and Mexico, literally placed between North America and Central America. The California gulf is 2,648 ft. deep …show more content…
The primary producers of the Gulf are diatoms and dinoflagellates which occasionally bloom in enough abundance to give the sea the nickname Vermillion Sea. The gulf is an important breeding area for different types of whales like humpback, gray, blue, fin. The most notable animal on the gulf is the tortoises like leatherback, loggerhead, olive ridley, snappers and green tortoises, these animals like to nest in these waters. Over 700 different types of fish live in the gulf and among those 10 percent can’t be found anywhere else, these fish are called endemic. The Endemic fish are, totoaba, slow goby, gulf weakfish gulf signal blenny, saw tail grouper. There are some other fish that live in the gulf like, Bigeye Tuna, Skipjack Tuna, yellowtail, halibut, snappers and halibut. There are many species of dolphins living in the gulf like bottlenose and long beaked. One of the most famous marine creatures that lives in the Gulf of California is the Vaquita, the world’s smallest porpoise. The Vaquita lives in the northern part of the gulf, it is only 120 pounds and get reach up to 5 feet, it looks like a dolphin but instead of being all gray, their dorsal surface is dark gray with some white. It has dark rings around its eyes and dark patches on its lips. The Vaquita is critically endangered, their population has declined rapidly, and these …show more content…
The Gulf of California is the source of 75 percent of Mexico’s annual fish catch. The decline in fish catches combined with rising demand is leading to fisheries crisis and threatening the Gulf of California ecosystem and six million people who depend on fish for sustenance and livelihood. Both industrial and artisanal overfishing is being blamed for dramatic declines in crustaceans, sharks, and other marine animals. Coastal development is another problem, the Gulf of California attracts visitors from all over the world, further construction development of new resorts could cause harm to coral reefs and local fisheries. One other threat is when fishermen use oxygen piping to walk along the seafloor for long periods of time. This happens at night when the fish are resting and defenseless, allowing the fishermen to hunt or grab an abundance of vulnerable fish and
The Gulf of California first appeared 5.3 million years ago. Baja California was a part of a North American plate. It got rifted apart by powerful tectonic forces. The gap was filled by water of the Pacific Ocean, known as the Gulf of California or the Sea of Cortez. The earlier Spanish explorers believed that there was an island in California that was nothing but a paradise on earth. This body of water was named the Sea of Cortez because a Spanish invader Harnan Cortez was the first one to send expeditions to the gulf. The Gulf of California is the youngest sea on earth. It is wedged between Baja California and Mexico, literally placed between North America and Central America. The California gulf is 2,648 ft. deep …show more content…
The primary producers of the Gulf are diatoms and dinoflagellates which occasionally bloom in enough abundance to give the sea the nickname Vermillion Sea. The gulf is an important breeding area for different types of whales like humpback, gray, blue, fin. The most notable animal on the gulf is the tortoises like leatherback, loggerhead, olive ridley, snappers and green tortoises, these animals like to nest in these waters. Over 700 different types of fish live in the gulf and among those 10 percent can’t be found anywhere else, these fish are called endemic. The Endemic fish are, totoaba, slow goby, gulf weakfish gulf signal blenny, saw tail grouper. There are some other fish that live in the gulf like, Bigeye Tuna, Skipjack Tuna, yellowtail, halibut, snappers and halibut. There are many species of dolphins living in the gulf like bottlenose and long beaked. One of the most famous marine creatures that lives in the Gulf of California is the Vaquita, the world’s smallest porpoise. The Vaquita lives in the northern part of the gulf, it is only 120 pounds and get reach up to 5 feet, it looks like a dolphin but instead of being all gray, their dorsal surface is dark gray with some white. It has dark rings around its eyes and dark patches on its lips. The Vaquita is critically endangered, their population has declined rapidly, and these …show more content…
The Gulf of California is the source of 75 percent of Mexico’s annual fish catch. The decline in fish catches combined with rising demand is leading to fisheries crisis and threatening the Gulf of California ecosystem and six million people who depend on fish for sustenance and livelihood. Both industrial and artisanal overfishing is being blamed for dramatic declines in crustaceans, sharks, and other marine animals. Coastal development is another problem, the Gulf of California attracts visitors from all over the world, further construction development of new resorts could cause harm to coral reefs and local fisheries. One other threat is when fishermen use oxygen piping to walk along the seafloor for long periods of time. This happens at night when the fish are resting and defenseless, allowing the fishermen to hunt or grab an abundance of vulnerable fish and