21. Vizcaíno/Isla Cedros

Site Overview

Located in the central part of the peninsula of Baja California, this area is known as a transition zone between temperate and arid climates, resulting in a unique and diverse ecosystem. Vizcaíno is a large, open bay tucked behind Punta Falsa and positioned midway along the Pacific Baja California coast. El Vizcaíno is an internationally recognized whale sanctuary. The coastal lagoons of Ojo de Liebre and San Ignacio are important reproduction and wintering sites for the gray whale, harbor seal, California sea lion, northern elephant seal and blue whale. The lagoons are home to endangered marine turtles as well. Also in the area are Isla Cedros and Isla San Benito, which are situated just north of Punta Falsa and are volcanic islands, like most islands in the area. As a result of the bay and volcanic islands, rocky points, wetlands, beaches and a terrestrial plain that becomes the coastal zone can all be found in this area. This, along with the powerful coastal upwelling at Punta Abreojos, eddies, and unique current patterns, such as counterclockwise gyre systems, create an area of extreme productivity.

Kelp forests support a diversity of life, including black abalone, red and purple sea urchins, and spiny lobster, for which pot and hand fisheries occur. Longlining for bluefin tuna also exists, though overfishing has caused declines in this stock. The flora and fauna of Vizcaíno Bay were recently studied for the first time, and hundreds of new records and several new species were recorded, including 20 marine worms and three mollusc genera new to science (BIOPESCA 2002).

Green and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) sea turtles are found along the coastline and on Isla Cedros. The olive ridley also migrates to additional southern feeding grounds off Ecuador (Eckert 1993). A diverse assortment of seabirds, such as the black brant, brown pelican and Herrmann’s gull, use the region for nesting and/or overwintering. On Isla San Benito, approximately 500 pairs of Xantus’ murrelets and several thousand pairs of black-vented shearwaters (BirdLife International 2000) breed each winter; both species are considered vulnerable by IUCN. The Craveri’s murrelet (Synthliboramphus wumizusume), a species endemic to Mexico and also considered vulnerable by IUCN, breeds on San Benito as well.

Elephant seals breed on Isla Cedros and Isla San Benito, and a small colony of Guadalupe fur seals was discovered on San Benito in 1997. A major California sea lion rookery also occurs in the bay region. This area is part of the migratory pathway for gray and blue whales. Gray whales arrive to breed and calve in Laguna Guerrero Negro and Laguna San Ojo de Liebre in the winter, after traveling 22,000 kilometers (13,670 miles) from their summer feeding grounds in Alaska. Similarly, blue whales travel from their Arctic feeding grounds to breed and calve here.