Sea of Cortez cruises - a dolphin displaying a spy-hopping behavior. Sea of Cortez resorts

Sea of Cortez is a narrow oblong strip, the average width of which is about 150 km. It separates the peninsula of California from the mainland coast of Mexico and in the south has access to the Pacific Ocean. The Gulf of California is a favorite place for anglers. Here you can try fishing happiness and raise the level of adrenaline in the blood when catching swordfish, marlin, sharks and other interesting fish. But whales and Dolphins are of particular interest to tourists and visitors to the Gulf of California. Here you can see many stripes - blue, gray, humpback, fin whales and even toothed whales - sperm whales and killer whales. And not only to see, but even to be photographed with them and to touch. Bonus around whales will frolic dolphins.

The uniqueness of the landscapes, flora and fauna of this reservoir were the reason for including it in the UNESCO World Heritage List. About 900 species of fish inhabit the waters of the gulf, including several dozen endemics. Among the fish you can find a variety of benthic species: numerous stingrays, gobies, flounders, amazing and rare wakits (California porpoise), as well as many others. In the middle and surface layers there are a lot of small schooling fish, as well as a larger fish that is the subject of fishing - tuna, mackerel, sea bass. Among the large species of fish found in the Gulf of California are gigantic manta rays (sea devil), swordfish, marlin, sailboats, and, of course, sharks.

Why do dolphins have such a big brain? In humans, brain mass relative to body weight is the largest among all representatives of the animal world. The closest competitors are chimpanzees and dolphins, and dolphins are ahead of chimpanzees in this indicator. Until now, it has remained a mystery to scientists where dolphins have such big brains? The ancestors of cetaceans are herbivores such as modern cows with a small brain. When whales and dolphins "moved" to live in water and changed "land" limbs to fins, their brain mass tripled.

The uniqueness of this warm-water bay is that there is an unusually large amount of zooplankton. Where there is a lot of zooplankton, the celebration of life also begins. Everyone who likes to feast on this dessert of the food chain, including large cetaceans, rushes here. Surprisingly, even these huge marine mammals like to visit plankton pastures of the Gulf of California. The flora of the Sea of Cortez is richer than in the tropical seas.

There is a large amount of coastal and bottom vegetation in the form of brown, red and green algae, as well as floating and microscopic aquatic plants. The fauna of the California Gulf is also represented by numerous bottom dwellers: mollusks of all classes (gastropods, bivalves, cephalopods, etc.), intestinal cavities (jellyfish), echinoderms (sea urchins, stars), crustaceans (crabs, shrimps, crustaceans, including zooplankton) and others.

Sea turtles are also found here. Studies of the deep-sea depression of Guaymas in the south of the gulf led to the discovery of many exotic forms of life. In the depths of the depressions, hydrothermal sources are present, enriching the water with nutrients necessary for the development of these deep-sea animals. Sharks also love the friendly waters of the Gulf of California.

After all, there is a huge amount of affordable and nourishing food in the form of bottom living creatures and various fish, including Stein. It is difficult to list all types of sharks that can be found in local waters. Many bottom sharks (nannies, leopard, prickly, cat, carpet, squatine, raznozubye), as well as gray, hammerhead, tiger, large white, whale live here. Even pelagic sharks (blue, mako, long-finned, silk) swim in the bay to feast on schooling fish, tuna and squid.

Home: Vacation-Travel.photos