Signs of Hope, and Concern, in the Baja Peninsula

By Patricia Sullivan, CSI Board

In the exasperating and perpetual clash of protection vs. progress, there are guarded signs of hope, and continued concerns in 2005 for gray whales. Of several lagoons and bays along Mexico's Baja Peninsula where gray whales breed, calf and nurse their offspring, one lagoon will be protected in perpetuity from runaway development, one has been established as a marine park, and one continues to offer virtually unregulated watching of the highest concentration of ballenas gris in all of Baja.

CSI's Board of Directors member Paul DiGangi and I tour the Baja Peninsula annually. We have watched gray whales in the famous San Ignacio Lagoon, in Puerto Lopez Mateos in Magdalena Bay, and toured the Loreto Bay National Marine Park in the Sea of Cortez. We cannot appreciate the gravity of the recent developments in cetacean protection without first understanding the history of the area and its people.

The Baja Peninsula is an 800-mile peninsula of desert, beaches and plateaus stretching all the way from the U.S.-Mexico border at Tijuana to the famous rock outcrop known as Land's End. It splits the Eastern Pacific from the Sea of Cortez and creates a pristine and fertile, diverse coastline.

Each year starting around December, gray whales begin making their annual 5,000-mile voyage from feeding grounds in the Arctic circle to the warm winter waters of Baja California Sur on the Pacific coast, and to one of the last unspoiled breeding, calving and nursing sites left on the planet, Laguna San Ignacio. Although the gray whales were removed from the U.S. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife list in 1994, they continue to be defenseless along this perilous migratory route to direct and indirect impacts to the ocean such as human encroachment on rivers, shores, and inland development and industry, pollution, ship strikes, ocean noise, and the threat of development.

San Ignacio Lagoon, despite being declared a UNESCO world heritage site, had been threatened by a salt company's proposal to expand its operations there. (See Whales Alive! Volume VII, Number 4, October 1998). Conservationists claimed this expansion would most likely have had adverse effects on the ecosystem and might have disrupted the whales' migration patterns and behavior. Exportadora de Sal is 51 percent owned by the Mexican government and 49 percent owned by the Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan, and has a bad record on environmental issues to begin with, once trying to cover up diesel spills in Guerrero Negro. Conservationists raised additional concerns that increased ship traffic would result in more oil spills, especially during the annual hurricane season. Exportadora de Sal ships suffered two oil spills in the 1980s. The Mexican Commerce Department originally supported the project because it would have increased export revenue. Mexico's environmental protection agency opposed the project.

Finally, in late October, an unprecedented agreement was reached between an alliance of U.S. and Mexican conservation groups and Mexican ejidos, or communal landholders, to preserve 120,000 undeveloped acres around the Laguna San Ignacio. In return for $25,000 per year in perpetuity from a trust fund established through the San Diego-based International Community Foundation to the communal landholding group Ejido Luis Echeverria, the agreement ensures limited development and "environmentally sustainable development projects" that will benefit local communities. Staff from Pronatura-Noroeste, Mexico's oldest and largest conservation group, will monitor how the money - intended to compensate for the flood of development offers that have been enticing poor landowners _ is spent. The Laguna San Ignacio Conservation Alliance, which includes the Imperial Beach-based conservation group Wildcoast, and the Natural Resources Defense Council contributed more than $1.5 million donated by NRDC members and supporters.

In a separate agreement expected later, a one-time payment of $545,000 would be made to preserve the remaining 20,000 acres held as individual parcels. The Laguna San Ignacio Conservation Alliance eventually hopes to preserve 900,000 acres along the lagoon by negotiating with five other ejidos.

The agreement involves the largest piece of property to be placed in a private land trust in Mexico, and settles over thirty years of contentious debate about what to do with Laguna San Ignacio.

We applaud the agreement with reserved optimism, but not without understanding the geographical and political features involved. The area surrounding the lagoon is essentially unspoiled, undeveloped, and unaltered by human activity. Locals fish, and a handful provide ecotourism and whale watching. The San Ignacio land purchase agreement has garnered significant enough global attention that it is reasonable to assume this area will remain sanctuary for the wintering gray whales.

Juvenile grey whale next to boat.
Photo: Patricia Sullivan

But this is not the case as we look southward along the Pacific Coast to Magdalena Bay, a series of lagoons sheltered by low barrier islands. The bay area is similarly appealing to the whales as San Ignacio, but almost completely different in terms of human development and historical exploitation. The U.S. military used the sandy barrier islands as target practice; to this day, remnants of artillery can be found along its outer shores. Fishing ports of San Carlos and Puerto Lopez Mateos are populated and somewhat developed. As in San Ignacio lagoon, fishing and whale watching are the main sources of income. But here, whale watching remains seriously unregulated. In February 2004, we drove to Puerto Lopez Mateos, purchased a whale watch tour with another couple from one random fisherman-turned-whale watch captain in a skiff, and within a few minutes were (almost literally) on top of scores of grays. Cows and calves slept, frolicked, rolled, spouted, nursed, explored; others breached. Some were shy and evasive, but most were curious and approached us, proving the title of "friendlies". If whales didn't approach our boat, the captain pursued them, violating the regulation to maintain a distance of 30 meters. When I expressed my concern about the propeller, the proximity of the boat, etc., our boat mates commented, "These guys make their living on tourists like us. They aren't going to hurt the whales, because they'd be hurting their own livelihood. They know what they're doing." I questioned that logic, and was awed at the confidence with which it was presented. It would make sense that fishermen turned whale watch captains would not harm the very creature that they profited from, but the question of enforcement of regulations lingers. Who will enforce?

The same question is being asked, despite valiant efforts to protect the Bay of Loreto National Marine Park, which covers an area of 2,065 square kilometers in the Sea of Cortez, and was also inscribed to the United Nation's list of protected World Heritage Sites on July 14, 2005. The park was established on July 19, 1996 by decree of the Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, and with funds raised through The Nature Conservancy, Grupo Ecologista Antares, A.C. a non-profit ecological association was formed. The GEA office and Visitors Center is located in Loreto, nearly 700 miles south of the U.S. border. This office has become the central meeting place for park officials, marine researchers, local citizens, tourists and students. The Visitors Center has marine natural history displays and a marine conservation library. The association contacts and partners with other private and governmental institutions, exchanges and gathers information on advanced technologies to aid the environment, develops programs to educate the youth and the citizens of the region regarding the importance of preservation and maintaining an ecological balance, and acts as a watchdog to see that the existing laws and regulations to control the exploitation of the environment are enforced. GEA observes the threats to the environment - and then sets a course of action to develop solutions. But these solutions must be prudently measured. In December, Paul and I toured the marine park with Fernando Arcas, GEA Executive Director, who almost single-handedly monitors the entire park, in one boat, often alone, covering islands such as Carmen to the north, to Monserrat to the south, gauging health and numbers of sea lions, dolphins, whales and other marine wildlife. He is a full time resident of Loreto - the village also known as the sport fishing capital of Baja California Sur. As we traversed the edges of the 2,000 square kilometer park, it became patently clear to us that Mr. Arcas is masterful at balancing the needs and attitudes of the local people with those of GEA. He detailed his efforts to educate the locals, tacitly jockeying prudence and discretion.

Despite the park's designation as a protected area, it is business as usual. Fishermen approached us at the pier, "You want to rent a boat?" "You want to see whales?" Several times a month, cruise ships anchor in the bay, encouraged by the B.C.S. government to promote tourism in Loreto. In Luigi, we observed ~30 shark heads strewn along the shore. (Although illegal, Japanese pay 600 pesos, about $60, per kilo for shark fins.) Prior to our trip, we contacted no less than 5 organizations offering whale watching in Loreto, but it was December, and whales had not been spotted in Loreto bay yet, and no one could tell us when they would arrive. We could have hired whale watch guides each day, and come back disappointed, and poorer for the lesson.

The larger issue in Baja, it seems, is the war on drugs. On a drive up Mexico Route 1 from Loreto to the Bay of Conception, we were stopped at a checkpoint just outside Loreto limits. At least 20 Mexican army men inspected our rental car and luggage, questioned us about our destination, reason for visiting Loreto, and length of stay. The drought of marine enforcement officials is staggering; while out on the water with Mr. Arcas, Paul asked him why? Mr. Arcas smiled gracefully in response. I find it incredible that our wonderful whales can communicate with each other over great distances and despite serious obstacles and difficulties, but we humans do not, for their sake.

For the time being, we must celebrate the victory at San Ignacio Lagoon, and place our trust in the hands of champions such as Fernando Arcas and GEA to continue vigilant advocacy for and protection of marine life and environments in the Baja Peninsula.