Diving at Bird Island

A few shots of nudibranchs and student-branchs under water at Bird Island.

Fin NIbbler

--
God Bless You & Have a Great Day!

Mexican sunset

After dinner view for the study abroad students

Octopus Video

Here is a video from our second day tidepooling in the sandy intertidal environment in Cholla Bay. Octopi are mollusks. They can change their skin color and texture to blend in with their environment, and have beaks on the bottom of their body which they use to eat.
https://vimeo.com/95671854

Isla San Jorge

Yesterday we took a boat trip to Isla San Jorge, also known as Bird Island. The island is made of several rocky islands and is located about 25 miles southeast of Puerto Penasco.

 The tops of these islands from far away may appear to have snow one them. But, the closer you approach Bird Island your nose will tell you otherwise. Each rock is almost completely covered with bird guano (poop). The coat of guano is understandable after seeing the large amount of different bird species on the island. Some of the birds we saw included the blue footed booby, brown booby, and seagulls.

Also, among these birds are a large population of sea lions. About 3,500 sea lions live on Bird Island. During our dive/snorkel we observed the pup sea lions very close. These young pups were very curious about us and enjoyed swimming all around us and some of us were even tugged on by them. Bird Island is the only known place to have a breed of sea lions with blue eyes, normally sea lions will have brown eyes.

There is an abundance of life on Bird Island and now that the island is a government protected habitat. No one is allowed on the island, which helps to preserve the natural habitat for the life on Bird Island. Which is great because it is a very beautiful place! 

Denevette

Snorkleing at Bird Island

Snorkeling was fun awesome, I personally never went snorkeling in the open water, but the experience was terrific. Swimming with the sea lions was awesome, they came two feet in front of my face and just looked at me, while I looked back at them. The sea lions were young also known as "pups", I  got come in contact with some of them while they swam by, feeling their coats and their whiskers. this trip to Puerto Pensco, has been the most memorable trip so far and I plan to take more through Study Abroad.

Bryson

The Trona Salt Mine is located in a protected area of the Northern Gulf of Mexico for this reason mining of the salt must be sustainable. While this makes mining more difficult, there are many reasons to ensure sustainability. This includes placing limits on how, where, and amount of salt mined.

The critical need to ensure the mine is sustainable is influenced by several factors. The mine holds an important economic value for the region; salt is extracted for medicine, glass making, car batteries, and can serve as a saltlick for cattle. Likewise, the protected area of the northern gulf including the salt mine is culturally significant to the tohono o'odham people as this salt flat serves as an area where young men must walk through as a rite of passage. Additionally, the mine and surrounding protected environment are home to a wealth of biodiversity including migratory birds like the Great Blue Herron (which had built nests at the site), coyotes, squirrels, jack rabbits, and other desert animals.

The mine if not exploited is a renewable resource. Estimates say it takes approximately 3 years to replenish areas with mined salt. Formed 1.5 meters under the ground where fresh water from the aquifer is mixed with salt water from the ocean, this process results in the formation of the salt which is mined from the surface. Also found under the ground are small pockets of freshwater which form artisan wells, these wells push fresh water to the surface in certain areas providing food and water for the animals that live in these otherwise harsh conditions.

I enjoyed our trip to the mines learning about this resource and it's role in the economy of the northern gulf was very educational.

Hillary P.