The abundant biodiversity of the Northern Gulf of California makes our work both joyful and important.  While the Northern Gulf continues to be a healthy ecosystem overall, we never can take this condition for granted.  Much of the health we see are a result of the efforts of CEDO and other conservation non-profit organizations, businesses and individuals who share a vision of viable, sustainable resource usage, and the efforts of many agencies of the Mexican government who craft and enforce policy to support that vision.  Below is a list of some of the species you can find in the Gulf, some threatened, some not, but all of which form the fabric of the Northern Gulf of California ecosystem. Listed below are some of the species of interest to biologists and conservationists of the Northern Gulf at this time. 

--Vaquita and Fishermen
--Totoaba
--Least Tern
--Yuma Clapper Rail
--Flat-tailed Horned Lizard
--California Sea Lion

* For more information on these species see below * 

Vaquita and Fishermen

The vaquita, or Gulf of California porpoise, is the most endangered cetacean in the world. CEDO’s has engaged in many efforts over the years to understand and slow the catastrophic decline of this endemic porpoise species. We are still strongly working on the vaquita’s many problems.Their population is currently estimated at 213 individuals (see vaquita.org for updates and more information). Unless immediate action is taken to protect the vaquita there is little chance for their survival as a species. Declines are caused both by lack of freshwater flow and nutrients from the Colorado River, and a high rate of incidental mortality in small scale fishermen’s gill nets (13.8 % of the population each year).

A new forum, Sustainable Upper Gulf, was formed to help solve this dilemma.  It involves small scale fishermen from the three communities of the Upper Gulf Reserve, industrial fishermen, non-governmental organizations such as CEDO, and Ocean Garden, the primary marketer of the Gulf’s shrimp.  The group has agreed on three basic goals: 1) to eliminate fishing related mortality of vaquita; 2) improve the efficiency and sustainability of the shrimp fisheries; and 3) to eliminate illegal fishing practices.

SEMARNAT (the Secretary of the Environment) created a fund to help fishermen offset the costs of these restrictions. CEDO and the Federation of Cooperatives of Puerto Peñasco wrote a proposal to this fund that would increase co-management and reduce fishing effort through conversion to tourism and other activities. Both the Fisheries and Environmental arms of the government are now designing a program of incentives to help fishermen leave fishing or change the way they fish.

What you can do to help:
Support fishermen who have converted to tourism –bird, snorkel or fish responsibly. Think about your fish, shrimp and shellfish consumption. Do you know & feel good about where it’s coming from? Could you be eating more sustainably? Share these recommendations with your friends, fellow travelers and other visitors who may be unaware of them.

Totoaba

The first marine fish to be listed as endangered.  This large, long-lived fish, endemic to the Northern Gulf of California, retains its protected species status with both the US and Mexican governments.  Overfished in the 1920's and 1930's, primarily for its swim bladder to Eastern markets, the totoaba may be making a moderate come-back. 

The Totoaba is a corvina, a bass-like croaker (Family Sciaenidae), capable of making croaking noises through its air bladder.  Totoaba resemble the sea bass, with large mouths and strong teeth, but only have two rather than three anal spines, among other differences.  Highly valued as a food fish, the totoaba may grow over six feet long.  Read more about this important fish species here.  

Least Tern

The wetlands of the Northern Gulf are critical breeding habitat for least terns, Sternula antillarum, a federally protected shorebird. CEDO is analyzing least tern habitat use and its vulnerability given projected changes in land and wetlands. Click here to download and print out an important brochure about this bird, most vulnerable from April through July during its breeding and nesting cycle.

Wetlands of the Northern Gulf are critical breeding habitat for least terns, Sternula antillarum, a federally protected shorebird. These diminutive birds, weighing only 40 grams, select barrier beaches, peninsulas and spits to lay eggs and rear young. A colonial species, least terns depend on the presence of other pairs to help defend the nests. Look for least terns near Peñasco between late April and July each year. Young birds take off with their parents southwards in late summer, although researchers are not sure how far they go, or where they overwinter.

Many new developments are planned on prime least tern nesting habitat. SEMARNAT has approved projects despite their clear impact on this endangered species. On the map use the development and colony layers to see how many birds will be impacted. Other threats to the terns include people walking or driving into colonies during nesting season and increased predation by opportunistic species like kestrels, gulls and housecats.  Least terns are also quite vulnerable to sea level rise, as they nest about a meter above the high tide line. The University of Arizona has produced maps to project changes in the predicted sea level rise in the gulf.

What you can do to help:
Do not buy property with developers who have disrupted wetlands through pumping, fill or artificial channels. See our list of healthy and harmful projects to guide your investment decisions.  Do not use ATVs in or around wetlands, as they cause erosion and direct disturbance of birds. ATV disturbance is the principal threat to several least tern colonies near Puerto Peñasco. Share these recommendations with your friends, fellow travelers and other visitors who may be unaware of them.   Download this pamphlet and share it with all who might unknowingly harm this little bird. 

Yuma Clapper Rail

An elusive marsh dweller, the Yuma clapper rail is an endangered subspecies benefiting from CEDO’s ongoing wetland conservation programs.

Rails are colorfully named for the expression “thin as a rail” for the way they slip in and out of marsh grasses, with their bodies extended to mimic the reeds. A clapper rail is easy to identify by its loud rapping call. One hundred years ago clapper rails were common marsh dwellers. Always elusive, this species has become a difficult bird to see in the wild, due to extensive hunting in the early part of the last century. Over 200 a day were killed in the San Francisco Bay area, while tens of thousands of individuals were taken in two days on the east coast in 1896.

The wetlands of the Upper Gulf are home to the endangered Yuma subspecies of Clapper Rail, which nests further inland and more frequently in fresh water than other Clapper Rails.  CEDO field researchers documented one individual in Estero La Cholla in 2005.  The Yuma clapper rail is one of the many unique and threatened species to benefit from our ongoing wetland conservation efforts.

The Yuma Clapper Rail also can be found in California and Arizona, along the waterways and wetlands that feed into the Northern Gulf of California as well as the Salton Sea area of California.  The main threat to this lovely monogamous bird is habitat destruction, caused primarily by human population growth and development in the wetlands where they thrive.

What you can do to help:
Do not buy property with developers who have disrupted wetlands through pumping, fill or artificial channels. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for our list of healthy and harmful projects to guide your investment decisions.  Do not use ATVs in or around wetlands, as they cause erosion and direct disturbance of birds. Share these recommendations with your friends, fellow travelers and other visitors who may be unaware of them.

Flat-tailed Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma mcallii) (click on title to learn more)

This unique desert dweller subsists on ants and is capable of delivering a shot of toxins to its predators. See below.Flat-tailed horned lizards are sand-colored, ant-eating reptiles found in the Sonoran Desert. Their bodies are horizontally flattened; they sport horns over their heads and a black line over their spinal columns. These characteristics distinguish this animal from other reptiles or lizards such as the desert iguana, which usually have a round or cylindrical body shape. Horned lizards inhabit the sand flats of the Gran Desierto de Altar, where the vegetation is scarce. In an unusual form of defense, horned lizards squirt a powerful stream of blood and toxins from their eyes to deter predators. Its horns, which curve from its neck over its head, provide physical defense against being swallowed by a larger predator.

Today the main threats to survival of this animal in the Gran Desierto de Altar are plant removal, pesticides (ingested through ants), the effects of urbanization, including mining and all terrain vehicles (ATVs). Off-roading destroys more of the vegetation that lizards depend upon, as well as frequently crushing individuals. The opening of new trails and roads increases direct mortality by encouraging ATVs and divides populations, making them vulnerable to local extinctions and genetic consequences.

Read more about a variety of horned lizard species here.   Learn about the conflict regarding the status of this species here. 

What you can do to help:
When you visit the Biosphere Reserve, obey the posted rules for visitors. Don’t use all terrain vehicles in the dunes or sand flats. Don’t throw trash – this can increase the population of crows which prey on the flat tail horned lizard. Don’t introduce chemicals such as pesticides. Don’t capture or keep the lizard as pets: their food requirements don’t allow them to do well in captivity. Don’t drive off the established roads. Camp only in the designated camp sites within the Reserve. Report any infraction of these rules or suggestions to the Reserve personnel. Share these recommendations with your friends, fellow travelers and other visitors who may be unaware of them.

California Sea Lion

The Upper Gulf supports a large population of California sea lions, indicating the Gulf still retains abundant food sources, since sea lions require a large amount of food in order to thrive.  Read more here.