Much of our time in Baja has been spent seeking nature – sunrises, sunsets, moonrises, shells, long snorkels, or hours of tidepooling. I guess you can call us nature addicts. Finally, in Bahia we were able to start some snorkeling. It wasn’t fantastic as the visibility was limited and the water was pretty cold (or colder than in south Baja), but for the kids it was great because we didn’t have to go out that far to see fish – they could build their confidence in the water and brush up on their snorkeling skills. We did a bit of snorkeling each day we were in Bahia de LA and saw loads of stingrays, lots of fish, and some bullseye puffer fish – nothing on the level we would see further down in Baja. But the tidepooling was top notch.
The first day we were in Bahia de LA, the kids saw a local fisherman hunting for octopus in the rocks that appeared as the tide went out – we didn’t see any octopus that day but millions of brittle stars in all different shapes and sizes, gulf sea stars, panamic cushion stars, sea cucumbers, crabs, anemone – some of the most lively tidepools we have ever seen. But we knew there were octopus in the tidepools so we were on a mission to see one.
The next day, low tide was around dusk so we explored the tidepools again and finally found a little octopus. The kids were so excited to see it change color and texture to match its surroundings like a shy tidepool superhero. By the third day, we had the octopus-finding technique down and we saw several more of varying sizes – even a tiny one just a few inches long.
The beach in Bahia de LA was a also treasure trove of ecological marvels. We did long walks down the skinny peninsula that juts into the bay about a mile south from our camp in search of turtle nests. We were told by some other overlanders that 2 local women watch turtle nests and release baby hatchlings, a very informal sort of turtle sanctuary. We saw 3 turtle nests protected with signs and sticks but no one releasing baby turtles. We eventually ran into one of the turtle protectors right after she had released some baby turtles, but she wasn’t going to have any new hatchlings for a few days. During the peninsula walks we added to our ever growing collection of Baja shells: tons of conches, lots of tiny sea biscuits (the latest obsessive treasure to hunt), countless bones, and even a dried starfish.
One of the walks resulted in an unsettling sight – right at the southern tip of the isthmus there were about 50-60 hammerhead shark heads that had been liberated from their bodies – some washed up on shore and the rest floating in the shallow waters. We have no idea why there were so many – some sort of poaching event. An unforgettable scene, especially considering hammerheads are a critically endangered species.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT BELOW
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