Baja California & The Sea of Cortez

 

By Katie Register

Dawn on the Sea of Cortez from the porch of Meghann's apartment.
On my next trip, I will get the horizon straight.

Preparing for a graduate course in Baja California, I eagerly read “The Log from The Sea of Cortez” by the great American author John Steinbeck and marine biologist Ed Ricketts. Thus, I fell in love with the Sea of Cortez long before I saw it, and to be truthful, I wished that I had been on the voyage of discovery with the witty, sarcastic, smart, and scientifically-minded (and hard-drinking) crew of the “Western Flyer” along with their mean and vengeful outboard motor called the “SeaCow.”

Desert borders the Sea which was an amazing sight to me. Every other time I have see large bodies of water, the surrounding shores were green. 

First things First 

Out of breath on top of a dune, Baja California. July 2016.

Baja California in July 2016 provided many “firsts” for me: Climbing a sand dune; swimming with whale sharks & sea lions; witnessing hundreds of dolphins jumping along side our boat and hundreds of boobies diving for dinner; being stung by a jellyfish; and sleeping under stars on cots set among cardon cactus, and boojum trees. Also, "showering" with a half-full bucket of water. Best shower ever.

Another first: One night in pitch darkness, I woke to the sound of a cow being chased by a dog through the cot area, and woke several nights around 3:20 AM by an over-alert rooster. 

A highlight—one of so many—was sharing coffee with Meghann McDonald and her dad, Lane, as the sun rose over the Bahía de los Ángeles, or Bay of the Angels. In those minutes, you could learn how the Sea of Cortez is also known as the Vermilion Sea.

Dessert in the Desert

Sweet Andres & the brownies he made.

Another first: this was my first trip after I learned that I have multiple food allergies including to all mammal meats and wheat. So I started the trip with apprehension and thousands of calories of trail mix in my backpack. My concerns about diet were soon put to rest as the food at both field stations was mainly vegetable-based and healthy. Andres of the Galvan family (our hosts) even made gluten-free brownies for those of us with this highly annoying allergy.

I wonder about the need for firsts at all points in our lives—or at least why it is important to me.  My mom learned to SCUBA dive and fly a small plane after age 65, so it might be a genetic thing. 

Annie and Robin in the outdoor classroom.

A particularly moving moment for me came when I learned from Meghann McDonald (one of our instructors) that she had a specimen that had been collected by Ed Ricketts. With her permission, I climbed the exterior staircase to her apartment above the field station kitchen to look at the long-dead animal, perfectly preserved and carefully labeled. I did not get a photo of this since I had already dropped my camera into the Sea of Cortez. I was klutzy in the extreme during my time in Mexico--it drove me crazy! But my classmates were kind, and pretended to not notice.

The end of learning?

Learning from Rafael Galvan Villavicencio, a healer who uses nature.

Throughout my time in Mexico, I was aware that this course culminated my formal education. I have been in and out of school since I was tiny, and know that this is the last course I will take for credit towards a degree. But is far from the end of my learning. Fortunately, I work on a university campus, where I can audit courses at no cost, AND I don’t have to take exams or write papers.

According to Falk & Dierking (2010), 95% of the science we learn comes from informal educational sources—zoos, museums, hobbies, reading. And so I will rely on the informal sources for my future education. 

My time in Baja, just as the time I spent in Belize and Costa Rica for earlier graduate courses, makes me think of how experiencing new places, meeting and learning from new people, and expanding our horizons helps to build understanding and empathy. I'll leave this blog with a favorite quote:

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”   --Mark Twain

Falk, J. H., & Dierking, L. D. (2010). The 95 Percent Solution School is not where most Americans learn most of their science. American Scientist, 98(6), 486-493.

Steinbeck, J. & Richetts, E. (1951). The log from the Sea of Cortez. Penguin.