Jimena Duran Castellanos is a native of Hidalgo Mexico and a junior in the PVAMU School of Architecture She researched and wrote this essay as a project during her 2019 summer internship with the TIPHC Jimena is also a student-athlete as a member of the Panthers’ women’s tennis team She is proud that tennis has given her the opportunity to study and play in the United States learn the country’s cultures as well as that of Texas: “I have been living in Texas for almost three years and living here makes me love my roots and culture even more I understand that the history of my country is very dramatic because of the cultural shock that happened between Mexican natives and Spaniards after the discovery of the “New World” settlers brought African and Asian people to New Spain (Mexico) and that produced more changes in the country’s social structure as the mixture of cultures and races led to complications between races people’s race does not determine what kind of life a person can have people are more concerned with their social reputation and financial position I knew that Vicente Guerrero had African roots but I never thought about why it was important back then to have a black president Now I understand because during those times in the Americas people of color needed to be heard and understood Guerrero gave freedom to the marginalized classes in Mexico because he identified himself with their issues thus people identified with him and his policies those facts were part of understanding why he achieved what he did It was not until I came to the United States a culturally and socially different country when I found that race was crucial for determining who someone was I realized that perhaps things have not particularly changed I support the idea that no matter the race we all can achieve what we desire if we have a purpose I am proud to say that he was the first black president in North America There were many reasons why people craved independence in New Spain but most obvious was that nobody wanted to be controlled anymore the issues were much more complex than that People were tired of seeing the rich getting richer while the working class and the poor struggled to sustain their lives They were eager to be able to decide what to do with their lives and be what they wanted but labeling based on skin color was a great limitation to their cause The social classes largely depended on race and back then races were easily distinguished with each race having a different standing in society and other marginalized groups united to fight for their land and freedom in the independence movement to terminate the Spanish rule in New Spain It was not until they rebelled against the Spanish that they had a voice This essay will detail the life of Vicente Guerrero his fight for the liberty of his people and their homeland which led to him being hailed as “Mexico’s greatest man of color.” Vicente Ramon Guerrero Saldaña was born on August 9 Vicente Guerrero did not have a formal education while growing up but he dedicated his time to farming activities and working as an “arriero” both of his parents were devout supporters of the Spanish rule in New Spain New Spain likely had the largest number of African slaves of all the Americas Afro-Mexicans outnumbered Spanish and Mestizos (persons of indigenous and Spanish mixed-descent) in urban towns the numbers increased to 116,529 for Afro-Mexicans and 35,089 for those African identified Clearly the number of children from mixed unions accounted for the much of the growth African-descended populations thus comprised 8.8 percent compared to Spaniards and their descendants The New Spaniard society was not only constituted of Spanish and African races as the mid-16th century saw Spaniards beginning to bring from their Pacific colony New Spain began to get a great variety of mixed races that were each identified as a “casta” for instance: mestizos The colonies were a fundamental pillar for the development of European countries by providing them with goods and a workforce which helped countries to get richer and more powerful over European kingdoms Historians have shown that many of the goods that Europeans craved such as gold and other products that Europeans did not have were the fruits of enslaving people from places they had conquered Slavery had existed well before the discovery of the “New World”; however the commerce of Africans became important for Europe only after the 15th century when they began to settle there and build colonies The first Africans in New Spain accompanied explorers and conquistadors like Christopher Columbus and Hernan Cortes Later enslaved Africans were taken to work in cotton fields or sugar plantations blacks started to take roles previously performed by Mexican natives whose population steadily declined from years of abuse from conquistadors as well as the introduction of European diseases It is estimated that 25 to 30 million West Africans were deported from their home countries and sold to different enslavers approximately 10 or 12 million slaves were brought to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries there were only three ports in which Africans could be brought: Veracruz they would be transported and distributed to other areas of the country Slavery lasted more than 300 years in New Spain until Vicente Guerrero abolished the practice in 1829 almost 40 years before President Abraham Lincoln would do the same in the United States when he signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 Vicente Guerrero’s journey as a national hero began while traveling as an “arriero” around New Spain and becoming familiar with the growing independence movement and meeting Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon Guerrero started his military career in 1810 after meeting Morelos and participated in many important engagements under the command of insurgent leader Hermenegildo Galeana After Morelos was executed by a Spanish firing squad in 1815 Guerrero became the new Commander in Chief of the insurgent army Guerrero became more powerful with every victory and in an effort to stop him convinced his father to beg his son to offer his sword in surrender to the viceroy of New Spain He has come to offer me rewards in the name of the Spaniards Even after losing a majority of his forces the young Guerrero continued to fight in southern New Spain with only a handful of remaining insurgents years of fighting took a heavy toll on the Spanish decided to make peace with Guerrero to stop the war that had lasted more than ten years and the agreement was sealed with the well-known “Abrazo de Acatempan” (The Acatempan Hug because the two men’s embrace occurred in that city) on February 10 1821 when both legions united to form the “Trigarante” army (the Army of Three Guarantees—religion Iturbide wrote the “El Plan de Iguala” on February 24 that declared Mexico as an independent and sovereign nation where the following points were established: New Spain became the Mexican Empire and its first emperor would be Agustin de Iturbide in 1822 though he ruled for only ten months because the empire was in an economic crisis and its problems were overwhelming with no further funding from Spain or other countries General Iturbide lacked the ability to lead the nation and its people were not happy with the new government because its policies did not help the working and poor classes who were the most affected by the consequences of independence recognized the problems and proclaimed Mexico as a Republic With the help of powerful generals like Nicolas Bravo they fought for the people and defeated Iturbide who abdicated his position in March 1823 a Supreme Executive Power governed the nation and Guerrero was an important member of that group a new Constitution proclaimed Guadalupe Victoria as the first president of Mexico when Victoria’s presidency was about to end and conservative candidate Manuel Gomez Pedraza Guerrero’s supporters did not like the results and forced Gomez resign his presidency 1829 Guerrero became the second president of the republic A “casta” referred to the social stratum in which someone belonged according to his/her race or mixture of races in the Spanish colonies (New Spain and the Philippines) Each “casta” had a particular name depending on the race or mixture of races Guerrero managed to defend Mexico from an attempt by the Spanish to reconquer the nation he exhausted the nation’s back up financial resources which was met with disapproval from the country’s aristocracy Guerrero made remarkable changes to support working classes fought for both racially and economically oppressed people and promoted the purchase of Mexican products His government was clearly dedicated to the people who had many needs after years and years of conflict that left the nation with a predominantly poor class to celebrate the anniversary of independence with an act of justice Guerrero formally abolished slavery in Mexico except in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the south of the country and even members of his administration opposed and betrayed him did not like the idea of losing the economic power they had based on slavery Texas was still part of the Republic of Mexico and Guerrero’s order arrived in Texas October 16 but political chief Ramon Musquiz’ workers rejected it because it violated the colonization laws that secured the settlers properties Guerrero’s decree did not make any changes over slavery in Texas This ultimately became a reason why Texas decided to secede from Mexico and join the United States His own officials said that he did not possess the intellectual capacities to govern a nation ordered his assassination without a legal trial Gurrerro was found and killed at the age of 39 in Cuilapam The phrase “My Motherland comes first” has proliferated over time and it reminds Mexicans that their independence was not given The state of Guerrero was named after Vicente Guerrero and is the only state named after a former Mexican head of state is now home to one of several Afro-Mexican communities in Mexico Africans left their cultural expressions in Mexico as well as their genetic imprint in states such as Veracruz Although the race is blurry or difficult to identify thanks to the mixture of races throughout Mexican history today there are many terms used by black Mexicans to identify themselves such as negro (black) one of the official ethnicity options on Mexico’s census form will be ‘negro’ (black) a great achievement by the black community in Mexico for having their African roots recognized Mexican culture would not be the same today if Africans had not been brought there Mexico would not be what it is if someone like Vicente Guerrero had not fought for his land and his rights which is why he has been called “Mexico’s greatest man of color.” — Los Primeros Africanos en el Nuevo Mundo (The First Africans in the New World): http://www.omerfreixa.com.ar/los-esclavos-africanos-en-el-nuevo-mundo-todo-es-historia/ — The African-American Migration Story: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/on-african-american-migrations/ — ¿Cuando y Por Que Llegaron? (When and Why Did They Come?): https://relatosehistorias.mx/nuestras-historias/cuando-y-por-que-llegaron — What Part of Africa Did Most Slaves Come From?: https://www.history.com/news/what-part-of-africa-did-most-slaves-come-from — Transatlantic Slave Trade: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/slave-route/transatlantic-slave-trade/ — Transatlantic Slave Trade: https://www.britannica.com/topic/transatlantic-slave-trade#accordion-article-history — Africa’s Legacy in Mexico: http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/legacy/almleg.html — Vicente Guerrero: https://www.blackpast.org/aaw/vignette_aahw/guerrero-vicente-1783-1831/ — Vicente Guerrero: https://relatosehistorias.mx/nuestras-historias/vicente-guerrero — Vicente Guerrero: The First Black President in North America: https://kentakepage.com/vicente-guerrero-the-first-black-president-in-north-america/ — Iturbide y La Independencia (Iturbide and The Independence): http://www.mexicanisimo.com.mx/iturbide-y-la-independencia/ — El Plan de Iguala (The “Plan de Iguala”): https://www.historiadelnuevomundo.com/index.php/2017/06/el-plan-de-iguala/ — Agustin de Iturbide, Primer Emperador de Mexico (Agustin de Iturbide, The First Emperor of Mexico): https://morelianas.com/articulos/agustin-de-iturbide-primer-emperador-de-mexico/ — El Fin del Imperio ¿Nacimiento de la Republica? (The End of The Empire. The Beginning of The Republic?): https://todoeshistoria.net/2012/03/19/el-fin-del-imperio-nacimiento-de-la-republica/ — Guadalupe Victoria Primer Presidente de Mexico (Guadalupe Victoria First President of Mexico): https://www.inside-mexico.com/guadalupe-victoria-primer-presidente-mexico/ — ¿Como Fue el Gobierno de Vincente Guerrero (How was Vicente Guerrero’s Presidency?): https://www.lifeder.com/gobierno-vicente-guerrero/ — Vicente Guerrero The Black President of Mexico: http://www.saobserver.com/single-post/2018/01/23/Vicente-Guerrero-the-Black-President-of-Mexico — The Untold History of Afro-Mexicans, Mexico’s Forgotten Ethnic Group: https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/mexico/articles/the-untold-history-of-afro-mexicans-mexicos-forgotten-ethnic-group/ -- The Troubling History of Big Tobacco’s Cozy Ties With Black Leaders -- Black Artists and the March Into the Museum The Life of Eldrewey Stearns and the Integration of Houston" -- New book chronicles African-American characters in "The Little Rascals" -- Study: Black athletes and “The height of hypocrisy in higher education” -- TBHPP Bookshelf: "Disney's Most Notorious Film: Race and the Hidden Histories of Song of the South" Metrics details potential environmental adaptive mechanisms and the potential evolutionary interlinking of genes between bacterial archaeal and viral lineages in Guerrero Negro (GN) microbial mat were investigated using metagenomic sequencing across a vertical transect at millimeter scale The community composition based on unique genes comprised bacteria (98.01%) A gene-focused analysis of bacteria archaea eukarya and viruses showed a vertical partition of the community The greatest coverages of genes of bacteria and eukarya were detected in first layers while the highest coverages of genes of archaea and viruses were found in deeper layers Many genes potentially related to adaptation to the local environment were detected The evolutionary histories of those genes were studied using phylogenetic analysis showing an interlinking between domains in GN mat the composition and variability of viruses and their functions at fine scale resolutions in these communities is less known the current study provides a taxonomic description of the vertical taxonomic organization as well as a functional organization delineated between bacteria eukarya and viruses in a GN microbial mat—revealing new insights into the ecology of these communities The goals of the present study were to characterize the community structure and their functional potential in this microbial mat through: (I) analyzing the functional annotations and taxonomic classification of assembled genes spanning bacterial eukarya and viruses; (II) examining potential genetic mechanisms of adaptation in microbial mat; and (III) exploring the interlinkages between genes present in bacteria and viruses through gene-level phylogenetic analysis Three replicate cores were placed into sterile centrifuge tubes (Falcon® To get the vertical layers at one-millimeter intervals of the first four layers (0–1 the mat was sectioned using sterile scalpels Three replicates were pooled for metagenomic analysis resulting in a single pooled metagenome for each depth for library preparation and sequencing Libraries were prepared using the Nextera DNA Flex library kit (Illumina) following the manufacturer’s instructions and sequencing was performed on the NovaSeq 6000 platform (2 × 150 nucleotides) Metagenomic sequence data from the 4 depths are available through NCBI’s Sequence Read Archive at BioProject PRJNA688760 gene-level coverage information was filtered based on detection (proportion of a gene that recruited any reads to it) such that those with a detection less than 50% had their coverage set to 0 This had a net effect of removing less than 3% of the pre-filtered total coverage Heatmap and cluster analyses based on Bray Curtis similarities were calculated for all genes with a mean coverage of >= 9 in when summed across the 4 samples To avoid false positive viral gene identification the genes were filtered based on two criteria: genes taxonomic classified in the RefSeq84 and/or IMGVR databases; and functional viral protein annotated in KEGG database metagenomes from all 4 depths were co-assembled together and normalized coverage values were attained by recruiting the individual sample reads to the assembled contigs Mean coverage values for genes were extracted and for exploratory purposes these mean coverage values for each sample were normalized to be out of 1 million (coverage per million (CPM)) Genes identified were taxonomically classified and functionally annotated We also include information on read-based classification as a means to potentially identify if any large biases might have been introduced through the assembly-to-gene-calling process but the results did not largely vary in any cases Summaries of normalized gene-level coverages broken down by domain; note the x-axes vary between A1-D1 (A1) Bar plots of the genes identified in bacteria across the uppers 4 layers examined [Layer 1 (0-1 mm from surface) (A2) Heatmap showing the read-based taxonomic classification of bacteria at species level with coverages >= 9 across the uppers 4 layers examined (B1) Bar plots of the CPM of the 14,184 genes identified in archaea across the uppers 4 layers examined [Layer 1 (0–1 mm from surface) (B2) Heatmap showing the read-based taxonomic classification of archaea at species level across the uppers 4 layers examined (C1) Bar plots of the CPM of the 547 genes identified in eucaryote across the uppers 4 layers examined [Layer 1 (0–1 mm from surface) (C2) Heatmap showing the read-based taxonomic classification of eucaryotes at species level across the uppers 4 layers examined (D1) Bar plots of the CPM of the 394 genes identified in viruses across the uppers 4 layers examined [Layer 1 (0–1 mm from surface) (D2) Heatmap showing the read-based taxonomic classification of viruses at species level across the uppers 4 layers examined 36 families and 496 species were identified Methanosarcinaceae were the dominant family Methanobacteriaceae and Candidatus Methanoperedenaceae Candidatus Lokiarchaeota archaeon were the dominant species Candidatus Micrarchaeota archaeon and Candidatus Woesearchaeota archaeon Thalassiosiraceae were the most predominant family followed by Symbiodiniaceae and Bacillariaceae Thalassiosira pseudonana was the predominant species followed by Symbiodinium microadriaticum and Fistulifera solaris the highest coverages were related to genetic information processing and phage terminase large subunit/ phage replication initiation protein (A) Heatmap showing the coverages of potentially adaptation-relevant genes present in bacteria across the uppers 4 layers examined (B) Heatmap showing the coverages of potentially adaptation-relevant genes present in archaea across the uppers 4 layers examined (C) Heatmap showing the UV gene present in virus across the uppers 4 layers examined (A) Mid-point rooted phylogenetic tree based on amino-acid sequences detected in our study from MFS transporter (B) Phylogenetic tree based on amino-acid sequences from small multidrug resistance pump (emrE Amino-acid sequences from bacteria (black color) amino acid sequences from archaea (purple color) 37 sequences were included in the phylogenetic analysis (15 sequences for yitG The sequences were aligned with Muscle and the tree was generated with IQTREE2 with 1000 bootstraps with auto-model selection via the built-in ModelFinder the gene ID 419991 present in Archaeoglobales archaeon formed a clade with 4 genes present in bacteria: the genes IDs 424272 gene ID 683720 present in Desulfonemais himotonii and gene ID 212872 present in Olavius sp (A) Mid-point rooted phylogenetic tree based on amino-acid sequences detected in our study from superoxide dismutase (B) Phylogenetic tree based on amino-acid sequences from superoxide reductase (dfx) 286 sequences were included in the phylogenetic analysis (172 sequences for SOD2 gene and 114 sequences for dfx gene) (A) Mid-point rooted phylogenetic tree based on amino-acid sequences detected in our study from heat shock protein HtpX (htpX) (B) Phylogenetic tree based on amino-acid sequences from cold shock protein (cspA) (C) Phylogenetic tree based on amino-acid sequences from phage shock protein C (pspC) 454 sequences were included in the phylogenetic analysis (110 sequences for htpX gene 228 sequences for cspA gene and 116 sequences for pspC gene) two genes present in Thermoplasmata (genes IDs 807563 and 510363) and one gene present in uncultured Caudoviricetes phage (gene ID 667218) formed a clade with 3 genes present in bacteria (genes IDs 572443 Sulfur metabolism were identified with genes involved in dissimilatory sulfate reduction and assimilatory sulfate reduction pathways were also found genes to encoded polysulfide metabolism thiosulfate reduction and thiosulfate oxidation CO2 to methane pathway were detected with fwdE were identified genes involved in Arnon–Buchanan cycle Calvin–Benson cycle and Wood–Ljungdahl pathway (A) Mid-point rooted phylogenetic tree based on amino-acid sequences detected in our study from excinuclease ABC subunit A (uvrA) (B) Phylogenetic tree based on amino-acid sequences from excinuclease ABC subunit C (uvrC) (C) Phylogenetic tree based on amino-acid sequences from UV DNA damage endonuclease (uvsE amino-acid sequences from viruses (red color) 593 sequences were included in the phylogenetic analysis (367 sequences for uvrA gene 206 sequences for uvrC gene and 20 sequences for uvsE a community-wide gene-focused analysis showed a vertical partitioning of bacteria eukarya and viruses and their functional potential the mat was found to be composed by bacteria (98.01%) The greatest coverages of genes of bacteria and eukarya were detected in the upper layers Genes such as these were taxonomically classified as belonging to 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Nature 440, 203–207. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04418 (2006) Download references This study was supported by a grant from NASA’s Exobiology Program The authors would like to thank the Bay Area Environmental Research (BAER) Institute for managing the postdoctoral fellowships awarded to P.M.M and M.D.L We also thank representatives of Exportadora de Sal of Guerrero Negro We also thank our colleagues from México: José Q Alejandro López Cortés and Hever Latisnere Barragán for field support and logistical assistance This study was funded by NASA’s Exobiology Program conceptualized the study and/or supported the data analysis performed the bioinformatic analysis and P.M.M All authors have read and approved the final manuscript The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-52626-y Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science The federal government has purchased Mitsubishi Corporation’s 49% stake in a salt-producing plant in Baja California Sur (BCS) taking full ownership of the facility it has operated with the Japanese company for 50 years Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro said Saturday that the government paid 1.5 billion pesos (US $88 million) for Mitsubishi’s stake in Exportadora de Sal (ESSA) the world’s largest sea salt producer “Today is a day to celebrate in Mexico, … the day of our flag nationalizes Exportadora de Sal as part of the project of transformation for Mexico of the 21st century,” Buenrostro said at a “nationalization” event in Guerrero Negro Three-quarters of the money comes from the government’s Mining Development Trust while the remaining 25% of the purchase of the minority stake is funded by the Mexican Geological Service López Obrador expressed his satisfaction with the nationalization of ESSA and declared it was a “miracle” that the company wasn’t privatized in the “neoliberal period,” which is how he refers to the 36 years before he took office in late 2018 Buenrostro said that the nationalization complies with the president’s “precept” of keeping “the profits generated with our natural resources” in Mexico The economy minister said that ESSA produces 84% of Mexico’s total salt output and noted that its production is mainly for export She also said that Mexico is the world’s seventh-largest salt producer and one of the two biggest in Latin America “We mustn’t forget that salt is an important input in industries like pharmaceuticals so it’s a very important resource,” Buenrostro said Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) acknowledged in a statement that it had agreed to sell its 49% stake in ESSA “MC has operated ESSA together with the Ministry of Economy of Mexico since 1973 ESSA will aim to achieve further growth under the leadership by the public sector of Mexico,” the company said adding that it will continue to purchase salt produced by ESSA and “provide a stable supply to our customers.” ESSA employs approximately 1,100 people and has an annual production capacity of 8 million tonnes of industrial salt Buenrostro said that workers’ rights and positions are “guaranteed,” adding that the government will continue working “hand in hand” with them “for the future of Mexico.” ADVERTISE WITH MND COMMUNITY GUIDELINES Subscription FAQ's Privacy Policy Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world The Guerrero Negro-based salt producer also known as ESSA was already 51% owned by the state Mining Development Trust contributed 75% of the purchase with the remaining 25% funded by the Mexican Geological Service according to a statement on Saturday from the Economy Ministry This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).Gripping the roof handle and staring silently over the dashboard, I avert my gaze from the 160ft drop to my left. There’s just six inches of dirt road standing between us and the cliff edge: one wrong move from our driver, and the pickup truck we’re in is going straight into the Sea of Cortez. Five years on, I’ve come to La Paz, in the south of the Baja California peninsula, to join Baja Expeditions’ first-ever overlanding trip. The company has specialised in whale-watching, kayaking and wild camping in the state since the 1970s, but has recently branched out with off-roading tours to encourage visitors to explore the peninsula’s less-visited interior. Mobula rays, also called manta cubana, can often be seen flying over the Sea of Cortez.Photograph by iStockphoto, Getty Images“People think Baja is just beaches and whales,” says our driver Mike Thorneycroft, a Canadian who moved to Baja California in 2020. “But it’s more than that. These trips are about getting people out of the resorts and into Baja’s least-visited communities, and learning some of their history and culture.” Mike gets us past the cliff edge safely, manoeuvring around asteroid-sized potholes and boulders with ease as we climb up and over Sierra de la Laguna, part of a mountain range that connects Baja California Sur, the southern state of Baja California, with southern California in the US.  “Baja California is perfect for off-roading,” says Mike, who organises and competes in long-distance off-road rallies across the state. “The roads are rocky, wild and unpredictable, changing quickly in the rainy season. But that’s what makes it exciting.” Near the former silver-mining town of El Triunfo, we stop at the Santuario de los Cactus, a community-run garden with some of the oldest and rarest cacti on earth, including the cardón, the world’s largest cactus. The garden’s grey-moustached volunteer caretaker, Guadalupe ‘Lupe’ Gonzalez, shows us around, pointing out which cacti fruits are edible and how to extract water from their flesh. He also shows us cacti species used to treat kidney stones, stomach aches and open wounds. “I learnt about the medicinal properties of cacti from the rancheros (ranchers),” says Lupe, caressing the spines of a 400-year-old cactus as if they were whiskers. He’s been caring for the plants here for more than 30 years and offers guided tours of the garden for a small donation. “But this knowledge comes from the Indians. There are none left here now, but we know how to survive in the desert because of them.” Copyright © 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright © 2015-2025 National Geographic Partners, LLC. All rights reserved Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article Print Homework is vital before travel in Baja California especially if you’re considering a road trip Here’s a rundown of sources I consulted and factors I weighed before my eight-day drive to Cabo San Lucas in early January. Travel & Experiences On a drive down the Baja peninsula’s Highway 1 travel writer Christopher Reynolds finds baby whales a pond to float in and a new generation of adventurers State Department classifies Mexico’s states in four ways for would-be travelers The most severe advice is “do not travel,” which currently covers the states of Colima Zacatecas and Tamaulipas (which includes Matamoros) on Mexico’s east coast The state of Baja California is in the second most severe category — “reconsider travel” — because of crime and kidnapping especially homicides in the non-tourist areas of Tijuana The State Department urges those who do travel to remain on main highways The State Department also puts the states of Chihuahua Sonora and Guanajuato (the latter includes San Miguel de Allende) in that category The state of Baja California Sur, which begins about 450 miles south of the U.S is in the State Department’s less extreme “exercise increased caution” category Canada’s government urges Canadians to “exercise a high degree of caution” in Mexico The website elcri.men, which summarizes and analyzes Mexican crime statistics, said Baja California had the third-highest homicide rate among Mexican states in 2022 Baja California Sur had the fourth-lowest rate among Mexican states If studying up on conditions in the Baja peninsula makes you or your companions uncomfortable (I didn’t drive the peninsula with my family; I drove it with two people who felt comfortable with it.) A southbound camper on Mexican Hwy 1 as it winds along the Baja peninsula in Playa El Requeson (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Driving in BajaIn addition to a valid driver’s license Mexican law requires anyone driving into the country to have Mexico-specific liability insurance Whether you’re taking on the whole highway or targeting one stretch All authorities agree that driving at night in rural Baja is dangerous because of the many roaming livestock narrow stretches of two-lane blacktop without shoulders or turnouts Two other things: Drunk driving is just as illegal in Baja California and Baja California Sur as it is in California it’s illegal to enter Mexico with a gun without written authorization in advance from Mexican authorities Southbound travelers must show a passport or passport card and are required to get an FMM tourist permit online or in person from Mexican immigration officials at the border the best preparation may be hiring a local guide who can help get you permission To ease web access and communication with the U.S., many regular winter visitors to Baja use Starlink, which for $599 up front and $135 monthly allows a road-tripper or RV driver to access the internet from just about anywhere in Baja. Born and raised in California, Christopher Reynolds has written about travel, the outdoors, arts and culture for the Los Angeles Times since 1990. World & Nation Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map they may think all-inclusive resorts and spending hours laying on a beach For eight East Carolina University students spring break in Mexico meant watching whales and immersing themselves in nature during a study abroad trip to Loreto and Guerrero Negro This trip was part of an Honors College seminar class led by College of Education science education faculty Dr Tammy Lee and Bonnie Glass that uses systems science and ocean literacy to help students explore how climate change is facing marine ecosystems in North Carolina and the Baja peninsula in Mexico One of the biggest draws of the trip was to observe the gray whales a species of whales that complete an approximately 12,000-mile round-trip migration between the Arctic and Baja “We had repeatedly been told to manage our expectations in the weeks leading up to the trip because whales, like any other component of nature, are unpredictable,” said Madison Hruska, an honors student and management information systems major but I never imagined we would see as many as we did We saw five different species of whales while in Loreto and more than 30 individual gray whales in Guerrero Negro.” The first part of the trip was spent in Loreto and the gateway to access Loreto Bay National Park an area that has been described as “The Aquarium of the World,” by Jacques Costeau In addition to the different species of whales While on land, students immersed themselves into the city’s culture, including visiting several prominent missions in the area and learning more about the history of how Loreto and surrounding areas were founded. The trip’s itinerary was compiled by Born to Baja an ecotourism agency owned by brothers Rafael and Alejandro Galván students and faculty were able to see a variety of marine wildlife Students visited several culturally significant areas of Mexico one of the best-preserved missions in Baja “Our guides were with us for the whole week By having them show us around instead of having to explore Baja on our own we were able to see Mexico from their eyes and get firsthand accounts of how the cultural makeup of Mexico differs from the culture and way of life that we are used to in the United States.” Experiencing a totally different environment is one of the reasons that Glass and Lee encourage students to participate in study abroad and place-based experiences While students in this course will be completing assignments around advocacy and how climate change is affecting the migratory journey of gray whales in the Pacific and right whales along North Carolina one of the most important aspects of these trips is the informal parts of the trip and the memories created “Out of all of the experiences that we’ve had I would say all of our students have stayed connected with our guides,” Lee said “Once you’ve touched a gray whale with someone or walked through a rainforest together or snorkeled a coral reef you have this shared experience that no one else has but your group.” many of the students noted that this trip had a profound impact on them “When you’re in the moment, you take it for granted because you’re so hopped up on the adrenaline, but those quiet moments afterwards where you get to reflect on what’s going on and what happened are something you can’t replicate,” said Maelee Becton, a multidisciplinary studies and psychology major and Brinkley-Lane Scholar Cultivating partnerships — like with Born to Baja — is what makes experiential learning opportunities like this trip possible Lee went on an educational trip to Belize with Liz Baird who managed educational programming at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh Through her more recent role with the North Carolina Aquariums “Working through these informal science places that we have in North Carolina are how we make connections with naturalists and conservationists on our trips,” Lee said Lee and Glass are passionate about students “We want to help students be connected to the natural world to see different places and experience different ecosystems especially with this lens of climate change,” Glass said “Sometimes climate change can seem like something that is beyond our scope and that we can’t do anything about it but to help students see and sense their own agency and abilities to make a difference We like to help them notice North Carolina ecosystems and how they can advocate for environmentally sound behaviors.” While Lee and Glass know how important and life-changing these experiences can be they acknowledge that finances can be a barrier for students to participate “If we can find avenues of financially supporting students it would go a long way to increase participation,” Glass said “We recognize that expense prohibits many students from taking advantage of these opportunities.” Although the idea of study abroad can seem intimidating for students especially those who have never traveled outside of North Carolina the honors students strongly encouraged others to participate in these experiences “Sign up for the class,” said Ana Cabrera Perez, a biology major and Honors College student “It’s scary at first but go outside of your comfort zone and experience new things.” even if you’ve never done something like it before even if there’s a million circumstances keeping you from doing it it’s worth it and you won’t know just how worth it that it is until you actually have the chance to experience it.” On a bright November day in Baja California biologist Julian Garcia-Walther crouched in the cordgrass of a marsh He’d spent all morning on the edge of Guerrero Negro Lagoon on the lookout for shorebirds where the birds spend all day foraging for invertebrates his team had set traps to catch and mark the birds with GPS tags and now a spring tide was rolling in—one of the highest of the year with waters six feet above low tide levels Garcia-Walther expected to see the birds do what they normally do: As seawater covered the flats they'd retreat to roost in the marshlands and desert landscape that wasn't inundated he saw something unusual—the birds didn't appear to be moving to higher ground and they seemed to be bobbing gently back and forth as if floating on water Nonplussed, he zoomed in. “When I looked closer, I saw that they were drifting with the tide,” says Garcia-Walther, who works for the conservation nonprofit Pronatura Noroeste and Snowy Plovers were congregating atop floating mats of seagrass Garcia-Walther returned to the lagoon over the following weeks he saw it again: “They were drifting along totally oblivious that they were on a boat,” he says The birds, he realized might be adapting to a lack of ideal roost sites shorebirds roost on dunes or rocky outcroppings that are hidden from predators had inundated many of those safe locations The floating eelgrass was a great hack—it allowed the birds to stay close to the mudflats where they feed and far out of reach of predators a project that compiles key roost locations throughout the Americas to enable their protection and management he sees rising sea levels washing away sandbars and human recreation—from picnics to off-road vehicles—scaring shorebirds away from dunes “The shorebirds are backed further and further into a corner,” Watts says He observes them flying 20 or more miles each day between isolated roosts and mud flats Because many shorebirds migrate thousands of miles twice a year from the Arctic to as far south as Chile and Peru scientists are now experimenting with the idea of building artificial roosts to help the birds find a safe space to rest But because it’s hard to harness swaths eelgrass wetland bird program manager for BirdLife Australia found the next best thing: floating oyster bags which are inexpensive mesh sacks widely used in aquaculture He thought of the idea while doing restoration work in South Korea’s Geum Estuary, where 20 species of shorebird refuel and recuperate on their long journey south from the Arctic a seawall had been built around the estuary inundating the mudflats and leaving no space for shorebirds to roost “You saw tens of thousands of birds circling around looking for a roost site,” Purnell says Purnell remembered seeing flocks of Red Knots congregating on mats of floating eelgrass years earlier Not only was the eelgrass close to foraging sites and out of harm’s way it was “chock a block” with tasty invertebrates and allowed the birds to stay cool on scorching days He realized that floating oyster bags might provide similar benefits BirdLife Australia’s Floating Roost Trial, which took place in 2019, involved installing lines of oyster bags at three sites: Korea’s Geum Estuary, and Australia’s Hunter Estuary and Western Port Phillip Bay. At Geum Estuary, the effect was instantaneous. As soon as volunteers waded out of the water, shorebirds descended—as many as 54 onto a single bag. During the trial, they reported including the critically endangered Eastern Curlew says artificial floating roosts are an innovative solution with potential for success is how easy it is to install them close to foraging sites “They’re in a precarious situation,” Watts says “Providing new roosts is an important conservation strategy.” Garcia-Walther learned about the Floating Roost Trial and was inspired His team now plans to install artificial floating roosts in Baja California starting this fall they plan on building wooden platforms piled with dead eelgrass “We want to see if we can first attract birds to structures that mimic the floating rafts,” Garcia-Walther says but the team hopes to provide relief to shorebirds whose habitat is constricted by roads Garcia-Walther is glad that his unusual sighting at the beach led him to a solution “It’s a nice way that a natural observation can lead to conservation,” he says Pledge to stand with Audubon to call on elected officials to listen to science and work towards climate solutions Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Health officials in Southern California are warning people to avoid eating raw oysters from parts of Mexico after more than 200 people recently fell ill with suspected cases of norovirus The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has reported more than 150 suspected cases of gastrointestinal illness linked to raw oysters health officials said Thursday that they had 69 confirmed and probable cases Food and Drug Administration issued an initial advisory Jan 11 regarding oysters from one site in the Mexican state of Sonora which is located along the Gulf of California on the findings of an investigation conducted by San Diego County health officials On Wednesday the FDA issued another advisory for oysters from Laguna De Guerrero Negro and Laguna Manuela both on the Pacific Coast of Baja California That same day the agency also updated its initial Sonora advisory to include a second harvest location The California Department of Public Health warned consumers that raw oysters harvested from those locations may be contaminated with the norovirus Health officials are recommending that restaurants throw away any oysters imported from locations in Mexico until further notice “given the expanding number of harvest locations associated with illness and the potential of other sites to be involved,” San Diego County said in a statement The norovirus cases included both restaurant patrons and consumers who bought oysters at shops and ate them at home People are advised to ask where oysters came from before consuming them and to wash hands and surfaces that may have come into contact with contaminated oysters All of the implicated oysters were harvested in December and none since then have been distributed to food venues in San Diego from those locations Microbial population and community ecology Metrics details Mexico historically were considered a simple environment dominated by cyanobacteria and sulfate-reducing bacteria Culture-independent rRNA community profiling instead revealed these microbial mats as among the most phylogenetically diverse environments known A preliminary molecular survey of the GN mat based on only ∼1500 small subunit rRNA gene sequences discovered several new phylum-level groups in the bacterial phylogenetic domain and many previously undetected lower-level taxa We determined an additional ∼119 000 nearly full-length sequences and 28 000 >200 nucleotide 454 reads from a 10-layer depth profile of the GN mat With this unprecedented coverage of long sequences from one environment we confirm the mat is phylogenetically stratified presumably corresponding to light and geochemical gradients throughout the depth of the mat Previous shotgun metagenomic data from the same depth profile show the same stratified pattern and suggest that metagenome properties may be predictable from rRNA gene sequences We verify previously identified novel lineages and identify new phylogenetic diversity at lower taxonomic levels thousands of operational taxonomic units at the family-genus levels differ considerably from known sequences The new sequences populate parts of the bacterial phylogenetic tree that previously were poorly described but indicate that any comprehensive survey of GN diversity has only begun we show that taxonomic conclusions are generally congruent between Sanger and 454 sequencing technologies with the taxonomic resolution achieved dependent on the abundance of reference sequences in the relevant region of the rRNA tree of life the sulfur cycle also has an important role in the overall bioenergetics of the GN mats An additional complexity is that the chemical properties of the mats fluctuate daily and seasonally oxygenic photosynthesis operates in the uppermost layers the mats and even the water column above become anoxic and high in hydrogen sulfide concentrations a consequence of ongoing sulfate reduction in the absence of photosynthesis Because of the extreme sequence complexity and the under-sampling of genes in the mat indicated by collectors curves the distributions of different phylotypes in mat strata were unclear and the diversity was predicted to be under-represented Data based on these prior sequencing efforts predicted that the richness of the GN bacterial community analyzed was on the order of 104 species-level rRNA sequence types and that a sampling effort on the order of 105 sequences would be required to capture even a representative sample of the most abundant phylotypes To test these statistical predictions and to further explore the phylogenetic diversity and stratification in this unprecedentedly complex ecosystem we determined an additional ∼147 000 rRNA gene sequences from a 10-layer depth profile of the mat using both Sanger and 454 FLX sequencing technologies Although we focus our analysis primarily on the full-length Sanger data we show that similar biological conclusions are drawn from the partial-length 454 sequence data The results provide a far more comprehensive view of the phylogenetic makeup and structure of the mat than previously known The results also significantly expand the known rRNA sequence diversity of bacteria Eight independent PCR reactions were run with each template and four each were pooled for gel purification and cloning with the TopoTA sequencing kit (Invitrogen Clone colonies were robotically picked and sequenced Sequencing was performed per manufacturer’s protocols using the 454 FLX system (Branford Sanger reads were required to be ⩾1250 and <1550 bases in length to be included in the analysis and 454 reads were required to be ⩾200 bases and <500 bases in length to be included in the analysis Any reads containing N characters were discarded Reads that matched a Greengenes reference sequence at ⩾97% identity were clustered to an OTU defined by that reference sequence Reads that did not match a reference sequence were subsequently clustered de novo OTU picking (and all subsequent steps) were performed independently for both 454 and Sanger reads OTUs observed in only one of the two replicate PCR and sequencing runs for each sample were discarded RDP taxonomy assignments were largely consistent with the tax2tree taxonomy assignments although fewer sequences were unassigned with tax2tree (data not shown) Phylogenetic and OTU gain were computed using the unifrac_g and binary_otu_gain metrics in QIIME we show that the analysis preserves the correlation of PC1 with the expected dominant gradient sample depth (Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient=0.976 while removing most of the correlation between PC2 and depth (mean Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient before=0.9511 P>0.05; correlation is calculated separately below and above the numerical midpoint of the gradient We also show that this approach generally preserves the original ordination distances (Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient=0.9019 (P<1 × 10−230) Approximately 119 000 near full-length Sanger sequences and ∼28 000 454 FLX sequences were determined (Materials and Methods) Abundance of some prominent phyla and taxonomic subgroups by depth in the mat for the otherwise uncharacterized organisms that correspond to these sequences (a) Procrustes plot comparing PCoA analysis results from unweighted UniFrac distances for 454 and Sanger sequences (b) Detrended Procrustes plot (Methods and materials) illustrates the correlation between PC1 and depth in the microbial mat Points are colored by depth in the microbial mat with red indicating the top layers yellow indicating the middle layers and blue indicating the bottom layers the candidate phylum GN01 was represented by 22 sequences in the original study and ∼1300 here; GN02 was represented by 14 sequences in the original study and ∼800 collected here; and GN04 seen as 14 sequences is now represented by ∼300 sequences These additional representative sequences solidly establish the groups as novel phylum-level clades and will provide the basis for exploring further their phylogenetic structure In total, 50 phylogenetically novel, but poorly represented (rare), Sanger OTUs could not be unambiguously assigned to currently recognized phyla in Greengenes or other databases, or in the GN sequence set (Supplementary Table S3) Many of these likely represent undocumented candidate phyla but additional sequences will be required to confirm their phylogenetic novelty Approximately 7.4% of the total branch length in the combined Greengenes and GN tree is represented only among GN sequences (that is G=7.4% for the GN set); these branches thus represent novel diversity with respect to the Greengenes database (a) Phylogenetic gain (new phylogenetic tree branch length right axis) and OTU gain (left axis) by layer in the GN mat for Sanger reads with respect to the Greengenes database (b) OTU counts from 97% identity to 35% identity for Sanger sequences The red line shows the number of OTUs in Greengenes at a given OTU identity threshold; the blue line shows the number of OTUs in the GN data set at a given OTU identity threshold; and the green line shows the number of OTUs in the GN but not Greengenes data base the number of novel OTUs in the GN data set (c) Alpha rarefaction plots for Sanger reads Plots are color-coded by depth in the mat according to the inset: red indicates top layers yellow and green indicate middle layers and blue indicates bottom layers but further sampling at all depths is expected to yield still further diversity additional phylogenetic diversity is expected to occur mainly at lower taxonomic levels at the species and genus levels of phylogenetic variation the incongruities in classifications with the GN Sanger and 454 sequences are not a consequence of sequence length but may instead lie in differences in methodologies of sequence acquisition or data processing We do not understand this variation at this time This comparison between the resolution of identification possible with more (fecal) or less (GN) representation in the Greengenes database illustrates the considerable extent of novel diversity contributed by this study of the GN mat this study determined ∼119 000 Sanger sequences from 20 libraries from the most-studied site in the GN mat system Our estimates from previous studies of GN microbial diversity suggested that alpha diversity would be on the order of 104 unique SSU rRNA sequences and that a sampling of 105 sequences would be required to capture a representative sample of this diversity We observed 5909 species-level (⩾97% sequence identity) OTUs (including singletons which were filtered for all other analyses presented) and estimated total alpha diversity (Chao1) at 12 227 OTUs from the perspective of this deep level of sequencing at only one site in the ∼100 km2 portion of the GN saltern containing microbial mats it is clear that unrealistic effort would be required to fully analyze the microbial mats of GN we have characterized the main microbial components of the community studied and provided new perspective on the complex phylogenetic structure of the mat Knowledge of the kinds and quantities of organisms that constitute particular ecosystems is a foundation of any ecological understanding Previous sequence results indicated high complexity in the GN mat ecosystem provided only a glimpse of the makeup of the mat These much deeper sequencing results provide a greatly expanded view of the bacterial diversity of the GN microbial mat and a rough phylogenetic stratigraphy to orient with the known properties of the mat Most of the sequences are from little-studied clades and so richly populate the bacterial phylogenetic tree in poorly documented areas The GN sequences will serve as a resource for future environmental correlations Also because of their relatively high abundance such organisms likely have a role in primary productivity in this ecosystem and in others where similar sequences might be encountered If enrichment in the photic zone of the mat suggests photosynthetic capacity then some of the poorly known GN phyla that are particularly abundant in the upper portion of the mat because of their considerable evolutionary distance from known organisms may yield novel photosynthetic pathways upon further study The phylogenetic diversity of the GN mat studied is remarkable More than 40 of the ∼100 bacterial phyla have so far been encountered in the mat other complex systems examined so far are much simpler The answer likely lies in the complex chemical basis of the GN mat the GN mat presents many energetic opportunities for exploitation by microbial diversity: photosynthesis including oxygenic photosynthesis; oxygen-dependent oxidative reactions; fermentations; sulfate reduction coupled to oxidation of fermentation products; and so on have mainly fermentative capacity and so present more limited complexity than seen in the GN mat the metabolic properties of the upper mat are in continuous flux dependent on incident light and oxygen production Another consideration in the context of the complexity of the GN mat is its relative structural stability over time Whereas gut microbiology is continuously churned and turns over rapidly with excretion This might allow development in the GN mat of a more extensive repertoire of resources than supports gut microbiota and similar flow through assemblages for instance through formation of local assemblages The reason(s) for any incongruent results is not known but for instance possibly lies in PCR biases in full-length or 454 libraries short sequencing technologies are appropriate alternatives to longer read technologies for many applications An exception is the placement of novel diversity into a phylogenetic context; short reads cannot do so as accurately as long sequences Although short reads can detect new diversity or identify sequences with previously described sequences longer sequences are best for phylogenetic reconstructions because of the greater information content large portions of the bacterial phylogenetic tree are poorly sampled can limit accurate placement of novel sequences into low-level taxonomic groups such as species or genera This indicates not only that different taxonomic groups dominate different layers but also the metagenomic makeup differs by layer the phylogenetic (rRNA) and metagenomic results paint a similar picture of biological gradients in the GN mat (Sanger 16S reads vs metagenomes: Procrustes M2=0.040 P<0.001; 454 16S reads vs metagenomes: Procrustes M2=0.038; P<0.001; based on 1000 Monte Carlo iterations) As correlations of functional genes and phylogenetic diversity accumulate it will become possible to predict many phenotypic properties of environmental organisms on the basis of their phylogenetic types Long-term manipulations of intact microbial mat communities in a greenhouse collaboratory: simulating earth's present and past field environments PyNAST: a flexible tool for aligning sequences to a template alignment QIIME allows analysis of high-throughput community sequencing data The Solar Lake cyanobacterial mats: strategies of photosynthetic life under sulfide Bacterial community variation in human body habitats across space and time Comparative functional ultrastructure of two hypersaline submerged cyanobacterial mats: Guerrero Negro (eds) Microbial Mats: Physiological Ecology of Benthic Microbial Communities American Society for Microbiology: Washington DC Mu–Oz E Carbon isotopic trends in the hypersaline ponds and microbial mats at Guerrero Negro Mexico: Implications for Precambrian stromatolites (1989) Physiological Ecology of Benthic Microbial Communities Biogeochemistry of hypersaline microbial mats illustrates the dynamics of modern microbial ecosystems and the early evolution of the biosphere a chimera-checked 16S rRNA gene database and workbench compatible with ARB Spatial and temporal variability in a stratified hypersaline microbial mat community Search and clustering orders of magnitude faster than BLAST Conservation evaluation and phylogenetic diversity Eucaryotic diversity in a hypersaline microbial mat The effect of sulfate concentration on (sub)millimeter-scale sulfide δ34S in hypersaline cyanobacterial mats over the diurnal cycle XplorSeq: a software environment for integrated management and phylogenetic analysis of metagenomic sequence data Chimeric 16S rRNA sequence formation and detection in Sanger and 454-pyrosequenced PCR amplicons Error-correcting barcoded primers for pyrosequencing hundreds of samples in multiplex Detrended correspondence analysis: an improved ordination technique The role of microbial mats in the production of reduced gases on the early Earth Spectral light measurements in microbenthic phototrophic communities with a fiber-optic microprobe coupled to a sensitive diode array detector Competition for sulfide among colorless and purple sulfur bacteria in cyanobacterial mats Cellular nucleotide measurements and applications in microbial ecology Millimeter-scale genetic gradients and community-level molecular convergence in a hypersaline microbial mat Unexpected diversity and complexity of the Guerrero Negro hypersaline microbial mat UniFrac: a new phylogenetic method for comparing microbial communities An improved Greengenes taxonomy with explicit ranks for ecological and evolutionary analyses of bacteria and archaea The metagenomics RAST server - a public resource for the automatic phylogenetic and functional analysis of metagenomes Diet drives convergence in gut microbiome functions across mammalian phylogeny and within humans Putting things in order: the advantages of detrended correspondence analysis FastTree 2—approximately maximum-likelihood trees for large alignments Community structure of a microbial mat: the phylogenetic dimension Diversity and stratification of archaea in a hypersaline microbial mat Complexity in natural microbial ecosystems: the Guerrero Negro experience Naive Bayesian classifier for rapid assignment of rRNA sequences into the new bacterial taxonomy Putting things in order: a critique of detrended correspondence analysis 16S ribosomal DNA amplification for phylogenetic study Download references We thank the Exportadora de Sal SA for access and assistance in working on-site We are grateful for the enabling support of David DesMarais Sanger sequencing was provided by the Joint Genome Institute Community Sequencing Program JRS was supported by an NSF Microbial Biology Postdoctoral start-up fund Work in the Knight lab was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Work in the Pace laboratory was supported by grants from the NASA Astrobiology Institute The work conducted by the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute is supported by the Office of Science of the US Department of Energy under Contract no Data deposition: the sequences were assigned GenBank accession numbers JN427016–JN539989 J Kirk Harris and J Gregory Caporaso: These authors contributed equally to this work Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences and Institute of Molecular Bioscience Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on The ISME Journal website This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2012.79 The annual arrival of migratory grey whales at El Vizcaíno sanctuary in Mexico has aided the region’s tourism industry The whales travel about 5,600 miles from their summer feeding grounds in Alaska to mate and give birth in the warmer waters off north-western Mexico Photograph: Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio What to do: While a majority of reports seem to come from Southern California state health officials are urging people to take additional precautions when it comes to ordering raw oysters California is warning diners to not eat raw oysters from some parts of Northwestern Mexico because they may be contaminated with norovirus consumers should be cautious before eating raw oysters due to the potential risk of foodborne illness,” Los Angeles County Health Officer Muntu Davis said in a statement avoid spreading illness by washing your hands frequently and cleaning frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs While a majority of reports seem to come from Southern California state health officials are urging people — ready to risk it all — to take additional precautions when it comes to ordering raw oysters They're also encouraging diners to ask restaurants and vendors where the shellfish were harvested from conseguiremos fornecer informações de seguro viagem mais relevantes Por favor, atente para o fato de que nem todo o conteúdo está traduzido ou disponível para residentes de todos os países. Entre em contato para maiores detalhes By telling us your country of residence we are able to provide you with the most relevant travel insurance information Please note that not all content is translated or available to residents of all countries. Contact us for full details The Baja California peninsula in Mexico shares a border with the US state of California and includes two states The entire peninsula is often referred to simply as “Baja California” (which translates to “Lower California”) or “Baja Cali” for short which is the busiest land crossing in the world Whether you’re camping and whale watching in Guerrero Negro here’s what you need to know about staying safe in Baja California The crime rate in the Baja California peninsula varies between its two states and between cites and towns within these states. The US Department of State issues travel advisories specific to each state Currently (as of March 2025) Baja California Sur has a level 2 out of 4 rating which simply encourages travelers to “exercise increased caution” due to crime Baja California (the more northern state) currently has a level 3 rating warning travelers to “reconsider travel due to crime and kidnapping” The region made international headlines in May 2024 when three foreign tourists were murdered in a carjacking gone wrong on a remote beach near Ensenada As harsh and serious as these safety concerns are it’s worth noting that the more serious crimes and homicides in Baja California are often limited to the non-tourist areas of Tijuana If you’re sticking to the touristed areas or if you’re heading further south Aside from some Tijuana-specific safety tips related to transportation scams many of the Baja California safety tips are the same smart measures you’d consider for any destination Both areas are considered safe and consistently hold a level 2 travel advisory (“exercise increased caution”) The biggest concerns here tend to be theft and pickpocketing Planning a trip to Mexico? Find out how travel insurance can cover adventure activities To rent a car anywhere in Mexico (including Baja Cali) you’ll need an International Driving License or a valid driver’s license in a language using the Roman alphabet (like English) You’ll also need to buy Mexican personal liability insurance in order to drive legally Some US credit cards also offer free collision damage waiver car rental insurance to their cardholders but most Mexican car rental agencies don’t honor it If you’re coming across the California border The entire Baja California peninsula is within the Mexico Free Zone so you don’t need to secure a Temporary Vehicle Importation Permit you can drive from Tijuana all the way down to Cabo you should still take out Mexican car insurance you can safely rely on Uber within Tijuana and Cabo (it likely won’t get you to smaller and further-out towns) InDrive is a regional rideshare app that can be used in Baja Cali Sur Another popular option in Baja California (Sur While hitchhiking is not as dangerous as it's rumored to be it’s been shown that women are more likely to be raped or assaulted than men while hitchhiking (an unfortunate fact that holds true even when hitchhiking is not involved) Because I hitchhiked in Baja California with another female friend or even a single strong man or a man with a weapon we mostly relied on retired Canadians who we learned are absolutely all over the place in Baja California They drive their RVs down from Canada to escape the frigid northern winter and make their way to Baja bouncing between various beaches and campgrounds When we were unable to find a Canadian RV at one point we turned down numerous rides from single male truck drivers and groups of men before deciding to join a young couple who had driven down from Tijuana Baja California is as safe for female travelers – if not safer – than many other destinations in Mexico and Latin America women need to exercise more caution than men so even though there is never any excuse for catcalling it’s in our best interest to take additional steps to avoid unwanted attention and inappropriate behavior There is safety in numbers so even if you’re traveling alone consider sticking close to other groups of travelers particularly if it’s dark out or you’re in an unfamiliar area look for other groups of visitors nearby and pretend to know them call to them so the harasser/con artist thinks you’re part of a group as they don’t like being outnumbered While it’s important that men also avoid getting drunk or leaving their drink unattended They are more likely to have their drink spiked and to be taken advantage of physically if they become drunk not all men can be trusted to behave themselves so minimizing alcohol consumption and always keeping an eye on our drinks – especially when alone – is extremely important when traveling Here's what you need to know about local laws Loreto Bay National Marine Park is home to over 800 species of aquatic critters Tim Neville gets up close and personal with them on this kayaking adventure learn how you may be covered for emergency medical treatment overseas and claim online from anywhere in the world With 150+ adventure activities covered and 24/7 emergency assistance This was in the corridor San Jose Del Cabo I find the question of Baja California's safety in 2024 quite relevant for anyone planning to travel there It's important to get up-to-date information and practical tips to ensure a safe and enjoyable trip and precautions can make a big difference in planning a successful visit This quiz will test your travel savvy when it comes to California you should probably apply to National Geographic You could spend three lifetimes learning about the West and never finish In the list itself — right this way — you’ll find fresh information on plenty of new destinations and some you’ve long meant to visit or revisit And, if you’ve had even the slightest bit of fun racking your brain to recall what you’ve recently read, be sure to check out our weekly News Quiz, which recaps the week’s news every Friday morning. Senior features writer Adam Tschorn is a former small-town newspaper editor, game-show question-and-answer man and fashion scribe who joined the Los Angeles Times in 2007. He currently covers a wide range of pop-culture topics with a focus on cannabis culture. Holding a B.A. in philosophy and an M.A. in journalism, he feels perfectly suited to looking at things, asking “why?” and writing down the answers. Lifestyle owned jointly by the Mexican government and Mitsubishi Corporation Salt flats covering an area a third the size of Tokyo stretch as far as the eye can see producing about half of Japan’s salt imports Its advocates say the raw material has a rare quality are drawn from seawater in an inlet of the Pacific coast so pristine that grey whales travel from the Arctic to breed there the place is immersed in a bitter dispute over how to value the world’s only edible rock This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “A covenant of salt” Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents Paramount’s dilemma exemplifies a broader problem The coffee chain’s new boss is struggling to fix its problems The cacti-dotted landscapes of Baja California give film-festival founder and adventurer Lois Pryce the thrill of the wilderness But it’s not all prickliness on the peninsula I first went to Baja California when I was riding a motorbike alone from Alaska to Argentina in 2003 I felt culture shock as soon as I crossed over from southern California I’d never seen anything like the desert scenery Everything was so exotic: cowboys on beautiful horses trotting around those cardon cacti with arms – it felt like being in a cartoon But I had met a guy who was a Baja fan in Oregon He wrote “Playa Escondida” (hidden beach) on a piece of paper and I thought: “I’ve got to go!” I carried that bit of paper with me for ages Another friend in California had given me a “Baja Almanac” an almost homemade topographical ring-bound guide It was like getting my hands on a secret map and as I looked at it I could see the adventure unfolding before me View image in fullscreenLois PryceBaja was an adventure playground for Californians in the 1960s People went there to get wasted and feel free because of the Baja 1,000 race that started in the 1960s – it was cool and glamorous There’s just one highway and that was only tarmacked in the 1970s; before that it was a network of dirt tracks and cattle crossings You have to get off the highway to see the real Baja across the spine of mountains and along old mule trails that go back to the conquistadors old ranches and Spanish missions from the 1700s One of my favourite places on the 750-mile-long peninsula is Bahia Concepción turquoise water and palapas (poles with thatched palm roofs) on the beach I remember the thrill of seeing it opening out in front of me You can wild camp anywhere and just sleep on the sand A lot of the hotels have kayaks and you can paddle from bay to bay stopping for margaritas on the beach – brilliant in the winter you get the US snowbirds in their campervans and tie-dye T-shirts but although there’s more development these days The Cardon Cactus Forest is probably my favourite place in the world Lawrence of Arabia said he liked the desert because it felt clean and you can really get a sense of that here It’s dry and monochrome with staggering rock formations – you wonder how the hell they got there – and there are enormous cacti View image in fullscreenLois and her husband (and co-curator of the Adventure Travel Film Festival) Austin Vince near Guerrero Negro Photograph: Lois PryceI love Bertha’s Café on Playa el Burro but the fish tacos and huevos rancheros (fried eggs with spicy tomato) are fantastic There are great shacks all along the highway and on the beach serving simple but amazingly tasty Mexican food and local Tecate beer You’ve got to put the work in to get to Mike’s Sky Rancho You need an off-road vehicle to follow the dirt tracks and cross a river There’s no electricity or phone; it’s just a basic ranch with rooms I broke my vegetarianism for the night because all they had was steak – they never run out of beer though Waiting for a plumber … a visitor finds a suitable perch for a beer at Coco’s Corner Photograph: flightlesskiwis.comCoco’s Corner is an iconic and insanely weird cafe/beer shack on the route of the Baja 1000 race about 22 miles from Gonzaga Bay on the Sea of Cortez The whole place looks like something out of Mad Max – tons of junk and old trucks with no wheels and crazy homemade shacks He and the place are something of a Baja legend View image in fullscreenLois kayaking on the Sea of Cortez at Bahia ConcepciónGuerra Negro It’s where people go whale watching but there’s also loads of amazing marine life in the Sea of Cortez It’s an inland sea with no waves and clear water – you can see turtles Baja is an amazing place for adventure with just the right amount of civilisation and it’s so accessible from San Diego or LA The Adventure Travel Film Festival runs from 14-16 August at Mill Hill school in north London. See Lois Pryce’s website at loisontheloose.com BREAKING: Ravens release kicker Justin Tucker after accusations of misconduct by massage therapists  My NewsSign Out Sign InCreate your free profileSections news Alerts Two conjoined gray whale calves lie dead in a beach in the Ojo de Liebre lagoon, near the town of Guerrero Negro in Baja California, Mexico on Sunday.CONANP via APThe whales were found alive in the Ojo de Liebre lagoon in the Baja California Peninsula but lived only a few hours, marine biologist Benito Bermudez said on Wednesday. They were linked at the waist, with two full heads and tail fins, said Bermudez, who is a scientist with the National Natural Protected Areas Commission, or CONANP. Scientists are collecting skin, muscle and baleen samples to study the creatures, he said. Every year more than 20,000 gray whales swim to Mexico from Alaska to mate and give birth.  Whale-watching season began this week in Mexico, and the Baja California Sur Tourism Ministry (Sectur-BCS) is inviting the public to experience what some call “the most extraordinary wildlife encounter on the planet.” And lest you think Sectur-BCS is trying to rope in unsuspecting tourists even The Oceanic Society — based in California which boasts its own whale-watching season — describes the coast off the Baja California Peninsula as “one of the best places on earth for whale watching.” These actions helped the gray whale population recover from near extinction such that they were removed from the endangered species protection list in 1994 up to 1,500 California gray whales leave the cold Alaskan waters and journey to the warmer climes off the coast of the Baja California Peninsula arriving by early December and remaining there for about three months give birth and nurse calves conceived the year before attracting tourists eager to see the world’s largest mammals up close The Oceanic Society explains that the unique geography of the peninsula and the diverse marine topography which ranges from protective shallow lagoons to deep trenches rich with food attract over 30 different species of whales and dolphins As a result, the National Resources Defense Council has referred to San Ignacio as “the last undisturbed breeding and calving lagoon” for the gray whale. Along with the nearby Scammons Lagoon (or Ojo de Liebre, near Guerrero Negro) and Magdalena Bay, these are the only places in the world where gray whales give birth What makes the experience even more spectacular is that gray whale mothers regularly seek out human interaction The revival of the gray whale population has generated a thriving heavily regulated and dedicated ecotourism industry Mexico’s federal and state governments promote responsible tourism when whale-watching which is also possible farther south in Jalisco and Oaxaca Baja California Sur regulates the industry by issuing permits to tour operators and encourages tourists to rely exclusively on official operators whale-watching is only allowed in specified areas of the protected whale sanctuaries Although Baja California is best known for its gray whales sightseers can also catch a glimpse of blue whales and even sperm whales feeding in the rich waters of the Gulf of California on the eastern side of the peninsula In fact, there’s far more along the road than you’ll find on this list, which leaves out Tijuana, Ensenada, Bahía de los Angeles, Todos Santos and most of La Paz and Los Cabos. The spots below, listed from north to south, are places I encountered first-hand and liked — local tours, trails, restaurants, historic churches, cave paintings, beaches and other attractions from the Guadalupe Valley to Cabo San Lucas. Though I only slept in one hotel, I inspected several more and included the best here. A guide to traveling responsibly in Baja California: what to bring where to find gas stations and other key advice To guide me, I hired Nathan Stuart of Legends Overlanding, which specializes in small-group and custom overlanding and camping trips to rugged Baja landscapes All-inclusive prices (often including private chefs) typically run $5,000 to $8,000 per couple for a five- to 10-day trip Our vehicle came from Topoterra camper vans and camping equipment for off-grid travel in Baja and elsewhere Though Baja trips make up most of his winter business Topoterra founder Brandon Thomason told me most travelers prefer to explore one part of Baja Scientists in Mexico discovered what might be the first documented case of conjoined gray whale calves.  The whales were probably born before full-term since they were only about 7 feet long, Thomas said. Gray whales are normally double that size at birth.  Scammon's Lagoon is one of three lagoons in Baja California where gray whales come to breed during the winter before migrating back to the Arctic.  According to a translation on the Guerrero Negro Verde Facebook page the director of the Ojo de Liebre reserve in Guerrero Negro said the phenomenon of Siamese calves is already being studied and they have taken the carcass out of the water for further investigation There have been other documented cases of conjoined whales but this is likely the first published case of a gray whale.  Riding an old-time idea into the Land that Time Forgot Many products featured on this site were editorially chosen Cycle World may receive financial compensation for products purchased through this site Copyright © 2025 Cycle World. An Octane Media, LLC Publication Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited but you have the feeling here that clocks are ticking at a much slower rate than our own and that eras somehow seamlessly overlap.\" we slanted southeast and dropped into a sudden green valley that hides one of Baja's most charming old colonial towns shaded square with a well-preserved mission church \"If you can trust the person driving the motorcycle It's like a cross between a carnival ride and a low-flying biplane but with a perspective on space and speed you never get from either we tried putting the dog in the sidecar's baggage compartment \"They're going to wonder why our sidecar is howling.\" gray whales are migrating south to the tranquil lagoons in Baja California where they will mate and then return next year to give birth People often ask me how to go see the whales because they know I’m a huge fan you can pay a tour company a few thousand dollars to take you down there Note that the whales can be found in the lagoons until early April with the highest concentration in late January The simplest and cheapest way to view whales — if perhaps the least satisfying — is simply to bring your binoculars to a nice bluff-top ocean overlook Volunteers already had counted 478 adults and 10 babies swimming south as of Jan » Dana Point Headlands and Strand Vista Park Miles of easy and moderate scenic trails lead to excellent overlooks where whales can be sighted It is believed that whales use Dana Point as a navigational landmark on their journeys north and south There’s a nature center at 34558 Scenic Drive This beautiful park juts out on a point making it a great place to look for whales The park is run by the city of Los Angeles Call 310-548-7705 or visit Laparks.org/dos/parks/facility/pointFerminPk.htm but this beautiful park includes a 10,000-square-foot interpretive center American Cetacean Society docents may be available Several private companies and nonprofits run whale-watching trips from local ports These are day trips with a decent chance of seeing whales You generally go out for two to three hours You can pay as little as $15 if you go on specially priced tours and watch for discounts This listing is for information only — I have no specific recommendations except that you take a Bonine tablet before you go » Captain Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safaris from Dana Point Call 949-488-2828 or visit Dolphinsafari.com Sign up for their email list to be notified of discounts » Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching from Dana Point All Tuesday trips are half-price but reserve early but reserve now because they’ll sell out in a flash That’s during the city’s annual whale festival They’ll give you a rain check if you don’t see marine mammals on the trip Check for a discount coupon on their website Call 949-675-0551 or visit NewportWhales.com This nonprofit offers a scientific approach to whale watching with marine research equipment on board and naturalist instruction including admission to the institute facilities They also offer several Dolphin Discovery cruises each month Call 949-496-2274 or visit Ocean-Institute.org I must confess that I’ve become addicted to visiting the whales in their Baja lagoons You can find them in three breeding grounds along the Pacific Coast of Baja: This is the closest and easiest to drive to from Orange County you can drive your own reliable car down there Bring and read a good guidebook so you understand what driving in rural Baja is all about It’s approximately a 15-hour drive from Orange County to avoid having to drive through Baja’s remote main desert after dark get a room and eat dinner in the delicious Malarrimo restaurant Then hire them to take you out the next day into the lagoon to see the whales as the trips tend to leave early in the morning and the boat captains are not allowed to chase or harass the whales though they probably will not come up to your boat has become famous as the site of friendly whales that will come up to your boat to say hi you can drive the paved Baja Highway 1 all the way to San Ignacio It’s about a 16-hour drive on narrow roads You also can take a first-class bus from Tijuana rent a car and then drive four hours to San Ignacio It’s a very scenic drive past Bahia Concepcion There are only a few lodgings in San Ignacio so make sure you have one reserved before you arrive The lagoon is a 90-minute journey on a washboard dirt road from town I prefer to leave my car and hire a van to take us out to the lagoon I typically hire a company called Ecoturismo Kuyima to take us whale watching; they will provide the van for an extra cost They also have rustic huts available at the lagoon There are other whale-watching companies available as well just ask around town or watch for the signs The first person to ever make friendly whales known to the world was Pachico Mayoral who started taking visitors out to see them a generation ago is running a whale-watching company to keep the Mayoral family business going He offers day trips as well as packages that include lodging on the bay you also can pitch a tent on the water’s edge at the lagoon which allows you to hear the whales breathing all night windy and you basically have to crawl into your sleeping bag when it gets dark Check out the restored mission while you’re there and note that you can hire guides to take you out to see rock paintings which is the farthest south of all the lagoons frequented by the gray whales but people have told me excitedly of their friendly whale encounters here This is a reasonable day trip from Los Cabos or La Paz which offer international airports and plenty of accommodations whereas the Cabo region is overrun with condos and Americans You won’t have trouble finding a day trip to the bay from here you can swim with the whale sharks in the winter You can also drive Baja Highway 1 down here and stay in Puerto San Carlos which has companies vying to take you out on the bay Baja Ecotours offers a variety of guided trips to San Ignacio including chartered planes from San Diego and bus trips The cheapest is a six-day bus ride from San Diego for $1,495 that includes transportation whale watching and rustic camping accommodations Let’s get caught up on all the news and action from the past week The Torneo Increible de Parejas was again the feature event of the week There was also a luchador with samurai swords Rey Samuray showed cool skills in the ring to match the coolness of his steel The tournament of incredible pairs, mixing tecnicos with rudos, continued on Friday’s (April 19) show from Arena Mexico in Mexico City. To refresh your memory from stage one last week, here is that bracket TORNEO INCREÍBLE DE PAREJAS ✨ Recuento de la Primera Fase ✨La Primera Eliminatoria se llevo a cabo hace una semana y en ella, CARÍSTICO y MEPHISTO parecían llegar como favoritos luego de dejar en el camino a... https://t.co/TFw1LcoY2c#TorneoIncreíbleCMLL pic.twitter.com/xMGuVp4cvE The teams for stage two were as follows: Mistico & Cuatrero You can watch the entire show on CMLL’s YouTube channel The tournament portion this week is about fifty-four minutes long Stage two started with a battle royal to determine the matchups The first round bouts were all about five minutes each in duration Stuka Jr. ripped Mistico’s mask. That was not very tecnico like from Stuka. The move of the match was a hammerlock swinging backbreaker by Hechicero Mistico and Cuatrero got their asses kicked until Cuatrero hit a sitdown powerbomb on Stuka and Mistico did his whirling armbreaker on Hechicero for the win Templario & El Audaz vs Atlantis & Negro Casas Templario and El Audaz had matching gear that was vertically split down the middle fifty-fifty for each man’s colors Let’s see if that is a sign they will get to the stage two finals like last week’s teams with coordinated gear The move of the match was Templario doing a handspring into the ropes to bounce back for a moonsault Atlantis hit each opponent with a whirling backbreaker then Atlantis and Negro Casas wrapped them up in simultaneous casita cradles to win & Ultimo Guerrero vs El Terrible & Niebla Roja Bitter rivals El Terrible and Niebla Roja were stink eyeing each other on the walk to the ring Niebla channeled his inner Ingobernable by using his sword to gut punch Volador and also whip both of his opponents with a belt The move of the match was a tope con hilo by Volador Jr Niebla had a submission on Volador when Terrible walked up to punch his own partner in the face El Valiente & Gran Guerrero vs Rush & Vangellys The move of the match was a seventy-two chop exchange between Gran Guerrero and Vangellys Those big guys throwing chops like that gets me all frothy El Valiente was pinned by Rush after a running dropkick in the corner Vangellys pinned Gran Guerrero off a tackle slam The stage two semis were just as brief as the previous four bouts Mistico & Cuatrero vs Atlantis & Negro Casas Go, old guys, go! Atlantis is a four-time winner of the Torneo Increible de Parejas The move of the match was a monkey flip by Atlantis to send Cuatrero over the ropes and out of the ring while Cuatrero submitted Atlantis on an inverted bear hug & Ultimo Guerrero vs Rush & Vangellys All four began fighting on the ramp before the opening bell The moment of the match was Vangellys falling over when trying to set up the big swing into a dropkick Rush didn’t cut Vangellys any slack by pointing at him as the announcers laughed Ultimo Guerrero hit a front super slam on Vangellys The stage two final was about eight minutes long This bout was fast-paced and the best by far of stage two Mistico and Cuatrero brought the ruckus with tandem topes con hilo Mistico went loco with a flying crossbody off the upper stage Ultimo Guerrero countered Mistico into a front super slam Ultimo Guerrero countered a super hurricanrana by Mistico into super powerbomb Mistico hit a Frankensteiner and this time Ultimo Guerrero kicked out For the finish, Volador connected on a sunset flip piledriver and Ultimo Guerrero hit a super inverted suplex for the double pin win That sets up the grand finale to the Torneo Increible de Parejas 2019 between Volador Jr & Ultimo Guerrero and Titan & Barbaro Cavernario on Friday those two did it together as a team in 2017 I’d think Volador and Guerrero are heavy favorites This week’s focus was on stage two of the Torneo Increible de Parejas so I didn’t fully watch other matches from last week After being taken down due to a copyright claim, the full show is currently available for your viewing pleasure on CMLL’s YouTube channel A dude named Rey Samuray came to the ring with two swords so sign me up to hop aboard the Rey Samuray fan wagon Carrying swords is one heck of a way to stand out I didn’t plan on watching the opening match but let’s see what Rey Samuray has to offer Despite Samuray’s team losing the trios bout Samuray opened with some mat work and later hit an amazing maneuver Samuray ran down the entrance ramp for a step-up 450 splash over the ropes That display of awesomeness scored a pin in Fall 1 he connected on a springboard headscissors takeover but missed on a springboard moonsault to the outside His opponent just moved out of the way as planned Color me intrigued after watching Rey Samuray for the first time. I’m definitely keeping an eye out for more of him. Lucha Wiki lists his age as 24 years old so Samuray has plenty of time ahead to build a name for himself The women of CMLL had a trios bout resulting in a lightning match for Marcela and Metalica on Monday Marcela was up for the idea but wanted Metalica to prove herself first It will be champ vs champ but neither belt on the line a hair vs hair lucha between King Jaguar and Police Man was set for Monday Police Man had it out for King Jaguar right from the beginning Was King Jaguar selling jaguars on the black market and Police Man was out to enforce the law the only way he knows how Police Man focused all his offense on King Jaguar during their trios match Jaguar was bloodied up from either his mouth or nose Police Man pinned Jaguar in Fall 1 off a flying senton Just when Jaguar was picking up momentum in Fall 2 Police Man issued a low blow behind the referee’s back and pinned Jaguar for a second time King Jaguar took the mic to request that Police Man confess his cheating ways Police Man accepted but not before a scathing verbal beatdown Police Man called Jaguar past his prime and a loser; always been a loser They did a good job of getting me excited for that hair vs hair bout so I’m looking forward to seeing them throw down in high stakes singles action Police Man claimed he is more man than Jaguar If he is defeated after being called a loser In the main event, Ultimo Guerrero put his Heavyweight Championship on the line against El Valiente. It was supposed to be a tag team title bout, but Valiente got the singles shot after Diamante Azul was injured last week Valiente took the lead earlier after winning Fall 1 on a knee stretch submission Ultimo Guerrero fought back with an octopus submission in Fall 2 Fall 3 came down to a reverse slam out of the corner by Ultimo Guerrero to retain his gold but the parts I saw looked pretty entertaining In the main event (full show), Ultimo Guerrero, Negro Casas, & Mr. Niebla defeated the team of Caristico, Mistico, & Titan. Ultimo Guerrero had the winning pin after ripping off Caristico’s mask The referee didn’t see it and counted to three on the cover by Guerrero Templario used a Mexican Destroyer for victory at the 7:01 mark of the ten minute time limit This show was all about the Torneo Increible de Parejas but there is always time for a lightning match The Torneo Increible de Parejas alone would have made it a good week of CMLL action all the escapades in Puebla on Monday made it more important than usual It looks like they wanted to put a special show tonight for Easter week Hair vs hair and champ vs champ make the lower card bouts must-see My pick of the week is the Torneo Increible de Parejas stage two final I don’t know if watching just that match will have the same effect without watching the tournament The lightning match between Flyer and Templario is also enjoyable Do you think it will be Jaguar King or Police Man who is shaved bald Who are you picking to win the Torneo Increible de Parejas on Friday it would be fair to say swimming with Whales is a bucket list experience for all Who would not want to plunge into a beautiful clear blue ocean and experience the connection with these amazing animals The bucket list experience of a one-on-one encounter with a huge marine mammal is a “before I die” wish of most people on the planet not just the privileged aquanauts and denizens of our ocean realm As the World’s consciousness shifts to avoiding the cruel and criminal activity of swimming with captive Dolphins the desire to encounter marine mammals wild and free has grown There are a few destinations in the World where this activity is legal and sustainably managed; Tonga A thriving tourism business has evolved to ensure some degree of sustainability and a reciprocal income ensuring the safety of both tourists and marine mammals Mexico has one of the greatest conservation stories of our lifetime. The success of Gray Whale watching has seen the Gray Whale go from being endangered to being “of least concern.” These efforts are to be applauded and much to an incredible collaboration between authorities and the ancestors of the original whale hunters living and working in the lagoons of Baja California Sur Mexico is currently suffering from the spate of narcissistic influencers and opportunistic tourism operators working illegally to provide tourists with “the selfie experience” with the great whales that commute down Mexico’s Pacific coast of the Baja Peninsula All the great whales are protected under Federal Law in Mexico Swimming with mother and calf even more so One law protecting the animals is the Whale Watching Regulations: NOM-131-SEMARNAT-2010 The law outlines the basic rules for whale watching from a boat only: All the laws and guidelines are being abused for the one-time selfie or photo opportunity for social media Legal Whale watching in Baja California Sur Under what circumstances might this be allowed: There are no such permits in Baja California Sur for tourism operators and no permits for collaboration with institutions studying these animals What are the take-home messages for anyone seeing this activity or thinking of coming to Mexico to “swim with whales” This activity has become such a problem here in Baja that it will soon start to harm the Whale population not just the potential injury to a snorkeler Interactions with animals in Tonga are based on animals that have already safely arrived at a breeding or feeding destination This differs from interrupting an animal’s progress and safe migration to a destination The very fact that some tour guides claim to be Marine Biologists discredits their studies All the biologists working and studying great whale behavior in Mexico state interrupting the migration patterns of these animals is potentially bad for the animals Disrupting their migration and the energy needed to arrive at a safe destination Sadly Mexican authorities need to be focusing on illegal fishing and poaching Illegal tourism activities are not a high priority outside of protected areas A lack of vigilance and ignorance on the part of tourists perpetuates the issue the authorities and researchers do not see any viable plan for regulating the activity of swimming with Whales in Baja California Sur and the priority should be the safety of the animals do not swim with Whales in Baja California Sur DeeperBlue.com is the World’s Largest Community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving, Ocean Advocacy, and Diving Travel We’ve been dedicated to bringing you the freshest news and discussions from around the underwater world since 1996 Contact us: hello@deeperblue.com 8 min The largest salt mine in the world is located in Baja California Sur it is said that it has one of the most beautiful landscapes The salt flat is around the Ojo de Liebre lagoon when the Mexican Government bought 51% of the shares There is a portion that can be visited by walkers and tourists as it is an ideal place for those who want to practice some hiking and photography According to the investigation carried out you can learn about the operation of the factory by touring its facilities as long as the corresponding permit is requested in advance It is such an extensive area that those who arrive at the place for the first time Something that draws attention to those who know the place is that there is a place where the vehicles that collect salt are cleaned And it is not the activity itself that imposes it which were invented and designed particularly to carry out the important task Each of them has a loading capacity of up to 260 tons of salt The imposing conveyors are thoroughly cleaned so that they can continue to perform their function for a significant number of more years only one rim has a diameter of about 3 metres high Those who have had the opportunity to visit the site in Mexico report that even the width of each of the tires is approximately another 3 metres the colour of the landscapes is very beautiful but at the same time contrasting: on the one hand there are those copper sandy and dark green tones; while in the salt mines there are white The white colour dominates so much in the salt mines that if we were to find ourselves in the winter season the landscape could easily be confused with a snowy one a product of the action of value and radiation When exploring the place where the salt is concentrated one of the things that draws a lot of attention is the creaking of the ground It is said that one of the main reasons why the “salt harvest” can be carried out in these dimensions is that several factors are combined Among the elements that greatly favour its extraction are: the flat topography the effect of the powerful rays of the sun apparently “nothing out of this world.” The seawater called collection (or concentration) vessels where it is “stored” for a certain period of time While the sun's rays and the wind help with the evaporation and transportation of moisture Each of the glasses is classified depending on the stage of water evaporation the collection is scheduled using vehicles called “Darts” Depending on the dimensions of each of the glasses the number of trips that the impressive container must have will be The number of places where salt is “harvested” is important It is advisable to visit the place with a guide as it is very easy for a person to get lost You can distinguish a glass that still has water from one that doesn't by its colour you can clearly see greyish or pink tones; while in those where they are ready for extraction The collection of salt is in a very practical way since it is aspirated through a suction process but at the same time impressive and relevant The production is such that in one year they have processed around 8 million metric tons The territorial extension in which production is carried out is greater than that of Mexico City Those who work at the site comment that the process is natural without representing a risk to the environment which every year is visited by about 150 thousand birds