A 424-pound yellowfin tuna, falling just three pounds shy of the world record, was caught Tuesday in the Sea of Cortez beyond the Mexican resort city of Loreto.
According to Pisces Sportfishing, the behemoth was landed by Jorge Lazo, of Tijuana, after nearly a two-hour fight aboard the vessel Rampage, captained by Robert Ross.
Lazo used a live mackerel as bait, and fought the fish on 50-pound-test line with standup gear.
Only a handful of yellowfin tuna have surpassed the 400-pound mark (fish topping 300 pounds are rare). The 427-pound world record yellowfin was caught in 2012 south of Cabo San Lucas, on Baja California’s tip.
Loreto, farther up the Baja peninsula, is not widely known as a hotspot for giant yellowfin tuna. But it’s not overlooked by serious tuna anglers.
On Monday, Lazo, who is Ross’ son-in-law, caught a 319-pound yellowfin. Ross caught a 267-pounder.
Video screen grab shows man said to have been shooting at drone
By Pete Thomas
Sea Shepherd has released footage showing one of its spy drones being shot down Sunday night by poachers in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez.
The conservation group is in the northern Sea of Cortez, or Gulf of California, trying to locate and remove gill-nets that indiscriminately catch critically endangered vaquita porpoises.
Late Sunday night, the MV John Paul DeJoria crew used radar and a night-vision drone to locate three skiffs working inside a vast no-fishing zone.
Poachers use gill-nets to target totoaba, a type of croaker whose swim bladders fetch thousands of dollars on black markets in China and Hong Kong, where the bladders are believed by some to possess special medicinal powers.
The nets sometimes trap and drown vaquitas, which might number fewer than 20 animals and are on the brink of extinction. (Vaquitas are endemic to the northern Sea of Cortez.)
In the footage, viewers can see four men on one of the skiffs, which appears illuminated because of night-vision technology. The man in the rear can be seen aiming and shooting at the drone, which is eventually destroyed.
“Poachers often conceal themselves in the cover of night, which is what we suspected to be the case here,” Capt. Benoit Sandjian said in a news release.
The drone had been shot at by the crew of a different skiff before it was shot down as it hovered about 100 feet above the four men and their net. The Sea Shepherd crew was 1.4 miles away, aboard the John Paul DeJorian, when it realized it had lost the unmanned aircraft.
Sea Shepherd said this was the first time poachers had used firearms to try to disable spy drones.
Mexico has tried several measures to save the vaquita, and to prevent poaching. But with totoaba bladders in such high-priced demand, illegal fishing within the exclusion zone – often spearheaded by powerful drug cartels – remains problematic.
Sea Shepherd is patrolling the exclusion zone in cooperation with the Mexican Navy, in what Sea Shepherd calls Operation Milagro.
Rescue teams spent most of Sunday trying to save two large sperm whales that had become stranded in shallow water in La Paz Bay, in Baja California Sur, Mexico.
Unfortunately, rescuers were able to pull only the largest whale, measuring 60 feet, to the safety of deep water. The smaller whale, measuring 50 feet, died during an exhaustive effort that involved government agencies and a regional stranding network.
Roberto Robles, of the environmental agency Profepa, said the whales were discovered stranded in shallow water in front of Hotel Palmira at about 8 a.m.
Robles stated on Facebook that the whales had become stuck on "a low area” in front of Palmira.
It was not clear whether the mammals stranded intentionally or became stuck as a result of the changing tide.
Humpback whale sightings are on the rise off Mexico’s west coast, and on Tuesday spectacular footage surfaced showing a mother and week-old calf beneath the surface off Cabo San Lucas.
“The first video footage taken this season of a mother and baby humpback whale. Very exciting!” writes Whale Watch Cabo on Facebook. “As you can see the baby is very small, very light in color and only about 1 week old.”
The underwater footage, captured by a guide named Nacho, shows the mother keeping the calf just above her head at the surface, in close proximity to a small boat.
Humpback whales that migrate to Mexico each winter – from a region spanning from California to British Columbia – are part of the North Eastern Pacific Population. Primary breeding and nursing areas are off mainland Mexico – notably, Puerto Vallarta’s Banderas Bay.
But Cabo San Lucas, at Baja California’s tip, is a prime viewing location during the winter.
Whale Watch Cabo logged its mother-and-calf sighting Monday, and released the video Tuesday.
Humpback whale newborns typically measure 13-15 feet, and can weigh up to a ton. While nursing, calves can gain as much as 100 pounds per day. Adult humpback whales typically measure 45-50 feet and can weigh as much as 40 tons.
Folks in Cabo San Lucas and throughout the Mexican state of Baja California Sur are keeping a close eye on the trajectory of Tropical Storm Lidia.
Lidia, which on Wednesday afternoon was generating heavy rain over southwestern Mexico, is the first Eastern North Pacific storm of 2017 poised to impact the resort areas at Baja California's tip.
Though Lidia is not expected to attain hurricane strength (sustained gusts of 74 mph or stronger), hurricane watches (hurricane conditions possible) and tropical storm warnings have been issued by Mexico. The Florida-based National Hurricane Center listed them as follows in its 6 p.m. update on Wednesday:
A Hurricane Watch is in effect for...
Baja California Sur from Puerto Cortes to east of La Paz
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for...
Baja California Sur from Puerto Cortes to San Evaristo
Mainland Mexico from Bahia Tempehuaya to Huatabampito
A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for...
Baja California Sur from north of San Evaristo to Loreto
North of Puerto Cortes to Puerto San Andresito
Lidia, which late Wednesday boasted winds of 40 mph, is expected to arrive near Baja California’s tip late Thursday or early Friday.
Tracy Ehrenberg, general manager of Pisces Sportfishing in the Cabo San Lucas marina, said Wednesday evening via email that boats were ordered back in port before a 1 p.m. port closure.
“A squall blew through that lasted 10 minutes, then it settled again,” Ehrenberg said. “So far just one rain shower that lasted five minutes at most. It’s cloudy but really no wind and seas are not bad on the Pacific… up to, say, 10-15 mph.”
Mark Rayor, owner of Jen Wren Sportfishing in the East Cape region on the Sea of Cortez, added: "Nothing alarming so far. Just hope the forecast is right and it doesn’t spool up. Kinda like a rattlesnake: doesn’t look that bad but you never know when it will get pissed off."
A tropical storm warning was issued Sunday for a portion of mainland Mexico and much of Baja California Sur, including Cabo San Lucas, as Tropical Storm Javier takes aim at the Baja California peninsula.
On Sunday afternoon, Javier was located 85 miles southwest of Puerto Vallarta, and traveling west-northwest at mph. Javier boasted winds of 45 mph and was expected to strengthen, but the storm is not expected to attain hurricane strength (74 mph).
However, Javier will deliver heavy rain over a vast area – including both sides of the Baja peninsula – and could generate dangerous flooding over the next several days.
According to the Florida-based National Hurricane Center, Javier’s center will pass to the west of Baja California's tip beginning Monday. (The Cabo San Lucas port was ordered closed at 5 p.m. Sunday.) Javier is expected to make landfall far to the north, on Wednesday or Thursday.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for Manzanillo to Cabo Corrientes (Puerto Vallarta) on the mainland, and from La Paz southward and westward to Santa Fe, including Cabo San Lucas, in Baja California Sur.
Javier is expected to remain a tropical storm at least through Wednesday.
It’s rare enough to spot a whale shark in the pristine water beyond Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, but to see one swimming inside the marina might be unheard of.
“This is a first-time event in Cabo,” Tracy Ehrenberg, general manager of Pisces Sportfishing, said of the Monday morning sighting.
The 20-foot whale shark was spotted near the back of the harbor by a man who thought it was a great white shark. "Then we heard that others said no it was a mako... then the truth came out it was actually a WHALE shark... the largest fish on the planet," Pisces stated on Facebook.
The footage was captured by Beto Lira, captain of Ruthless.
Whale sharks, which can measure to about 40 feet, are the world’s largest fish species. The docile plankton-eaters are also mysterious in that little is known about their migration habits.
They're sometimes spotted in the Sea of Cortez, between Cabo San Lucas and La Paz, but not inside harbors, where water quality is diminished.
Added Pisces: “The fish actually swam up to the dock where the Pisces boats leave from. It caused a huge amount of excitement amongst the crews as you can tell by the filming.
"We were just commenting yesterday how clear and warm the water is and how much bait there is in the marina... not that the whale shark was after them, they are a harmless plankton eater. The only danger they pose is if you are out fishing and collide with them. They are gentle giants. What a marvelous way to start the week.
–Pete Thomas
–Note: Whale shark image atop this post is generic.
A gray whale believed to be albino has been documented in Scammon’s Lagoon in Baja California, Mexico, for the first time in at least three years.
The same whale was spotted in 2008 and 2009, as a juvenile. It might also have been spotted in 2013, according to at least one report.
This time, though, the white whale is traveling with her calf, who is not albino. (Both whales can be seen in the accompanying video, and a second video showing basically the same footage. The footage was captured last week.)
The whale’s identity was confirmed this week by Benito Bermudez, regional director of the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas.
Bermudez told BCS Noticas that the whale is albino, not leucistic, a condition also caused by a lack of pigment. However, nobody has provided photos showing pink eyes, which would prove that the cetacean is albino.
Bermudez said the whale was most likely born in Scammon’s Lagoon, known locally as Laguna Ojo de Liebre. He said there are only “three or four records” of albino gray whales worldwide.
About 21,000 gray whales feed during the summer in Arctic waters, and migrate to Baja California each winter to give birth and nurse their young.
The northbound migration is just beginning, and over the next several weeks more than 1,000 gray whale mothers and calves – the last to depart – will begin their 6,500-mile journey to and beyond Alaska.
Of course one whale will stand out among the others: the now-famous white whale from Scammon's Lagoon.
Hurricane Sandra, which on Thursday morning was a major hurricane boasting sustained winds of 130 mph, is expected to weaken rapidly later in the day as it begins to veer to the northeast, toward the Mexican mainland.
Sandra is expected to pass beneath Cabo San Lucas, at Baja California’s tip, as a tropical storm (winds of 73 mph or lighter) late Friday.
"INTERESTS IN SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE BAJA CALIFORNIA PENINSULA SHOULD MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF SANDRA. A TROPICAL STORM WATCH MAY BE REQUIRED FOR PORTIONS OF THIS AREA LATER TODAY."
Kevin Cuevas (right) poses with 200-pound yellowfin tuna; photo via Jen Wren Sportfishing
Mark Rayor, who owns Jen Wren Sportfishing in the East Cape region of Baja California Sur, said Friday night that it was a bit too early to worry about Hurricane Blanca.
During the day, his fleet embarked in search of tuna, and one angler landed the 200-pounder shown in the accompanying image. The tuna was caught by Kevin Cuevas of Littleton, Colo., after a 4-hour battle.
“A boat near us bagged one 180lbs,” Rayor said via email. “It has been mostly dinks but once in a while a bruiser shows.”
Rayor was contacted to gauge the mood as Hurricane Blanca approaches the Los Cabos region.
“Lots of gun-shy people running around like the sky is falling,” he stated.
That was the strongest storm ever to strike Los Cabos, and many businesses are still trying to recover.
Rayor assured that he and others in the East Cape, which is about 70 miles north of Cabo San Lucas on the Sea of Cortez, are watching Blanca closely.
The storm strengthened Friday afternoon, as it churned toward slowly toward the northwest about 480 miles south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas. It boasted maximum sustained winds of 100 mph.
The storm is not supposed to enter the Sea of Cortez. Rather, it’s supposed to pass Cabo San Lucas in the Pacific between Sunday and Monday, as it weakens, and make landfill far to the north of the resort areas.
That is the hope. However, computer models are not always accurate, and are sometimes wildly inaccurate.
Stated Tracy Ehrenberg, who owns Pisces Sportfishing in Cabo San Lucas: “So far it’s totally calm, but we are going to pull our boats out [on Saturday] anyway.
“The docks still have damage from Odile so better safe than sorry. It's a huge hassle but I want our guys to be able to sleep safely and stay with their families.”
Ehrenberg, a longtime resident of Cabo San Lucas, does not trust weather reports.
“The water temp in the Sea of Cortez is high, so matter what they say, the hurricane could get sucked in there,” she said. “The water temp on the Pacific is in the high 70's and they talk about dry air, but the air is not dry, there is a dampness that has lingered for days.”
Rayor said the water temperature in the Sea of Cortez at the East Cape had been 80 degrees–very warm for this time of year–until dropping three degrees Friday because of “a nervous sea.”
Hurricanes gain strength in warm water, and weaken in cool water. Varying water conditions can alter the course of a powerful storm, so wariness among those near storm paths is understandable.
On Friday, though, it was business as usual for many in this big-game fishing paradise. Ehrenberg said boats were allowed in and out of the Cabo San Lucas marina on Friday, but that the port closed at 3 p.m., and will remain closed through Monday or Tuesday.
Rayor didn’t say whether his boats will fish Saturday. It'll depend on the weather, of course, and on the updated forecast.
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