Pete Thomas Outdoors

Baja fishing boat damaged in collision with whale shark

The boat is badly damaged but the fishermen are OK, while it remains unclear how the whale shark fared.

Whale shark image is generic

The collision occurred Saturday in the Sea of Cortez, and involved the vessel Jen Wren, which runs from the Baja California community of Buena Vista.

Mark Rayor, owner of Jen Wren Sportfishing, recalled the incident this week in his “East Cape–A day in the life” column. 

The Jen Wren had been cruising into the bright glare of the sun, and Chuy, the captain, did not see the whale shark until after it was struck.

“It had punched the shaft strut through the bottom of the boat and they were taking on a massive amount of water,” Rayor wrote.

As Rayor, aboard the Jen Wren III, sped toward the damaged vessel’s position, the Jen Wren’s crew managed to stem some of the water flow. It also managed to get the bilge pumping water out of the boat as swiftly as possible.

When Rayor arrived the transfer of anglers was safely made, and a Jen Wren III crewman, Diego, jumped over to help Chuy.

“Between Chuy, Diego and Manuel they finally got the other raw water hose off the intake and into the bilge.  Now, with both motors pumping, they were able to keep up with the water leak and limp back to Buena Vista,” Rayor wrote, adding: "I believe it was the experience and competence of skipper Chuy that saved the day and stopped a bad situation from turning into a disaster."

To be sure, since this collision occurred far offshore, the safety of the passengers was the first consideration.

Rayor explained that work is underway toward getting Jen Wren fit for fishing. It needs a new shaft, and repairs to the prop and strut.

As for the whale shark, Saturday was a day in the life it probably wishes it could start over.

Fortunately, these types of incidents are extremely rare, thanks to the sharp eyes of Baja's veteran captains and crews.

–Pete Thomas

 

Unusual catches, whales in odd places, pelican woes could be signs that impending El Niño will be significant

A developing El Niño in the equatorial Pacific has generated predictions of drastic weather changes–some devastating, some beneficial–throughout the world.

There’s a 90% probability that an El Niño will form, up considerably from previous predictions, but the main question no is whether this will be moderate El Niño or, more likely, a powerful warm-water event such as those in the early 1980s and late 90s.

The extent of El Niño’s strength won’t be known until late summer or fall. But based on early interesting signals, in the form of mammals, birds and fish showing up where they don’t typically belong, it’s looking as though this El Niño is going to be significant.

Earlier this week two Bryde’s whales, a mother and calf, were photographed during two voyages on the same day off Huntington Beach, California, by researcher Alisa Schulman-Janiger.

Bryde’s whales, which measure to about 45 feet, are fairly common in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. Sightings off California, however, are extremely rare.

Schulman-Janiger said that during NOAA surveys off California between 1991 and 2005, there was only one confirmed sighting of Bryde’s whales, which are also referred to as “tropical whales” because they prefer a warm environment.

Less than a week earlier, a large pod of pilot whales showed off Dana Point on the Orange County coast. Pilot whales are found around the world, including off Mexico, but it had been nearly 20 years since they were last spotted off Southern California.

In late March, false killer whales, another ultra-rare visitor from warmer waters, thrilled whale watchers off Orange County.

Strange visitors often portend strange happenings in their environment.

Fishermen are seeing signs, also. Anglers out of San Diego, on short excursions into Mexican waters, began catching yellowfin tuna in May. That’s unprecedented, according to some, as this sub-tropical species typically doesn’t show that far north until late summer, if at all.

During the El Niño in 1983-84 and 1997-98, however, yellowfin tuna migrated north early and, during the summer, were caught well into U.S. waters.

“We’ve already started to see very unusual fish catches here,” Tim Barnett, marine research emeritus with the San Diego-based Scripps Institution of Oceanography, told KPBS. “The first yellowfin tuna was caught in May—that has never happened before to anybody’s recollection.

“And the other thing too is the first dorado (mahi-mahi)—first of June. That has never happened before. They really like the warm water and you normally don’t see them here until September.”

Barnett said the 1997-98 El Niño, the biggest in a century, caused a northward shift of the entire fishery population, and he predicts a similar event is developing.

Water temperatures are unseasonably warm in some areas off Southern California, but only by a couple of degrees. Temperatures are significantly warmer than usual, however, off parts of western Mexico, including the Sea of Cortez.

This not only drives fish populations and some mammals beyond their typical range, but it causes shifts in bait fish populations.

This appears to have seriously affected California brown pelicans, about 90% of which breed and rear young in the Sea of Cortez.
 
Researchers recently discovered that the 2014 breeding season was so poor that one scientist referred to it as “a bust.”

Sam Anderson, a UC Davis biologist and part of a survey team that visited traditional nesting sites, told ABC News that where they would typically encounter tens of thousands of breeding pairs of pelicans, there were only sparse numbers. Some nesting sites were alarmingly deserted.

“That’s what we call a failure, a bust. The bottom dropped out,” Anderson said.
Mark Rayor, who runs Jen-Wren Sportfishing in the Sea of Cortez, in Baja California’s East Cape region, said sardines and other types of bait fish are nowhere to be found.

Rayor has logged water temperatures as high as 86 degrees, which is more typical of late July or August. He said blue marlin and sailfish, which generally begin to arrive in early August, are already showing in the offshore blue water.

Anderson, however, was reluctant to place all of the blame for the pelicans’ plight on the developing El Niño.

“During most El Niño events we’ve seen, numbers of nesting attempts drop by at least half to two-thirds, and production goes down, too. But it drops from thousands to hundreds, not 10 or less.”

Whether El Niño is to blame or not, however, a powerful El Niño appears imminent, and the marine environment, on this side of the equator anyway, is already somewhat off-kilter.

These are just some of the early messengers of change; they probably won’t be the last.

–Pete Thomas, via GrindTv Outdoor

–Photos: Mahi-Mahi (credit ©Pete Thomas), Bryde's whale off Huntington Beach (©Alisa Schulman-Janiger), yellowfin tuna (©Mark Rayor), false killer whales off Dana Point (©Pete Thomas), California brown pelicans off Cabo San Lucas (©Pete Thomas), pilot ewhale off Dana Point (©Frank Brennan/Dana Wharf Whale Watch)

For California brown pelicans, another major blow; breeding season described as 'a bust'

Just when it seemed as though the California brown pelican population was flourishing, having rebounded from near-extinction over the past century, the iconic birds have suffered another significant setback.

The University of California at Davis has released findings of a survey that reveal a sharp decline in the number of breeding pairs in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, also known as the Gulf of California.

About 90% of California brown pelicans breed and raise their chicks in the gulf. Biologists visit sites that typically hold tens of thousands of nesting birds.

But this year many those sites were alarmingly deserted, in some cases totally deserted.

“That’s what we call a failure, a bust. The bottom dropped out,” Dan Anderson, a UC Davis biologist who was part of a survey team that also involved a Mexican ecological group, told ABC News.

California brown pelicans can often be seen soaring up and down the California coast, and their abundance during the past few years seemed to indicate a burgeoning population.

But if a new year class is substantially diminished, as it seems to be, far fewer pelicans might be seen in the next few years.

It’s possible that the crash could be linked to a developing El Niño in the equatorial mid-Pacific.

Water temperatures are warmer than normal in the Sea of Cortez and bait populations have shifted, affecting the pelicans’ ability to find food.

However, there could be more to this problem than a developing El Niño.

"During most El Niño events we've seen, numbers of nesting attempts drop by at least half to two-thirds, and production goes down, too," Anderson said, in a UC Davis statement. "But it drops from thousands to hundreds, not to 10 or less."

California brown pelicans, in recent decades, began a remarkable comeback after nearly being wiped out because of DDT pesticide poisoning.

They were declared an endangered species in 1970, and removed from the list in 2009, when their population was estimated to number 150,000.

The large birds, which feed by plunging into the water and catching fish with their large beaks, are found as far north as Washington.

–Pete Thomas

–Photo: Two California brown pelicans rest atop a rock earlier this month beyond Cabo San Lucas at Land's End. Credit: ©Pete Thomas

Crafty sea lion swipes large dorado from angler's hands at Cabo San Lucas dock

Dorado, or mahi-mahi, are prized for the flesh as much as for their fight.

But as far as a Cabo San Lucas sea lion named Pancho is concerned, why bother with the fight if you can steal one that has already been caught?

The accompanying footage was captured earlier this month in Cabo San Lucas. To some degree it appears to be staged, meaning that the pair might have known about the bold sea lion's presence and expected this to happen.

 

But Mike "the Griz" Ritz (the angler pictured at left), assured via YouTube message that the great sea lion caper was not staged. Pancho is a regular in the marina and generally goes after leftover bait, not game fish.

"Maybe people think this is staged, but what really is happening is that we were taking pictures of our trophy fish after a long day of fishing," the Griz explains. "Pancho normally gets the bait that is left over from fishing, and lives in another part of the marina, so we never expected this to happen!"

This could be true. After all, the angler holding the bull dorado before it gets pilfered is gripping its tail very close to where the sea lion bites. Would he have risked severe injury just for the sake of this fun video clip?

Maybe. People do crazy things in Cabo.

In any event, it made Pancho's day, while the poor pelican watching closely from the dock got nothing.

–Pete Thomas

Hurricane Raymond, with 120-mph winds, lingers ominously off Mexico's Pacific coast

Hurricane Raymond has beleaguered residents on Mexico's south-central Pacific coast bracing for more heavy rain and flooding.

The storm, as of late Monday morning, boasted winds of 120 mph, and maximum gusts of 150 mph. It was a Category 3-level hurricane–the first in the Eastern Pacific this season–and expected to strengthen slightly before weakening slowly during the next few days as it churns to the west.

At 11 a.m. Raymond was located 105 miles southwest of the neighboring resort cities of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo in the state of Guerrero.

The storm was essentially stalled, inching northward at 2 mph. Areas that might feel the strongest effects over the next few days are in Guerrero. They include Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo and Acapulco, and the port city of Lazaro Cardenas, in the state of Michoacan.

Reached via email, longtime Zihuatanejo resident Ed Kunze stated that the hope is that the storm will be coaxed away from the region by geographical forces and cooler air coming from the south and east.

"It has stalled because it is pushing a huge amount of air in front of it, which gets blocked by the 7,000- to 9,000-foot Sierra Madre Mountains behind us," said Kunze, who is not a meteorologist but has been through several hurricane scares. "As the air gets packed against the mountains, it creates an artificial high pressure, which the hurricane bounces off of, and usually heads up the coast.
 
"But, this time we also have cold air coming down from the north, creating another 'wall.' To survive, it has to escape by changing directions… and probably out west. I am confident we won’t get hit, and the stalling action fairly well confirms it."

Kunze said that about three inches of rain had fallen by 1:30 p.m.

Corky Carroll, a former pro surfer who lives in Ixtapa, posted this observation on his Facebook page Monday morning: "Well.... HURRICANE RAYMOND which is reaching CAT 4 status is sitting rudely almost on top of us. So far just a lot of rain and the surf is not that bad either, but who knows what's next. One report says it is gonna cream us and the other says its not.... I am going with the NOT."

Last month, Hurricane Ingrid and on Mexico’s Gulf Coast and Tropical Storm Manuel in the Pacific teamed to cause flooding that killed at least 139 people and left thousands of residents homeless.

Hurricane Raymond is expected to maintain hurricane strength at least through Saturday, as it travels in a westerly direction.

–Pete Thomas

–Image is a NOAA satellite view of Hurricane Raymond, captured Monday morning

Baja angler's extraordinary catch: powder-blue dorado

Dorado, or mahi-mahi, are prized by sport anglers because of their acrobatics and the high quality of their flesh.

But they're also amazingly colorful; they typically flash brilliant hues of gold, green and yellow.

Occasionally, though infrequently, they'll turn blue, and Dave Maynard (pictured above) recently caught a handful of dorado that looked as though they were trying to blend with his powder-blue shirt and/or the bottom of his panga. (Normal-colored dorado pictured below.)

Maynard, host of "Fish the Baja," was fishing out of Rancho de Costa in Baja California Sur. He said his group landed 154 dorado in four days, and at least six were blue.

Trying to find out if this was rare, I asked a few resident Baja outfitters, and received these replies:

Mark Rayor of Jen Wren Sportfishing: "They are an odd fish and turn all sorts of colors.  I don't think blue is that uncommon.  Once in a while we get a silver one that looks really cool."

Eric Brictson of Gordo Banks Pangas: "We have seen dorado have the ability to change their color shade, particularly when aggressively in the feeding mode. Once they have been caught and placed in the fish box their color patterns normally return the darker green color. This photo, though, does appear to show a dorado that is much bluer than you would normally see, though not unprecedented."

Not unprecedented, but very unusual. It could be said, to borrow and old cliche, that blue dorado are only caught once in a blue moon.

Tropical storm Manuel gains strength, takes aim toward Baja California's eastern shore

**Wednesday night update (8:50 p.m.): Manuel achieved hurricane strength Wednesday afternoon but its projected path is now eastward onto mainland Mexico, where it will quickly lose strength. It is no longer expected to reach Baja. Sadly, it's now being reported that 58 people are missing in the Guerrero village of La Pintada, far to the south of Manuel's current position, due to mudslides caused by Manuel. The death toll from Manuel and tropical storm Ingrid, which earlier this week slammed Mexico's eastern and western coasts, has increased to at least 80.

Tropical storm Manuel, which is situated just off Mexico's mainland in the Sea of Cortez, has gained strength and will take aim toward Baja California's eastern shore.

Portions of the mainland are under either a hurricane watch–from La Cruz and Topolobampo–or tropical storm warning. A tropical storm watch has been issued from Cabo San Lucas, at Baja's tip, to an area just north of La Paz.

An area between La Paz and the East Cape region, immediately to the south, is dotted with small fishing resorts and fleet owners have been busy moving boats into harbors or towing them onto shore. 

However, several vessels remained moored and exposed at the time of this post.

We contacted Mark Rayor, owner of Jen Wren Sportfishing in the East Cape town of Buena Vista, and at 10 a.m. he reported sunshine, after periods of heavy rain, and large surf but very little wind.

Jonathan Roldan, who owns the Tailhunter International charter business in La Paz, said conditions were "sunny and flat-calm."

That appears to be the calm before the storm, however.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami issued an 11 a.m. update stating that between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., maximum gusts had nearly doubled to about 60 mph. Clearly, Manuel is feeding off warm gulf waters.

The storm is expected to plot a course toward La Paz Bay but won't arrive until at least Saturday. Folks in the Baja California capital of La Paz, and the East Cape, are hoping that Manuel will veer more to the sparsely-populated north before making landfall.

Once the storm makes landfall it'll quickly weaken, but lots of rain and wind is expected throughout the region.

Manuel will not soon be forgotten. It's the same deadly storm that slammed Acapulco on Sunday. 

–Pete Thomas

Tropical depression Manuel leaves Acapulco, but will regain storm strength as it approaches Baja California Sur

Tropical depression Manuel, which was part of a deadly storm duo that walloped Mexico from both coasts, has turned away from the Pacific coast and is headed toward Baja Californa Sur.

Manuel, which came ashore in Acapulco, teamed with tropical storm Ingrind on the east coast to cause flooding that killed more than 40 people and left tens of thousands of tourists stranded.

Residents are still digging out and tourists in Acapulco, many of them from Mexico City, are scrambling to find ways home as landslides blocked highways and roads in the region.

(Emergency flights had been evacuating tourists and Aero Mexico and Interjet resumed commercial flights to and from Acapulco on Tuesday.)

Ingrid, which was a hurricane before coming ashore on the Gulf Coast, has dissipated but Manuel isn't quite finished.

As of 2 p.m. Tuesday the depression boasted winds of 35 mph, but was gaining strength and expected to regain tropical storm strength later Tuesday. Its northwesterly course has compelled Mexico to issue a tropical storm watch from Mazatlan to Altata on the mainland and from Cabo San Lucas north to San Everisto in Baja California Sur.

This basically includes Baja's eastern shore from just north of La Paz to Cabo San Lucas at Baja's tip.

Southern Baja, which until this year had been enduring a prolonged drought, has received abundant rainfall this season, leaving the desert landscape a lush green.

Manuel is expected to retain tropical storm strength as it enters the Sea of Cortez and as it makes landfall somewhere near La Paz Bay on Thursday.

–Pete Thomas

–Image is courtesy of the National Hurricane Center

Wounded great white shark surprises divers with remarkable healing power

A savage bite to the head by an adult great white shark would almost always be fatal–unless another great white shark is at the receiving end of such an attack.

The top image, captured last week by Rachel Montero of SharkDiver.com, shows a Guadalupe Island great white affectionately known as Chuggy.

The Shark Diver crew was pleased to see the apex predator, but surprised that he was still alive and astonished by how quickly his wound seemed to be healing.

The images posted below, captured last year at Guadalupe, show how Chugey looked after another shark had bitten him on the head, removing a large chunk of the gill area.

Martin Graf, Shark Diver CEO, used before-and-after images of Chugey in a blog post to show viewers how swiftly Chugey was recovering from what seemed to be a fatal wound.

"I have to admit that I didn't think much of his chances to survive this bite and thought I'd never see him again," Graf wrote of a shark that has now been seen every season at Guadalupe since he was first spotted in 2004. (Chugey is named after Chugey Sepulveda, a San Diego scientist.)

Of the more recent images showing Chugey swimming around as though nothing had happened, with his gaping wound having all but closed, Graf wrote: "Look at the amazing difference! There are no veterinarians, no surgeries or stitches and yet he looks like he's healing just fine.

"I'm blown away by their ability to survive injuries that would kill just about any other animal and the weirdest thing is, these nasty injuries don't even seem to bother them all that much."

Guadalupe Island, which is located 165 miles west of Baja California, is a seasonal gathering place for adult white sharks. They often scuffle during mating rituals and for territorial supremacy, and many bear extensive scarring.

The bite to Chugey's head, however, was more severe than injuries Guadalupe shark divers have seen on other sharks.

As for the divers themselves, most of them, smartly, observe the apex predators from the safety of metal cages.

--A version of this post also appears at GrindTv Outdoor

Legal to bring fish and game back from Mexico?

In support of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and its effort to keep hunters and anglers informed, Pete Thomas Outdoors, on Thursday or Friday, posts marine biologist Carrie Wilson's weekly California Outdoors Q&A column:

Question: I fish in Mexico and have a question regarding bringing them back to the U.S. I saw a statement on Facebook where the poster said we cannot bring cowcod or fillets into U.S. waters even if we have a signed declaration to present with the fish. Despite the fact cowcod are not legal to possess in California, they are legal to catch in Mexico.

I would like to know if this is true as many things posted on the Internet are not always correct. If it is correct, is this also true for the other three protected rockfishes -- canary, yelloweye and bronzespotted rockfish? If I take a legal Mexican limit of five bocaccio, would I be limited to bringing only three back into California? Also, I hunt in Mexico where it is legal to take 60 doves. At the border, could I declare the 60 doves when I cross the border or would I only be able to have the California limit of 10 doves? What are the laws? Since I am hunting and fishing in another country and abiding by their laws, do I have to also abide by California laws when I import game from another country? (Randy H.)

Answer: It is unlawful to import or possess birds, mammals, fish, reptile or amphibian taken from outside of this state unless the following requirements are met (as per Fish and Game Code, section 2353):

    •    The animals were legally taken and legally possessed outside of this state.
    •    California and federal codes and regulations do not expressly prohibit their possession in this state.
    •    A declaration is submitted to the department or a designated state or federal agency at or immediately before the time of entry, in the form and manner prescribed by the department.
Therefore, even if the fish were legally taken in Mexico but are prohibited here in California, then they cannot be brought back here. This means while cowcod, canary, yelloweye and bronzespotted rockfishes may be legally caught and possessed in Mexico, they cannot be brought back to California. Filleting is also not allowed in Mexico, so no fish taken in Mexico can be brought back to California in a filleted condition.