Pete Thomas Outdoors

Los Cabos back in business; airlines booking flights for Oct. 8

Major airlines have begun accepting reservations for commercial flights to and from Los Cabos International Airport (SJD), beginning October 8.

Unofficially, flights could resume even sooner (some are saying so, perhaps hopefully, in private).

The airport, on the outskirts of San Jose del Cabo, sustained significant damage when Hurricane Odile came ashore in the state of Baja California Sur on September 14-15.

The storm hit Cabo San Lucas, at Baja’s tip, the hardest.

Alaska Airlines on Friday at 7 p.m. updated its website to reflect that it would resume flying one daily roundtrip flight from Los Angeles to Los Cabos beginning October 8.

I  looked into this and was provided the option of booking a 10:10 a.m. flight into SJD for $179 (one-way).

The United Airlines website also is accepting flights beginning October 8. Presumably, other airlines have followed or will follow suit.

Major airlines had implied that they would not resume flights until the end of October. Some insiders, however, have suggested that this was a ploy to negotiate cheaper landing fees at SJD.

Regardless, this is a major step toward recovery. Many hotels are still closed, but reopenings are expected to occur between mid-October and the end of November. October and November are peak months for tourism throughout BCS.

Cabo Living Magazine reported Friday on its Facebook page that of the 59 Baja California Sur hotels overseen by the tourism agency Fonatur, 55 sustained hurricane damage, with 5,474 rooms affected.

Tourism Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu said power has been restored to nearly 100% of the northern part of the state, 80% in Los Cabos, 98% in La Paz, 70% in Mulegé, 75% in Comondú and 95% in Loreto.

More than 70% of gas stations in BCS are back in operation.

–Image is courtesy of Solmar Resorts

Rare whale shark sighting documented near Catalina

Whale shark swims alongside Triton sportfisher

By Pete Thomas/GrindTv

The number of bizarre catches or sightings off Southern California continues to rise and on Sunday perhaps the rarest visitor to date was documented: a whale shark.

Whale sharks are the world’s largest fish, reaching lengths of 30-plus feet. And while these docile plankton-eaters are often seen by divers at destinations such as Hawaii, southern Mexico and the Sea of Cortez, they’re almost never encountered off Southern California.

The whale shark spotted Sunday, east of Santa Catalina Island, was estimated to measure 20 to 25 feet. It approached and even bumped the Triton, which runs from Long Beach Sportfishing, as anglers fished for yellowfin tuna.

 

“He was curious, almost playful,” Triton Capt. Ryan Gengler told Phil Friedman Outdoors Radio, which broke the story. “When he bumped into us, you could feel the boat shake. I could not believe my eyes.”

Like the tuna, and other exotic visitors this summer, the whale shark ventured far north of its typical range because of a wide swath of unusually warm water, stretching from southern Baja California into California.

Chris Lowe, who runs the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach, was asked via email how rare this event might be. The scientist replied:

“I’d say that is very rare for our neck of the woods. I have heard accounts of occasional manta, scalloped hammerhead sharks, and wayward tiger sharks, but whale sharks are pretty rare this far north.”

 

Whale shark swims into shadow of the Triton

Also on Sunday, an angler lost a four-hour battle with a blue marlin, another rare visitor to Southern California waters. Earlier this month, a wahoo was caught off Orange County.

That was another visitor from tropical or sub-tropical waters, and an extremely rare catch.

For nearly two months anglers have been catching yellowfin tuna and dorado at the offshore fishing grounds west of Orange County.

Whale shark bumps Triton

These fish sometimes venture into Southern California waters during late summer, but this invasion is the most prolific in several decades.

Sea surface temperatures off Southern California range from 70 to about 76 degrees, about five degrees above normal in many locations.

Many are crediting a developing El Niño, a warming in the equatorial Pacific, which alters weather patterns. The latest forecast from NOAA states that there’s a 60-65% chance of El Niño becoming fully developed during the Northern Hemisphere fall and winter.

In any case, the sea surface warming stems from a lack of coastal upwelling that is typical in late spring and early summer, and caused by strong winds.

When upwelling occurs, cool waters from deep in the water column are brought to the surface and chilling occurs.Without upwelling, the water warms and gates open for species that typically are found off Mexico and elsewhere in warmer climates.

Among other rare visitors to Southern California this summer have been Bryde’s whales, also called tropical whales, and pilot whales.

Hurricane Marie sending massive surf to Southern California

Massive swells generated by Hurricane Marie off Mexico are predicted to reach Southern California beginning Tuesday.

Wave heights in some areas, notably north Orange County, are expected to exceed 20 feet on Wednesday, when the swell is expected to peak. Wave heights at the world-famous Wedge in Newport Beach could exceed 25 feet, according to a media alert issued Monday by Surfline.com.

Hurricane Marie, located about 490 miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas and churning in a northwesterly direction, reached Category 5 strength on Sunday. On Monday, Marie was at Category 4 strength, still a major storm, with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph.

Storm swell hits Baja California Sur north of Cabo San Lucas; photo via Pisces Sportfishing

Enormous swells began slamming the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur late Sunday, prompting officials to close the port at Cabo San Lucas, at Baja California's tip.

Southern California regions that will receive the largest waves, according to Surfline, include North Orange County, Southern Ventura County, and portions of North Los Angeles County.

But the swell should produce large surf at all south-facing areas.

Strong rip currents will be generated by the large surf, and coastal flooding is possible in low-lying areas during high tides on Wednesday and Thursday.

Hurricane Marie is expected to remain at hurricane strength until late Wednesday. It’s predicted to become a tropical storm by 5 a.m. Thursday, as it continues to weaken.

 –Pete Thomas

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