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Join researchers on an exciting adventure on the Baja Peninsula as you study large marine animals, including dolphins, humpback whales, and whale sharks. Your findings will help scientists understand the effects of climatic events, urbanization, and a growing marine ecotourism industry on these remarkable marine ecosystems.

The vibrant blue waters surrounding the Baja Peninsula are home to a rich diversity of marine life, most notably large marine animals, including dolphins, humpback whales, and whale sharks. But increasingly frequent extreme climatic events, such as marine heatwaves, are threatening these critical species. Marine heatwaves can cause a variety of issues, including toxic algae blooms, disruptions in the food chain, and mass mortality events. However, little data has been collected on the exact impacts these events can have on large marine animals. Furthermore, urban sprawl and the expanding marine ecotourism industry in the area could worsen the effects of these climatic events if not properly managed.

You’ll visit two stunning locations on the Baja Peninsula, La Paz Bay and the adjacent Sea of Cortez and Punta Lobos, to help researchers discover how climatic events, urbanization, and marine ecotourism impact the marine environment. You’ll work alongside Dr. Lenin Oviedo to monitor the populations and behavior of bottlenose dolphins and humpback whales through boat and land-based surveys. Understanding these species' foraging activities, respiration rates, population sizes, and reproductive success will provide key insights into how these species are responding to environmental disturbances.

You’ll also play a crucial role in investigating how closely tour operators adhere to current ecotourism regulations. By measuring boats’ proximity, monitoring whale sharks' responses to tourists, and recording water conditions, you’ll help assess the impact of tourism on these vulnerable creatures. You may even have the opportunity to swim alongside whale sharks as you record their behavior and photograph the distinctive patterns around their dorsal fins to help identify individual sharks.

The valuable data you collect will shed light on how well current regulations are being followed and how these tours influence whale shark behavior. This information will provide researchers and policymakers with the baseline data needed to monitor the health of their coastal seascapes.

Please note: All teams will work with dolphins; however, the presence of whale sharks and humpback whales at these locations is seasonal. Whale sharks aggregate between late October and February, with the observation season highly regulated by local authorities and contingent upon the presence of sharks in the area. Humpback whales migrate to the area between January and April. These are general patterns and vary from season to season. Sightings of any animal are not guaranteed.