[Desert and Sea: Visions of Baja California - El Desierto y el Mar: Imagenes de Baja California]  Imágen Satelital de la Península de Baja California y el golfo de California See Spanish version

[OCEAN OASIS introduction] [Desert & Sea Photography Exhibition] A Look at Geology: The Stone Raft A Look at Climate: Changing Patterns A Look at Life: Forms Wonderful and Beautiful  A Look at Humankind: People and the Peninsula The Photographers Exhibit Options [space] [Site Index]

A Look at Life: Forms Wonderful and Beautiful
La Perspectiva de la Vida: Formas Bellas y Maravillosas

The forms of life make sense when viewed through the lens of natural selection. Under stress, forms can be pushed, stretched, or squashed; genetic accidents crop up, and survival and successful reproduction define the next generation. As landscapes and climates change, plants and animals adapt or become extinct. In greater Baja California, the climate can be harsh and variable. Cycles of abundance and scarcity alternate from land to sea. The ability to survive these cycles will decide the fate an individual, perhaps of an entire species.

Photo of Osprey landing on  nest, copyright Pablo Cervantes

Osprey and nest
Pablo Cervantes
Ospreys, also known as fish eagles, depend on the riches of the sea to sustain their families. During El Niño years, when fish are scarce, osprey chicks become scarce as well.


Peninsular pronghorn in golden light with long shadows, photo copyright Patricio Robles Gil

Peninsular pronghorn
Patricio Robles Gil
The pronghorn's strategy for survival is to migrate in search of adequate food. Competition with domestic livestock and fragmentation of habitat have pushed the peninsular pronghorn to the brink; numbers in the wild are estimated at less than two hundred.

Geology | Climate | Humankind
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