Last August an enormous sperm whale carcass floated ashore on the side of Guamilule hill. It had been in the water for a long time and was in an advanced state of decay. Needless to say, the smell was the first thing that brought this new arrival to the attention of the local enramada owners. The carcass was easy to spot, once you knew where to look, it looked like a long white gash on the side of the hill.

New research shows that after extremely deep dives some species of whales appear to “sleep” suspended in the water just near the surface. Sperm whales and blue whales have been observed “sleeping” this way, sometimes in large pods. Biologists suspect that “sleeping” whales are particularly vulnerable in this state and that many are injured or killed by freighters running into them.

Today’s freighters are so large and wide that as they plow the seas, they create a sound shadow so that the normal noise of their giant propellers is blocked in front of the ship, noise that might serve to warn the whales that they are in danger. Additionally, these ships have bulbous protuberances at their prows (they look like Jimmy Durante’s nose) that extend far into the water and could easily strike a fatal blow to a whale.

Perhaps that was the fate of our sperm whale, this species of whale is not common in our waters. Then hurricane Rick sent him on to shore.  Lucky for us.

Laurel and the El Refugio team, along with Semarnat and Porfepa, took a jeep out to take a look. It was a male alright, and had been dead a long time. Take a look a the photo. Long story short, El Refugio received permission to recover the bones, and was successful in saving a number of them. They have been resting in the sun to dry and be picked clean by insects and it is almost time to assemble the skeleton for display.

That is another story for another day…

This week Playa Blanca was visited by Professor Alejandro from UAM, Xochilmilco campus, and 22 of his budding biology students. The Professor brings students once a trimester to study the flora and fauna of our area. They concentrate on birds. Working in teams, they visit the selva corta (the short forest), the coco huertas, and the mangles (the mangroves). They set up mist nets to catch birds for banding, take a census and ultimately compare the data they have collected with the data collected in the past.  One team reported 70 species of birds collected yesterday. El Professor told me they have identified over 150 species and I am hoping to get the census results from this trip after they have been compiled.

Another team encountered a crocodile and everyone reported lots and lots of spiders! One student who came in the past with the study group was so inspired by the area that she applied to do her thesis on the butterflies of Playa Blanca.  Ana Lusia is working here with the support of El Refugio and releases her butterflies into the mariposarium (butterfly house) here. This week she was joined by her good friend, biologist Marisela and is assisted by Marbe from Los Farallones.  They actually captured a Malachite butterfly yesterday – a very rare find, along with several Monarchs, a group of Orange Banded and even a Buckeye. You can visit Ana Luisa’s latest finds at El Refugio.

Did you know that Mexico is home to hundreds of butterfly species? Come and learn more about them at El Refugio.

Professor Alejandro and his students were originally invited to come to Barra by Adrianna Luna (we know her as the owner of Casa LunaBed and Breakfast) in order to establish a record of the incredible biodiversity of this area. The study has been taking place for several years and a good case can be made for the need to protect the environment of this area.