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Hans Bertsch first arrived in Bahia
de Los Angeles in 1971, when just a small town and scallop fishery
dotted the enormous desert bay. During this Baja California mollusk
research trip, Bertsch and a colleague visited several remote locations,
but none as dramatic or memorable as Bahia de los Angeles. Insulated
from land by steep volcanic cliffs and protected from the ocean
by a series of islands, the bay supported a myriad of ocean life
ranging from whales to sea turtles to mollusks.
“I consider it one of the most beautiful bays in the world,”
Bertsch says 30 years later. “La Bahia really attracted me.
It’s interesting, beautiful and isolated, and I became enchanted
with the area.”
Since his first visit to the bay, Bertsch has received a PhD in
Zoology, published over 150 articles as a marine biologist and science
writer, and taught university classes in San Diego and Ensenada.
During his frequent visits to la Bahia, Bertsch stays in a small
hotel, scuba dives, takes underwater photographs, and documents
the bay’s marine life.
For years Bertsch has shared his photographs, scientific observations,
and knowledge of the area with others through lectures and informal
talks. Yet he has always envisioned a more formalized presentation
that would bring the bay to life in the classrooms of California
and Baja California. In the year 2000, Bertsch was able to pursue
this objective after receiving an EECC mini-grant to produce a Multimedia
Slideshow on the Natural History of Bahia de Los Angeles.
The Slideshow, currently under development, will include 80 slides
of the bay’s terrestrial environment and marine life. EECC
grant funds will provide for 10 copies of the Slideshow, which will
include the carousel, slides, and a bilingual text to accompany
each slide. Copies will reside at schools and major distribution
points such as the San Diego Natural History Museum and the Caracol
Museum in Ensenada. Community educators and classroom teachers will
be able to borrow the Slideshow for presentations to their students.
“With this multi-media slideshow I’m trying to bring a
multidisciplinary approach to the biology and natural history of
Bahia de Los Angeles,” Bertsch explains. “The primary
focus is on the incredible contrast between the richness of the
underwater world and the barrenness of the terrestrial world. The
land is a desert, but the underwater environment is an incredibly
rich soup. There is a forest of life and organisms that are dwelling
there.”
The Slideshow’s striking underwater images will include coral
sea fans, maroon sea cucumbers, spotted sea slugs, orange coral
polyps, many indigenous fish, and other marine life. Above-water
photographs will depict mangrove estuaries, surfacing whales, and
the stark desert hills contrasted by the blue Sea of Cortez.
Thousands of students, whether the region’s future fishermen,
eco-tourists, or politicians, will take this virtual tour of la
Bahia in coming years. They will gain a deeper understanding into
the bay’s beautiful, complex, and fragile ecosystem. Bertsch
hopes that this understanding will also translate into a universal
appreciation for their regional environment. If young people develop
this greater sense of care and respect, Bertsch predicts, then the
Californias’ next generation will make wiser and more sustainable
everyday choices.
Multimedia Slide Show
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