Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California
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How it came to be
The Gulf of California, also called the Sea of Cortez, is an arm of the Pacific between the Baja California peninsula and mainland Mexico. The World Heritage property comprises 244 islands, islets and coastal areas in eight main groups, together with nine protected areas. It reaches from the Colorado River delta in the north to 270 km south-east of the tip of the peninsula, and about a quarter of it is land, the rest sea.
The earliest records of the gulf come from Spanish voyages of the 16th century, and in 1605 Juan de Oñate reached it overland by following the Colorado River. The gulf's islands were declared a reserve and refuge for migratory birds and wildlife on 2 August 1978 and a flora and fauna protection area in June 2000. The property was inscribed in 2005, with boundary changes in 2007 and 2011.
About 900 species of fish live in the gulf, some 90 of them endemic, along with about a third of the world's marine mammal species and 115 species of reptiles. The vaquita, a small porpoise found only in the gulf, is close to extinction, and in 2019 the property was placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger because of the threat of its imminent loss.
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