Blue Footed Boobys have been spotted at Los Arcos Islands, a national marine park and bird sanctuary located inside the Bay of Banderas, approx 500 meters offshore from Mismaloya Cove. Normally limited to the Marieta's Islands outside the bay, these Pacific ocean birds are making their way closer to our shore line. 

HOW DID THEY GET THAT NAME?

In the 1800's, while visiting remote islands in the Pacific, sailors came across a species of bird that spent much of its time walking on the ground and showed no fear towards the new human visitors. They were trapped in large quantities and fed to the crew and therefore characterized as birds of little intelligence; hence the name "booby" or dunce, in the venacular of the time.

HIGH DIVE FISHING

One of the characteristics of this family of birds is their ability to dive for fish, at speeds that can reach up to 95 km/hr and from heights that exceed 30 meters. Amazingly they can see their prey from this distance, and are able to calculate the fish's position considering the refraction of light which appears to these birds at an angle of 30 degrees from their apparent location. More surprising is their great ability to make extremely rapid turns in mid-dive if the fish suddenly changes direction to escape from its rocket like attack.

At that rate, the direct impact on the water is equal to a collision with a concrete wall which ought to kill them instantly. In just the last few decades, it was discovered that their bodies had developed a unique cushion of spongy tissue at the base of their beak to absorb the impact.

Boobys are monogamous and mate for life. The males are considered the more faithful and devote much of their time to the females and protecting the clutch. If the male suspects that the female has been unfaithful, he will abandon responsibility of the chicks to the mother.  

SEA TURTLES LAYING THEIR EGGS ON VALLARTA BEACHES 

This is the time of year that sea turtles come on shore to lay eggs. These enigamtic creatures return to the same spot every year to bury their eggs in the sand. Luckily, sea turtles are protected in Puerto Vallarta and are often seen on the beaches in town during the egg laying season. Environmental police stand guard until the mother has completed her task and returns to sea.

Extensive fishing has put sea turtles in danger of extinction which is why the Mexican Government has declared a total ban on the exploitation of this resource and undertaken measures aimed at the protection of sea turtles. Among those was the institution of turtle nesting grounds on the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. At those nesting grounds, artificial nests protect the eggs transported there from the places where the turtles laid them on the various beaches. This minimizes the possibility that the eggs will be damaged or destroyed by predators such as man, crabs, dogs and birds, among others.

In Puerto Vallarta, we have several Sea Turtle Eco Tours