September 27, 2005

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  me, Tony, Rick, Deanna, Jess, and Greg
  
  
  Hola! I’m back from Puerto Peñasco, México, and have the photo’s to prove it. Paleo peeps, this one’s for you.
  
  
  
  Puerto Peñasco (a.k.a. Rocky Point) is a town in the NE corner of the Sea of Cortez. It has been a boomtown of late because it is the closest ocean (and primary resort town) of the Pheonix/Tuscon area.
  
  
  
  On the way to and from PP, we stopped and saw many National Parks/Monuments/etc., including Cedar Breaks,
  
  
  
  Good ol’ Grand Canyon,
  
  
  
  Wakatpi ruins,
  
  
  
  Sunset crater,
  
  
  
  Montezuma’s Well,
  
  
  
  Montezuma’s castle,
  
  
  
  Organ Pipe Cactus NM,
  
  
  
  Navajo NM,
  
  
  
  Monument Valley,
  
  
  
  Goosenecks of the San Juan,
  
  
  
  Natural Bridges NM,
  
  
  
  and Glen Canyon.
  
  
  
  We stayed at CEDO Intercultural, a non-profit research institution for the study of marine and desert science. CEDO is fighting a losing battle against condo development, since it is only a few hunderd meters from the beach. It was a nice place, and I bought 2 shirts to show my support.
  
  
  
  Whales are bigger in person!
  
  
  
  So, the whole point of this trip was to examine the fauna and do a Hutton job on the modern vs. ancient: With the high (8 m) tidal variation here, you can examine the tidal flat in detail and then compare that to the pleistocene beach rock that is exposed nearby. Here are some crab tracks… front-ways when walking along the beach, side-ways up the beach.
  
  
  
  Here’s a sting ray feeding trace
  
  
  
  Here are many, many gastropods… Cerithium Stercusmiscarm, who’s species name means in Latin: “Speckeled like flys on crap.” No joke.
  
  
  
  Here’s my favorite clam, and no, not only for it’s yonic qualities. It a Hexiplex eurithrostromis, the Pacific “conc”.
  
  
  
  We also had vermiculated gastropods… they’re strange.
  
  
  
  Of course, it wasen’t all clams and snails (but it was a LOT of clams and snails). Here is an ocopus. When we released it, a crab came over and ate it!
  
  
  
  We captured the crab to try to stop the slaughter, but it was too late. RIP
  
  
  
  We found another, bigger one later.
  
  
  
  Here is a fiddler crab.
  
  
  
  Here is a fire worm. But don’t be scared, it’s not made out of fire, it just makes you feel like you are on fire if you touch it.
  
  
  
  We had some great sunsets.
  
  
  
  We were in a classic 12 passenger van, which always got stuck. And after we got back, a USU van just like ours rolled and killed 9 people. I saw the dept. chair today, and she said she’s had enough and she’ll sell the van and only use SUVs on trips.
  
  
  
  Of course, no field trip is complete without outcrop!
  
  
  
  So, who knows their tidal from upper shoreface?
  
  
  
  It was a good trip, despite some othe the people on the trip who were exahusting (yup, that person, you know who) and the 95 °F 80% RH conditions which were more exahusting. We learned a lot, but I’m glad to be home.
  
  
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  • 8:21 pm
  • 11 Comments