by Maria Kretzmann, Biology Division

This past winter session, my Biology 146 class had the privilege of making the inaugural trip to GCC’s new field station in Baja California.   I was fortunate to have Greg Meyer of CSU Monterey Bay, with over 20 years of teaching experience in Baja, along to help out with the course.  We had a diverse and interesting group of students this year, including one of my GCC biology faculty colleagues and our biology lab technician, a highly motivated high school student, a retired couple with extensive travel experience, and a photography student who had never been out of the US before.  Four members of the group were enthusiastic returning GCC Baja Program veterans, having already made at least one trip with another class.  One student from northern California found our program on the web and managed to join us within two days at GCC for the start of the class.  Other students brought unique talents to the group, from singers and musicians to artists and skilled birders.  Every member of the group fully embraced the group living and learning experience. 

     The beautiful new GCC field station is located about a mile and a half north of the small fishing village of Bahía de los Angeles on the shores of the Sea of Cortès, just opposite the Midriff Islands.  This region is known as the Galapagos of México because of the amazing diversity of life in the area.  

     In my five years of teaching a Marine Mammal Biology class at Long Island University in New York, I could only dream of providing my students the kind of field experience we got every day in Bahía.  Just off the beach at our new facility are rocky tide pools filled with an incredible variety of invertebrate life.   Each day that we were out in boats on the bay, we encountered huge groups of common dolphins engaged in feeding frenzies, visible from a distance due to the large numbers of diving pelicans, cormorants, blue-footed boobies and other birds taking advantage of the concentrated prey provided by dolphin hunting activity.   We were fortunate enough one day to find a pair of enormous fin whales and observe them diving and surfacing synchronously for over an hour.  Another day, those students who were not deterred by the cold water temperatures had the chance to snorkel with a colony of California sea lions.

     The town of Bahía de los Angeles has played host to Glendale College students for over 35 years, under the Baja California Field Studies Program that until this year has utilized a rental property in town.  The program has been wisely shepherded by Dr. José Mercadé until his retirement from the college this year.  Fortunately, José remains as station manager and was there to welcome us and ensure the smooth operation of all activities at the field station.  In addition, our wonderful long-time cook Alejandrina continues to provide delicious meals three times a day at the station, although she recently opened her own popular restaurant in town.   The new station has several advantages over the old rental property.   Being slightly removed from town, there are fewer distractions from the academic work that remains the hallmark of our program.   The setting is pristine, with spectacular sunrises, sunsets and starry night skies, in a unique desert habitat with many endemic species (found nowhere else in the world).  The new facility is much larger, and could potentially accommodate two classes simultaneously.  It is composed of several buildings (all wheelchair accessible), including a large garage to house station boats and vehicles, a bathroom block with showers and toilets, a kitchen and living area building, an academic classroom building, staff quarters with offices for faculty and the station manager, and a large student dormitory building with shelves for storage of personal belongings.  The comfortable sleeping cots are usually taken out onto the beach for sleeping under the stars, weather permitting (even in winter, many students chose this option). 

     I hope that more of my GCC colleagues will consider designing courses to be taught at this beautiful new field station, and that more of our students will consider participating in one of these unforgettable academic adventures.  Starting this summer, the station will have 24-hour electricity (which only became available in town last year) and satellite Internet service.  Dr. Javier Gago is offering his popular Marine Biology courses during the first summer session (June 22-July 16), and Guy Van Cleave of Columbia College will teach field courses that include both marine and desert ecosystems (July 27-August 12).  In addition, we will be soliciting proposals from faculty at other institutions who would like to offer courses at this wonderful satellite campus of Glendale College.   To view more photos from the winter class, please visit picasaweb.google.com/ gccmarinemammals, or check out our temporary website at seco.glendale.edu/~baja.  For more information, contact the Baja office at baja@glendale.edu (x3159) or Javier Gago or Maria Kretzmann (co-directors of the Program) at fgago@glendale.edu (x5369) or mkretzma@glendale.edu (x5363). &

Photos: Keith Conover

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