Wildlife Spotting

These are dead rays with their fins cut off along the beach of Bahía de Los Angeles. The ray fins were probably taken for food. Fishing is an important part of life for people living along the coast of Baja California. But, sharks and rays take years to reach adulthood, and have slow reproductive cycles. Yet, tens of millions of sharks and rays are killed every year, and 25% of all shark and ray species are threatened with extinction.

Sharks and rays are crucial to ocean ecosystems as predators that keep the populations of fish and other organisms in check. The challenge now is finding ways to protect marine life for a healthy ocean, and ways to provide people with food and a living without depleting marine life populations and ecosystems.