Few places are better to spot and study whales than Baja. The animal is so synonymous with the region, Alta Journal put one on the cover of our Baja Issue. But whales, specifically gray whales, are much more than just a tourist attraction. Steven L. Swartz, cofounder and co-director of Baja’s Laguna San Ignacio Ecosystem Science Program, sits down with Alta Live to detail the importance of Baja’s whale breeding lagoons, explain the impacts of tourism and climate change on these massive creatures, and detail the conservation efforts underway to protect the region’s ecosystem, both in and out of the water. Dive into this very special Alta Live!
About the guest:
Steven L. Swartz is a graduate of UC Santa Cruz where he was awarded his PhD under Dr. Kenneth S. Norris. Swartz has researched and published widely on gray whales and their breeding lagoons in Baja California. From 1977 to 1982, Swartz and Mary Lou Jones conducted the first systematic research of gray whales in Laguna San Ignacio in Baja California Sur, Mexico. In 2006, along with Jorge Urban R., they founded the Laguna San Ignacio Ecosystem Science Program to support and encourage science-based research and monitoring of gray whales and their breeding/aggregation lagoon areas in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Swartz served as a consultant to the Mexican government’s Ministry for the Environment, Natural Resources, and Fisheries and worked for the Ocean Conservancy (previously the Center for Environmental Education), the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the International Whaling Commission. Swartz retired from federal service in 2011 and now works as a consultant and senior scientist for nongovernment environmental and marine conservation organizations.•
