The Magdalena Transition is a
marine ecoregion in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It includes the coastal waters along the southwestern
Baja California Peninsula, extending from
Punta Abreojos in the north to
Cabo San Lucas
Cabo San Lucas (, " Saint Luke Cape"), or simply just Cabo, is a resort city at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula, in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. As at the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 202,694 inhabit ...
at the peninsula's southern tip.
The ecoregion includes
San Ignacio Lagoon
San Ignacio Lagoon (Laguna San Ignacio) is a lagoon located in Mulegé Municipality of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, 59 kilometers (37 mi) from San Ignacio, Mexico, and Highway 1. It is one of the winter sanctuaries of the eastern Pa ...
and
Magdalena Bay. These lagoons include some of the
northernmost mangroves on the Pacific Coast of North America.
Gray whale
The gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), also known as the grey whale,Britannica Micro.: v. IV, p. 693. gray back whale, Pacific gray whale, Korean gray whale, or California gray whale, is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and bre ...
s (''Eschrichtius robustus'') migrate annually along the Pacific Coast to mate in these lagoons.
The ecoregion is a transition between two marine realms, the
Temperate Northern Pacific and the
Tropical Eastern Pacific. Marine Ecoregions of the World includes the entire Magdalena Transition ecoregion in the Temperate Northern Pacific, but others, including John C. Briggs, conclude that the Tropical Eastern Pacific extends to the vicinity of Magdalena Bay.
[Robertson, D. Ross, and Katie L. Cramer (2009). "Shore fishes and biogeographic subdivisions of the Tropical Eastern Pacific". ''Marine Ecology Progress Series'', Vol. 380: 1-17, 2009 doi: 10.3354/meps07925, Published April 7 2009.]
References
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Ecoregions of Mexico
Marine ecoregions
Temperate Northern Pacific
Tropical Eastern Pacific