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Another Amazing Natural History of Baja Class
This year’s Natural History of Baja class was a record-setter: the most applicants ever (54, for only 20 slots in the class). As usual, the class learned more than 100 local species of plants, fish, birds, invertebrates, and other fauna, dubbed Amigos, before traveling to Mexico for the 10-day wilderness trip. They observed 95 of their Amigos, plus about 30 other species, as they hiked, snorkeled, and kayaked around the Baja Peninsula and the Sea of Cortez.
Highlights of the class this year were a (first-time ever) pre-trip camping weekend in Bodega Bay followed by the traditional trip to the Cal Academy of Sciences; hands-on participation in a coral restoration effort with a Mexican NGO, Efecto Arena; incredible displays of mobula rays jumping out of the sea as the kayaks passed; and a last-night poetry slam that pitted conventional forms against some wild freestyle. The Baja course will run again in 2028—sophomores and first-years, keep an eye out for the application announcement in Fall 2027.
A new activity this year was participating in coral restoration. Here, Baja students plant out live coral fragments into a frame that will be used to start a restored reef:
Student Emma Johansen explains the anatomy of a green swimming crab she caught in the mangrove swamp:
Baja students pause for a photo beneath a giant cardón during a hike on Isla Espíritu Santo.