The coastline of Baja California from space

Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory captures part of the coastline of Baja California, Mexico.

The fishing industry is very important to the economy in this region, and is particularly centered around Pacific Bluefin tuna.

According to NASA, the environmental conditions that make this region productive for fishing are also optimal for the reproductive success of Pacific gray whales as they migrate south from their feeding grounds.

In recent years, the lagoon and the bay coastline have been affected by erosion due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. 

The photograph was taken on April 27,2019 by an astronaut on the International Space Station.

Baja California[note 1] (Spanish pronunciation: (listen); English: “Lower California”), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of Baja California (El Territorio Norte de Baja California). It has an area of 70,113 km2 (27,071 sq mi), or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico and comprises the northern half of the Baja California Peninsula, north of the 28th parallel, plus oceanic Guadalupe Island. The mainland portion of the state is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by Sonora, the U.S. state of Arizona, and the Gulf of California (also known as the “Sea of Cortez”), and on the south by Baja California Sur. Its northern limit is the U.S. state of California.

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory