Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California, Mexico

Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California, Mexico: The Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California site in Mexico was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2005. The site is important for its diversity of oceanographic processes, including wind- and current-driven upwelling, tidal mixing, and hydrothermal vents - all of which contribute to its extraordinary biological diversity. There are 890 fish species (90 of which occur nowhere else), 34 kinds of whales and dolphins, 25 species of coral, over 4,800 invertebrates, the poisonous yellow-bellied sea snake, and 90% of the world’s Heermann's gulls.