Salton Sea

It was just a 30 mile drive to Salton Sea. This 15 mile by 35 mile salty lake, with no outlet so it is getting saltier, is a unique biome. Situated below sea level, this body of water continues to be the focus of a variety of interest groups. Farmers, developers, environmentalists have competing views and the federal and state governments get drawn into the fray. Today, as we neared the water, thousands of dead fish littered the shore. In the 50’s vacationers flocked to this sea, boating, swimming, skiing, fishing and camping. Today, in beautiful low 80’s temps, we saw no boat on the lake, no swimmers, and only one person fishing for tilapia, a fish that can live in high saline water. Most of the 1950ish tourist type buildings/businesses were sitting unoccupied. October through January, the Salton Sea is visited by over 400 species of birds, migrating on the Pacific Flyway.

sniffing at dead fish

On the drive back we stopped at a date farm and sat through a demonstration of date cultivation and harvesting. Down the road a bit, we stopped at a strawberry farm. No demonstration needed. The fresh picked strawberries met the standards of the strawberry snob.

Oregon strawberry girl meets So Cal counterpart