Cabo Pulmo, John Steinbeck, and the village that wouldn't give up

In 1940, John Steinbeck, his wife Carol, marine biologist Ed Ricketts, and the crew of the Western Flyer visited El Pulmo reef on Baja California’s eastern coast. Their six-week collecting expedition documented more than 500 species. Steinbeck described a reef alive with tiny crabs, worms, and snails, with vivid colors and intricate life packed into each piece of coral. Those observations establish how rich Cabo Pulmo’s marine ecosystem once was - and set up the contrast with what happened after decades of fishing depleted it.

The account centers on the village’s decision to give the sea a chance to recover. Rather than accept the reef’s decline as inevitable, local residents stopped fishing and protected the waters, creating the conditions for marine life to return. The stated result is striking: within a decade, the sea had recovered. Cabo Pulmo’s experience presents community-led conservation as a practical response to ecological loss, showing how collective restraint can restore a damaged reef. The story links Steinbeck’s early record of abundance with the village’s later determination to bring that abundance back.