We partnered with other U.S. and Mexican scientists in the Sea of Cortez to conduct research at 12 different sites, spanning a distance of over 500 miles. The team collected and partially processed fungi, soft coral, and sediment samples in an ongoing search for natural products made from marine organisms.

U.S. and Mexican scientists joined forces to conduct a scientific research expedition in the Sea of Cortez off the coast of Mexico aboard the Golden Shadow. The teams went to 12 different research sites, covering a distance of over 500 miles between northern Loreto and southern Cabo San Lucas. Scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, led by Professor William Fenical, collected and partially processed fungi, soft coral, and sediment samples in an ongoing search for natural products from marine organisms. With a unique sediment collector, samples were pulled up from as deep as 400 feet. Joining the Scripps team was a group of Mexican scientists led by Dr. Rosalba Encarnacion Dimayuga of the Universidad Autonoma De Baja California. As part of a cooperative agreement, the Scripps scientists worked closely with the Mexican team to develop methods of collecting and processing marine organisms to discover those that may be key to treating human diseases.