Estero de Punta Banda. 02/02/06; Baja California; 2,393 ha; 31°44'N 116°38'W. This wetland preserves a variety of intertidal marshes, mud and sand flats, and seagrass beds that has completely disappeared from the biological corridor stretching from Ensenada to southern California, USA. Apart from the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus), seal (Phoca vitulina) and California sea lion (Zalophus californianus), the fauna includes a rich diversity of benthic invertebrates that support the entire food chain of the estuary. Punta Banda is the breeding, feeding and nursing ground of at least 150 species of fish, many of them of commercial importance. The site has also been used for at least the past 2000 years by the Kumiai indians, hunter-gatherers whose language gave origin to many of the languages now spoken in the area. Since the 1980s the construction of oil exploration and housing infrastructure has affected a considerable portion of the site, and still threatens its integrity. Ramsar site no. 1604. Most recent RIS information: 2006.