Eastern Pacific High Sea

This patch of open Pacific lies west of the Sinaloa and northern Nayarit coast, where the continental shelf drops away into deep water. Fishermen from the coastal villages of the Totorame and their neighbours put out in canoes for fish and turtles, staying within sight of the shore. In the 1530s Spanish ships sailed from the Pacific ports of New Spain to explore the coast and its offshore waters, and their pilots recorded the shifting winds and currents that made the crossing dangerous for small craft.