Eastern Pacific High Sea

The Eastern Pacific High Sea off the Chala coast lies beside Peru's narrow coastal desert, the western band that rises from sea level to roughly 500 metres. Although the land is largely bare, ocean air produces fog and mist that sustain scattered lomas on hills near the coast. These isolated green patches form one of the region's most distinctive ecosystems and can occur up to about 1,000 metres. They appear on the first western slopes and commonly occupy elevations between 150 and 600 metres.

The contrast between barren slopes and mist-fed vegetation makes the landward edge of these waters a sharply defined ecological zone. Sea lions, anchovy and several kinds of seabirds belong to the coastal fauna, linking the ocean food web with rocky shores and offshore feeding grounds. River valleys interrupt the dry expanse and support trees and shrubs such as carob, palo verde and giant reed, while hill species include the Peruvian daffodil, wild tomato, mito and divi-divi. Northward, equatorial dry forest brings thorny trees closer to the coast. The offshore waters therefore face a landscape shaped by ocean moisture, sparse rain and narrow corridors of plant life.