Академический Документы
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Trippin on Turtles
Least Tern Time
The Story of Empanada
part one
The Hunt
We want you!
Behind
the
Science
Washed Up
Transforming a trashed
landscape
The Creatures of
Pez Maya
The Razor
Contents
2 You
are the
3 Behind
the
5 Tripping
Difference
Science
on
Turtles
7 Washed up:
Transforming a Trashed Landscape
9 The Hunt
11 Least Tern Time!
12 The Creatures
The Razor
of
Pez Maya,
13 We Want You!
14 The Nitrox Kick
The Newest Specialty Course Avaliable in Pez Maya
15 The Story
of
Empanada,
part
The Pez Maya Magazine is published every 3 months by the GVI Mexico - Pez Maya team.
This is and always will be a free publication. Copyright GVI.2015
1Pez Maya Magazine 2015
Behind
the
Science
By Sam Wilson & Andy Ez
So the second quarter of our year has been and gone, and despite the rainy
seasons best efforts at catching us off guard and stopping us from diving,
we completed four of our monitoring sites, even the fish monitors managed
to complete the same number of sites as us this time!
For this quarter, weve drawn up a few graphs of the coral cover and the
species richness. Now the fact that these graphs mirror each other fairly
well show that the sites with more corals recorded provide a greater range
of species.
On the surface this seems a fairly simple and obvious result, however, with
our current knowledge on the ecology of coral reefs, trends like these can
provide useful base data for future studies to use and reference. Everything
in our school text books has to be proven at one time or another, and this is
the kind of information we can base those on.
Now that we have reached somewhat of a milestone at Pez Maya, having ten years of data, we can finally get a clearer image of how our reef is functioning.
Is it improving? Degrading? Staying the same? Has it disappeared overnight as if abducted by aliens? Well lets find out.
As you can see fom the graphs below the majority of our sites dont show significant trends. Only PL20 is showing a significant increase, and while PL10
showed an equally large amount of coral it has shown less of a tendency to increase over time. We will be looking at other influences on coral growth to
see if there is any correlation between our hard coral cover and other groups of organisms, such as parrot fish and algae. So stay tuned!
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03
PP10
SMDR10
0.02
SMDR20
PY20
0.01
0
At site PP10 the Acanthuridae family (surgeonfish), was most commonly sighted by a considerable margin and for juveniles the Pomacentridae
(damselfish) were the most abundant.
The site SMDR 10 was the one with the most
sightings reaching 108 fish. The Haemulidae family (grunts) for the adult and the Labridae family
(wrasse) for the juveniles stood out from the rest.
In SMDR 20 again the Acanthuridae family was
the most popular while the Scaridae (parrotfish)
was greater for the juveniles.
And last but not least in PY20, again the Acanthuridae family was the most abundant for the adults
and the Labridae for the juveniles.
PP10
0.05
SMDR10
0.04
SMDR20
0.03
PY20
0.02
0.01
0
Pomacentridae
Labridae
Scaridae
Acanthuriade
And now in another note we also have ten years of data for the fish and enough information to make a more complete analysis of our reefs. A small
example we can show you SMDR 10 and 20.
Total SMDR 10
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Total SMDR 20
R = 0.207
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
What we can see in these graphs is that there is a small increase (especially for SMDR10)
in the last 10 years in the amount of fish spotted. This growth is occurring slowly, but the
important thing is that its happening.
We still have more analysis to conduct on these sites, but we hope that in the coming
months we can work with the data to see what our overall reef ecology looks like.
R = 0.0056
Andy
Andy Ez
Trippin
on
Turtles
by Lara Kalisch
Turtles are a frequent sight in Pez Maya. Either from the boat or on a dive, turtles are always a welcome surprise.
Luckily for us in Pez Maya, we have three of the seven turtle species that can be found around the world, these are
Green, Loggerhead and Hawksbill which nearly all are considered Endangered.
y Ez
Only the female returns to land to nest, mostly during the night, and can range from two to nine times during the
nesting season (dependant on species), which is between June and September in Mexico. The female turtle crawls
to a dry part of the beach and begins to fling away loose sand with her flippers. She then constructs a "body pit" by
digging with her flippers and rotating her body. After the body pit is complete, she delecately and expertly digs an
egg cavity using her cupped rear flippers as shovels. The average size of a clutch ranges from about fifty to hundred
and ninety eggs, depending on the species.
The incubation will take about 60 days, although the hotter the sand surrounding the eggs the faster the embryos
will develop. Surprisingly, the temperature of the nest has an influence on whether there will be more females or
males. Cooler nests has a tendency to produce more males, while warmer nests produces a higher ratio of females.
The ''mother turtle'' is never there to help the hatchlings to emerge from the nest, she returns to the sea as soon as
she has finished laying and covering up the nest, they must do it all by themselves. To break open their shells hatchlings use a temporary sharp egg-tooth, called a "caruncle''. Once emerged from their egg they dig out of the nest
as a group, and unfortunately some of them sacrifice themselves so the others climb on top of them to get free - this
process can take several days. The little turtles orient themselves to the brightest horizon, and then dash toward the
sea. Unfortunately there are many hurdles baby turtles have to overcome to reach adult hood, and some start right
out of the nest, for example dehydration and predators like birds and crab.
Once in the water, they typically swim several miles off
shore, where they are relatively safe. One of the most remarkable acts in the animal world is the ability of sea
turtles to migrate for hundreds or even thousands of kilometers from their feeding ground back to their nesting beach where they were born. So we might see our
little turtle babys again one day! Although there might
be some time to wait, as it can between 3 to 50 years to
reach sexual maturity, depending on species.
We have plenty of turtles nesting on our beaches every
year and hope that this will continue. Seeing baby turtles hatching is a one of the most fascinating things I have
ever seen. If you did not have the opportunity to see this
wonderful event yet, I hope that you that you will get the
chance one day!
Washed Up:
Transforming a Trashed Landscape
By Rachel Parry
Alejandro Durn has found trash from over 50 different countries. This
rubbish has been carried to the shores of Sian Kaan from all over the
globe, and must travel over the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef to get here.
The Washed Up project events and the opening of the Museum of Garbage which were designed to create and promote environmental awareness
about rubbish, ultimately trying to encourage a change in the patterns of
consumption and waste we have.
Dawn (2011)
All images are Alejandro Durn 2015. All Rights Reserved
7Pez Maya Magazine 2015
Never has the saying one mans trash is another mans treasure been so rele-
vant than at the Museum of Garbage in the Sian Kaan Reserve. The Museum of
Garbage, or El Museo de la Basura, is part of multimedia artist Alejandro Durns
Washed Up project. Alejandro Durn has been visiting Sian Kaan for over five
years and says that when he first arrived he was surprised and disgusted by the
amount of rubbish that washed up on the shores in this UNESCO World Heritage
site. His project, Washed Up, looks at the issue of plastic pollution making its way
across the ocean and onto the shores of Sian Kaan, Mexicos largest federallyprotected reserve.
In May this year, Alejandro and GVI joined forces to organise events leading up
to the official opening of the Museum of Garbage at the Xo Kiin retreat lodge.
The lodge is right by Punta Allen, the tiny but world-famous fishing town where
GVI provide weekly English lessons at kindergarden, primary and secondary levels.
On the 6th of May, after our regular English classes, our volunteers and staff
members travelled to the Museum of Garbage for the first event: the pre-opening
of the museum for the children of Punta Allen. We then helped to set up various
art exhibitions. Some of us washed blue shoes and arranged them in a beautiful
spiral, some carefully positioned toothbrushes among the mangroves and others
separated washed up rubbish into different categories.
Spill (2010)
When the children came, staff and volunteers showed them around the museum
with Alejandro as a guide. They started at the International Rubbish station where
rubbish from over 50 different countries was displayed along with a map showing
all of the countries of origin, by colour.It was wonderful to see all of the students
engaged and curious as to what piece of rubbish came from which country. The
students spoke about their disappointment that there is so much rubbish in the
ocean, and talked about the messages they would like to send to the world to try
to stop the pollution.
The students explored the museum and learnt a lot about recycling and plastics,
including which plastics are recyclable and which arent. The installations and art
work were displayed amongst the jungle like secret pockets of treasure and the
accessibility of the exhibition made the children feel like explorers and helped to
keep them interested and engaged. After the tour, the children took part in a quick
beach clean. Then, with one last talk from Alejandro, the event came to a close.
On the 11th of May we returned to Punta Allen to pick up two truck-loads of
garbage from the Museum, all carefully sorted into different colours. In Punta
Allen, GVI went to the Primary school and Secondary school and took groups
of students out to the local park where they made posters with the messages they
wanted to send to the world about recycling and ocean pollution. Everybody helped to make a mega art installation on the football field using all the rubbish
GVI brought. The children, students, parents, friends and supporters all positioned
themselves around the art installation in a circle while Alejandro took photos with
his drone camera. The photos were taken from above and showed the community
coming together as one to help spread the message: cuida al planeta or look
after our planet.
Algae (2013)
Shoots (2014)
The Washed Up project was an important opportunity to educate not only the
children and people of Punta Allen and the local community, but also ourselves.
All staff and volunteers who participated are now more educated ambassadors for
the environment, with an increased motivation to change the disposable mindset
created by our excessive consumerism of plastics and other resources.
It has been said that if you want adults to recycle, then all you need to do is teach
their children why it's so important. The work that GVI does with the children at
Punta Allen has always focussed on educating and creating awareness. Our aim is
to improve not just the livelihoods of the children, but subsequently, all creatures
of nature. Our Marine Conservation project at Pez Maya can only be useful if we
are able to educate people on how to improve their interactions with nature and
help to protect and conserve our environment.
Jade Wind (2011)
8Pez Maya Magazine 2015
The
Hunt
By Andy Ez
by Sam Wilson
Its April, the sun is out and there is some light squeaking in the air, but where is it coming from? Then
you see them, seemingly a hundred or more small, flapping birds. Its Least Tern time! Its around this
time of the year that we get a short few months of Least Terns (Sternula antillarum), they only join us from
late May to the end of June to nest on our beach.
Typically these small shorebirds nest at our mangrove mouth estuary, favouring the soft sand and large
profile of the beach there, especially as it is adjacent to a rich feeding ground. Now unfortunately, due to
the changeable nature of our beach, we have failed to find any nests this year, as it appears the conditions
were not favourable this season. This is a shame, as while the Least Tern is listed as Least Concern (hah..
get it?) according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, their populations are in a significant decline.
As the photos show, these birds do not build elaborate nests high in trees, or hide their eggs in the
undergrowth, they simply rely on the speckled pattern of their eggs to camouflage them into
the bare sand.
We Want You!
This quarter on base has seen our first ever Enriched Air (Nitrox) Diver Course for three of our
volunteers and even some of our staff. This has
been a great opportunity for our volunteers to
delve deeper into the world of diving physics and
physiology, as well as to learn some new practical
skills.
All recreational divers learn to dive with compressed air. This is simply the air that we breathe
compressed into a tank 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen. Once you are Advanced Open Water certified you are able to join a course to become certified to dive with enriched air. Enriched air diving
involves diving with a blend of gases that has higher levels of oxygen up to 40%.
During their Open Water Course, all divers learn
that nitrogen is the primary gas concerned with
decompression illness (DCI). The longer and deeper we spend underwater, breathing compressed air, the more nitrogen our body takes on. As
long as we plan our dives with the Recreational
Dive Planner (RDP), or dive with a computer, the
amount of nitrogen in our body should stay within
acceptable limits and our chances of getting DCI
are small. Of course there are always variables
and other factors which mean the risk of DCI will
never be zero.
So, what if you want to dive a wreck thats a bit
deeper and the RDP doesnt give you enough
bottom time to explore the wreckage? Nitrox is
often the answer. By increasing oxygen levels in
the air you are breathing the nitrogen levels are
reduced, meaning you are taking on less nitrogen throughout the dive. This means you can stay
deeper for longer, so long as your air consumption allows you to do so. For example the RDP
gives a maximum bottom time of 24 minutes at
30 meters when diving with air. However, with
nitrox 32% you would have 30 minutes and 36%
would give you 35 minutes.
The course teaches you how to decide which percentage blend is best for the dive you are planning, how to request a tank, how to analyse a tank
to be sure of its contents, and how to plan your
dives. It also teaches you the main safety concerns of with diving with increased oxygen, while
opening up the opportunity to dive at some incredible dive sites around the world.
14Pez Maya Magazine 2015
The Story of
Empanada
first part
By Steffanie Ransom
nce upon a time, and in a Mangrove nearby, there lived a young Lemon
Shark who was ambitious, yet shy.
His name was Empanada, and how he
longed to explore. He swam the whole
Mangrove, though he wished to know
more.
Every way that he went, new friends he
would meet, they waved pincers or fins,
whatever would greet.
They too were born and in the shallows
they grew, and yet they all shared in
questions about the yonder Big Blue.
What was there out there? Were there
others like him? He yearned for the answers, but feared the great swim.
One day he felt brave, and approached
the Wise Crab, he knew many things,
he had a gift of the gab.
Impetuous and eager, questions burst
from his lips, Why are we here? And
whats with those tips?
Oh my young friend, The Wise Crab
replied, There is so much to teach you,
listen up! He cried.
This place is the Mangroves, its the
best place to be, for guppies like you,
and old crabs like me.
Theres an abundance of shade
(abundance means lots) to keep us cooler and safer, despite all the crocs!
Empanada shrunk back, afraid and withdrawn, Im terrified of crocodiles,
especially at dawn.
Oh my young shark friend, youve more
in common than you think. Youre both
top of the food chain, the most dominant link.
So were the most important, right?
Nothing else here can best us. In fact
itd be foolish if a fish tried to test us!
To be Continue...
The Pez
Science
Puzzler
Across
1. Dont wave a red flag at this (shark)
3. Loud, noisy, black bird always around and makes you think of the sound a witch would make (bird)
4. Angelina Jolis lips (coral)
5. Messy drawing or writing and implement to make things less blunt (fish)
6. Beautiful, deadly, but dont belong here. Hear them roar and then shoot (fish)
7. You smell the flowers (coral)
10. It has a huge head (turtle)
14. Dont stick your dick in it (coral)
15. Its green fat gives the name to this (turtle)
16. Oscar, an experienced fisher likes to watch over the volunteers huts (bird)
17. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming (fish)
18. Would live in Paris and the heavens (fish)
19. Clives a knob (coral)
Down
2. Looks like lettuce (coral)
4. Alice is looking after her sheep (coral)
8. Sits on a throne with a gun (fish)
9. Pterodactyl like (bird)
11. Would work in a hospital (shark)
12. Heals people for a living (fish)