Mexiconservacion Blog http://mexiconservacion.org/blog/ Find out what we have been up to at Mexiconservacion ! en Copyright 2006 Sat, 25 Nov 2006 12:11:58 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2ysb5-20051201 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss The Green Guide for Tourists In November, we put the finishing touches to our bi-lingual environmental guide  for tourists and the tourism industry. It is called The Green Guide to Sustainable Recreation in the Mexican Caribbean and includes environmentally friendly recommendations for visitors to the region. We hope to place this beautifully illustrated manual in most hotels, condomimiums and villas in the area.

 

For a sneak preview of the Green Guide, go to: http://www.mexiconservacion.org/Green%20Guide%20A.pdf

]]> http://mexiconservacion.org/blog/2006/11/post_2.html http://mexiconservacion.org/blog/2006/11/post_2.html Environmental Education Sat, 25 Nov 2006 12:11:58 -0600 Launching of the Mexiconservacion Store White shirtTurtle Calendar

In October, we launched our eShop via Cafe Press. Our first few products include T-shirts, mouse pads and our highly awaited 2007 calendars.  Be prepared for many more products in the next few weeks. Visit our store at: http://www.cafepress.com/Mexiconserva 

]]> http://mexiconservacion.org/blog/2006/11/launching_of_the_mexiconservac.html http://mexiconservacion.org/blog/2006/11/launching_of_the_mexiconservac.html Products Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:28:56 -0600 Mexican Caribbean Screensavers In September, we unveiled a series of beautiful nature screensavers to support conservation efforts in the region. The themes of the screensavers are: Sea Turtles; Underwater; Beaches, Lagoons, Cenotes; and Full Riviera Maya. They are available to download from the Mexiconservacion website at  www.mexiconservacion.org/screensaver.htm

Beach, Lagoons and Cenotes

Riviera Maya Screensaver

Turtle
]]> http://mexiconservacion.org/blog/2006/10/screensavers.html http://mexiconservacion.org/blog/2006/10/screensavers.html Products Mon, 30 Oct 2006 18:36:10 -0600 Thank you Akumal Dive Shop!

THANK YOU to all the Akumal Dive Shop staff for their great patience in dealing with us throughout all our monitoring activities. We know we are difficult! Very special thanks go to Pablo for all his unconditional support and good humor; Condor for being so reliable and straightforward; and to Chino, our trusted boat captain on most of our initiatives, for his enthusiasm and professionalism.

]]> http://mexiconservacion.org/blog/2006/10/thank_you_akumal_dive_shop.html http://mexiconservacion.org/blog/2006/10/thank_you_akumal_dive_shop.html Mon, 02 Oct 2006 14:33:28 -0600 Juvenile fish counts in Akumal

At the end of June, Mexiconservación completed Akumal’s juvenile fish counts for 2006. The area’s population of juvenile fish is estimated 3 times a year within the first 7 days following the new moon phases of the summer months. 

Why do we survey juvenile fish populations? 

These counts are important in order to ascertain how many juvenile fish will repopulate a given area and to ensure that their numbers are not dwindling.  The surveys also allow us to determine their favorite nursery grounds which may then be proposed for protection. 

What did we find?

Our survey sites in Akumal are Las Redes and Lobster Condominiums, as these were sites used for monitoring juvenile fish in the past. At both sites, the overwhelming majority of juvenile fish counted were from the damselfish and wrasse families. We have noted however, that there are large quantities of juvenile parrotfish, surgeonfish and butterflyfish in Akumal’s bays. Next summer, we hope to survey the bay areas in order to assess whether these fish families prefer to spend their formative years in the seagrass areas of the bays. 


 


 

 

 

A big thank you to Rocio Cue and Scott Brown for helping us with these surveys

]]> http://mexiconservacion.org/blog/2006/09/post_1.html http://mexiconservacion.org/blog/2006/09/post_1.html Juvenile Fish Monitoring Sat, 30 Sep 2006 19:05:18 -0600 Monitoring reef health in Xcalak Marine Park  

 

Last August, at the invitation of the Comisión Nacional de Areas Naturales Protegidas (CONANP), Heidi Hermsmeyer and Lucy Gallagher made their way down the coast to Xcalak to provide support with the coral reef monitoring efforts in the Marine Park. They stayed at the Xcalak Marine Park’s field station along with field scientists from CONANP, the MBRS project and Oceanus. Over 4 days, this eclectic monitoring team conducted coral and fish surveys as part of a regional monitoring program coordinated by the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System project (MBRS). We are grateful to CONANP for allowing us to participate in this worthwhile initiative!

        
                 
             

             

 

             

 

             

 

                                     ]]> http://mexiconservacion.org/blog/2006/09/post.html http://mexiconservacion.org/blog/2006/09/post.html MBRS monitoring Sat, 30 Sep 2006 18:34:59 -0600 Bye bye Heidi! Mexiconservación would like to extend a big Thank You to Heidi Hermsmeyer for all her hard work over the last couple of months. Heidi took on the daunting task of organising our data entry and analysis , and provided great technical support in our coral reef monitoring efforts.  We wish her all the best as she returns to UC San Diego to complete her Masters degree.
]]> http://mexiconservacion.org/blog/2006/09/thank_you_heidi.html http://mexiconservacion.org/blog/2006/09/thank_you_heidi.html Volunteers Fri, 29 Sep 2006 20:32:41 -0600 How are Akumal’s baby lobsters doing? In September, we completed the fourth month of juvenile lobster surveys in Akumal. On average, we found about 30 juvenile lobsters living in the collectors at each one of our sites in Akumal Bay and Akumal Sur. June was a particularly good month when we counted 70 baby lobsters in the Akumal Bay collectors and 51 lobsters in the Akumal Sur collectors. In July, August and September, the numbers leveled out to an average of about 20 lobsters for Akumal Bay and 30 for Akumal Sur.

 

How do we record information on juvenile lobsters?

Every month, one week after new moon, Mexiconservación staff and volunteers head out to the collectors in Akumal Dive Shop's most environmentally friendly boat (flat hull and 4 stroke retractable engines!).

We hoist the collectors onto the boat and turn them upside down to let the filters open up. We collect all the lobsters in a bowl and count them. We then reattach the collectors in their original position and place all the lobsters back on top of the collector, where they stay until they are large enough to just let themselves fall down to the sea bottom and begin their lives as adults !

What is a collector?

 

The collectors consist of a rectangular framework of PVC pipe, with six cross supports from which 6 sheets of "hogs-hair" air conditioner filter material hang. The hog-hair filters successfully mimic the structure and consistency of the macro-algae Laurencia, which is the preferred natural settlement habitat. The collectors are moored in 1-3 m of water, with the frame floating at the surface, and the hogs-hair hanging vertically down. This design presents the maximum possible surface area to attract post-larval lobsters.

 

]]> http://mexiconservacion.org/blog/2006/09/how_are_akumals_baby_lobsters.html http://mexiconservacion.org/blog/2006/09/how_are_akumals_baby_lobsters.html Juvenile Lobster Project Thu, 28 Sep 2006 14:48:05 -0600