Pta Gruesa 092 - Chatty Report

Punta Gruesa

A few intrepid EMs and staff went exploring! Cenote La Normal is attached to Lake

092

Bacalar

(a

freshwater

lake)

and

approximately 100m in diameter.

is We

The second phase of 2009 at Punta Gruesa

explored this new sinkhole, having to walk

saw many accomplishments. A big thank

down a dirt trail and kit up on a barren

you is due to all Expedition Members (EMs)

slope to go into the water. This trip was

and staff who have worked hard to make

preceded by a visit to the Mayan ruins of

the project a huge success. Despite having

Chacchoben. These ruins are set into the

a decrease in numbers because of the

jungle and are a beautiful representation of

Human Influenza type A, everyone stayed

some of the temples from the neoclassic

healthy, pulled together and continued to

period.

collect the data to reach our project goals.

and many birds, including parrots and one

Punta Gruesa also entered in a new environmental era by having solar and wind

The jungle was alive with wildlife

toucan that was spotted on the treetops.

Marine Life

power, lessening carbon emissions

and noise levels without

This phase has been successful in recording

the

generator

sightings of many species for the first time in

and enabling us to

Punta Gruesa! Divers were lucky to see a

have electricity 24/7.

Caribbean reef shark as it lay sleeping

This is a great benefit

under an overhang, which caused many

fuel

to both the base and to

the

excited squeals underwater. There have

surrounding environment. PG will soon be

also been sightings of nurse sharks at 2 of

able to run on natural energy alone.

our dive sites. Last phase a new spur and

This

phase

started with the usual stint of bad weather,

but

gave

the

oppotunity to explore cenotes in the local area. With information from reliable sources (our neighbors, the fishermen) we landed on a cenote in the nearby town of Bacalar.

groove site was discovered, which was christened Los Gorditos (the Fatties) after the school of Chub that reside there. Among the new faces identified were Cherubfish,

Black

and

Shy

Hamlets,

Peppermint Basslets and Longsnout Butterfly fish, to the delight of the fish geeks on base! This new deeper site has opened up the species diversity present along this part of the barrier reef.

Dolphins were encountered again right in

place 3 times, and on 2 of those ocassions,

front of base. A dive was heading out and

GVI staff has actively participated in the

didn’t quite make it to the dive site as the

rowing ritual. The historical origins of this event can be traced to the Mayans that lived

in

Playa,

and

traded

with

the

inhabitants of Cozumel. Rowers would take merchandise and other items across the channel on strong wooden canoes to venerate Ixchel, the goddess of fertility and

Barred Hamlet (left) and Peppermint Basslet (right), seen at the site LG.

beauty. It is reproduced as accurately possible in 3 days of festivities for the guests and

endurance

for

the

rowers.

The

weekend started with a traditional blessing of all of the rowers by the Mayan god dolphins made their presence known.

Ixchel. This was held at the Xcaret, where

A number of EMs were able to snorkel with a mixed pod of Bottlenose and Atlantic Spotted dolphins. Attracted by the sound of the boat’s engine, the dolphins were extremely curious, approaching closely and remaining with the snorkelers for over ten minutes. This year is the first time we have seen the Atlantic Spotted dolphins, and like their

bottlenose

cousins

they

everyone had the opportunity to visit the park and witness this traditional event. The row from Playa to Cozumel is undertaken in the canoes and involves several hours under the hot sun and in the high seas. The rowers were successful as they completed the crossing to and from Cozumel over two days.

were

Expanding our network and enhancing our

extremely playful, surfing the waves and

links with our partners, we welcome Baruch

leaping out of the water. Hopefully there

Figueroa from Amigos de Sian Ka’an (ASK).

will be encounters like this in the upcoming

Baruch will be working closely with GVI

weeks.

Mexico to aid staff with the training of EMs

Heeding the invitation of Country Director, Danny Ponce-Taylor, PG took the journey up to Playa del Carmen to witness The Sacred Mayan crossing or

“La Travesia

Sagrada Maya”, an event which has taken

and share his marine science expertise. Baruch was initially a volunteer on the GVI expedition in Mahahual under the National Scholarship Programme and moved on to become a permanent staff member. Since then, he has been working with ASK in the

marine

research

aspects

of

the

organization.

school were enthralled by our puppet show

Everyone can feel safer in the water knowing that many EMs completed their PADI Advanced Open Water, Rescue and Divemaster courses this phase. In addition, our

first

Emergency

activities. The kids from the local primary

First

Responder

Instructor group was trained in Punta Gruesa. We wish them all the best in their future of first aid teaching and we are sure they will enjoy passing on the knowledge they have gained to their students.

Our

best wishes also go out to our three dive trainees. For the first time this phase, three EMs joined GVI Punta Gruesa as part of the Divemaster Traineeship program. Having successfully completed their ten weeks on base and built up their knowledge of marine fish and corals, they are now off to undertake their divemaster course with XTC divers in Xcalak where it is assured they will gain valuable experience in working within the dive industry.

performance featuring the tale of Polipo the coral polyp who has an argument with his algae which ends up leaving because it is hot and stressed. Poilpo is eventually reunited with his algae thanks to the help of a number of marine animals he meets on his

long

journey

through

the

ocean

including the very wise black durgon. The show was a huge success and the kids enjoyed it immensely. Furthermore, they took

away

an

important

conservation

message regarding caring for coral reef ecosystems. Following the puppet show the children were taken to the beach for a series of environmentally themed games, including a recycling sack race and a ‘rubbish’ sponge throwing game. For the older crowd, the bubblemaker experience was repeated., but not without the help and support of the dive shop Dreamtime, who lent ponnies and tanks, and the Matan Ka’an hotel, which werekind enough to let us use their pool. And for the not so

On 22nd April “Earth day” was once again celebrated in Mahahual. This worldwide event designed to promote the protection and conservation of the Earth saw the light one more time, and GVI Punta Gruesa went into the local town of Mahahual to involve the community in a variety of

youngsters, an discover local scuba dive was organized by our instructors and divemasters, urging them to not only gewt into diving, but get into conservation of the habitat that is closest to them. A seed was sure planted in their minds.

except for the compressor hut.

The staff

and EMs soon got to work on building a new

and

more

compressor

sturdy

which

is

home

for

now

the

nearing

completion.

Beach Clean EMs & GVI staff recreate a coral reef scene with local children to celebrate Earth Day

We also had a stand on the beachfront of Mahahual

to

inform

people

of

Litter washed up on the shoreline (including a television) just north of base.

the

conservation work we are conducting and the issues that marine life face. tourists

and

locals

visited

and

Many were

Marine litter is a substantial problem along

receptive to the information given, and the

the Caribbean coast and in light of this, PG

stickers they took away! The day ended

started a beach clean monitoring program

with a friendly football match between PG

this phase. A 200m stretch of beach to the

and the Mahahualians.

PG managed to

north of base was cleared one Friday

hold their heads high as they scraped a

morning. The collected litter was separated

victory with a winning golden goal.

into

different

categories

before

being

weighed. Each subsequent Friday we have been back to remove and weigh trash from Back on base and half way through the

the same stretch of base and update the

phase we experienced our first tropical

results

storm of the year. It came out of nowhere,

common type of litter washed up is plastic.

lasting only a couple of hours but brought

A non-biodegradable material, plastic is

with it strong winds and heavy rain. In the

responsible for the deaths of over 100,000

morning we awoke to blue sky and calm

turtles and marine birds each year. The

waters with no human or material losses,

amount and variety of litter that washes up

into

our

database.

The

most

on shore each week is quite amazing! So far we have found children’s toys, enough shoes to open our own shop (if only we could find a pair!), and even a television! We will continue to monitor the beach and gather data over the coming phases.

Bird Monitoring Phase 092 witnessed the start of the Punta Gruesa bird monitoring program. Each morning we have been recording data along one of the four transects near to base. The Yucatan is extremely rich in bird life with a number of endemic species found in the area. In addition to a number of sea birds including pelicans and frigates, we have observed different species of woodpecker, hawks, vultures and even an osprey! Towards the end of phase two members of the GVI staff team attended a bird monitoring workshop to learn more about local bird species. With our newly acquired expertise we hope to expand the bird monitoring program for next phase.

A vulture perches on a tree branch in front of base.

All in all it has been a fantastic phase once again with many exiting new discoveries. As summer approaches with much planned for the coming weeks, we can’t wait for the next phase to begin.