Pez Maya Magazine Vol 1

magazine

saving the world one

straw at a time

Behind the scienceQuarter 151 data analysis

tour de Tulum 2 sliding in for the win

All you need to know about

Coral Watch

Turtles, Rays and Dolphins

awesome incidental

sightings at Pez Maya

Life as a PADI Pro

LionfishIf you can't beat 'em eat 'em

Birds of the Sian ka'an reserve

Contents A Pez Maya and EZWA

Publicacion

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Twitter:GVI Mexico

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Publisher

Andy Ezeta

Editor Jill Wheeler Andy Ezeta

Sam Wilson

Contibutors Sam Wilson

Kerry Passingham Eugene Beery

Lara Kalisch Friso Dekker

Rachel ParryJodie Savage

Photography Editor Andy Ezeta

Pez Maya Magazine First Quarter 2015 Vol 1 Issue 1

2 You are the Difference

3 BehinD the Science

6 LionfiSh, if You cant Beat em eat em!

7 coraL Watch

8 turtLeS, raYS anD DoLphinS aWeSome inciDentaL SightingS at pez maYa

9 Saving the WorLD one StraW at a time

10 BirDS of the Sian Kaan reServe

11 tour De tuLum 2SLiDing in for the Win

13 Life aS a paDi pro

14 the pez puzzLer

Cover photo by Andy Ez:Jill having fun in her last Pez Maya dive.

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.

1Pez Maya Magazine 2015

Contents


Global Vision International (GVI) is a multi-award win-ning social enterprise that runs high impact volunteer and in-ternational education programs.

For more than 15 years GVI has helped thousands of people make a real difference to the world they live in while also gaining the knowled-ge and skills necessary to live and work in a globally interdepen-dent and culturally diverse world.

We began more than 15 years ago with a simple mission: To work hand in hand with local communi-ties, NGOs and government orga-nisations to facilitate real change on the ground while also giving our participants the opportunity to grow personally and professionally.

Its an undertaking weve been proud to pursue in over 25 countries, through 450 programs and by the support of over 25,000 participants.

Steve Gwenin

you are the difference


Coral reefs are some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on earth. They provi-de protection and shelter for many different species of fish, they protect coasts from strong currents and waves and they supply economic and environmental services to many people. They are really important but also very sensi-tive to their surroundings. Storms, rise in sea temperature, diseases and human disturban-ce can quickly alter their equilibrium, causing a lot of damage. This is why its so important that we collect data. We need to do studies to generate information that can be used to design management plans to protect them.

GVI is an organisation that helps under-take these studies for the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef Systems (MBRS). The MBRS covers approximately 1,000 km of ma-rine ecosystems within Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, making it the largest barrier reef in the Western Hemis-phere. It has been considered one of the greatest biodiversity points in the Caribbean.

To gather the important data we use the Synoptic Monitoring Program (SMP). The SMP was develo-ped to standardize the study of coral reefs between the four countries. The data we collect whilst moni-toring leads us to a better understanding of our reefs. This is why its so important that we train our volun-teers to the highest possible monitoring standards, and I have to say I think we do an awesome job!

Depending if you are coral or fish we have different methodologies to follow. For fish, two divers (one monitoring adults and the other juveniles) swim along a 30 m line counting the number and estima-ting the size of key fish species. For coral, two di-vers (one conducting point intersept, the other mo-nitoring coral communities), swim together down a 30 meter transect recording the state of every co-ral colony as well as the presence of sessile groups.

By Andy Ezeta and Friso DekkerBehind the Science


For this quarter the fish team managed to finish three si-tes: Paso Juana 5 (PJ05), Paso Juana 10 (PJ10) and Paso Lagrimas 20 (PL20), the results were very si-milar for all the transects.

Across these three tran-sects we observed that the Acanthuridae family (sur-geon fish) for adult and the Labridae family (wras-se) for juveniles were the most abundant. The pre-sence of these two fami-lies has increased in recent years in several of our si-tes, and they are genera-lly found to be the most abundant species each year.

Across all these sites, we were looking at the abun-dance and size of our key species. But, why do we want to know the abun-dance and the size of fish? Well, this data can help us to calculate the biomass (the estimated quantity or weight of organisms within an area) which can help us understand the changes in the community dynamics and lead us to identify the human impacts in the area.

By Andy Ezeta and Friso Dekker

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PL20

PJ10

PJ05

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PL20

PJ10

PJ05

One of our last quarter volunteers, Joh, monitoring PP10 for adult target species.

In these two graphs we can appriciate the abundance of the Acanthuridae family for adults (top graph) and the labridae family for juvies (bottom graph).

In the case of the corals we managed to co-llect sufficient data from four monitoring loca-tions. Two of these locations were at Paso Juana and the two others at Paso Lagrimas. These sites lie about 3 and 5 km north of our base respecti-vely and the sites varied in depth from 5 to 20 m.The coral diversity ranged from 9 to 17 diffe-rent coral species. The corals observed most were Siderastrea siderea and Porites astreoides. Young colonies of S. siderea are usually en-crusting but they grow out to boulders or do-mes of over 2 m across. This species is parti-cularly slow growing but has a high tolerance to disturbances, such as sedimentation of sand and a high recovery rate from bleaching.

P. astreoides is the only species of this family that doesnt grow in a finger-like form, but ins-tead has growth forms ranging from boulde-ring to plating, depending on the depth and light conditions it is found in. The colonies have a growth rate of about 3.5 mm per year and ty-pically reach a maximum diameter of 60 cm. A maximum of 99 coral colonies were obser-ved in 150 m of transect line, thats about 0.66 coral colonies per meter, not accounting for the size. As shown by the graphs, coral colo-nies per meter are steadily increasing at PL20 since 2010, and a slight positive trend in coral abundance can be seen at sites PL10 and PJ10.

This is a look at coral cover for a few sites since we began in 2004



The flash of bright rusty-red, bold black and creamy white stripes gets most di-vers excited and quickly signalling to their buddies to look. In the Pacific Ocean we marvel at the beauty and grace of this or-nately flamboyant creature, and watch as it swirls, twirls and floats, demonstrating to all divers what good buoyancy really looks like. Due to their specialised swim bladder muscles, Lionfish are able to shift their center of gravity, allowing them to skilfu-lly control their movements in the water column and hover upside down. Their ele-gant fins, which they use like the red flag of a bullfighter, expertly draw out and herd in their prey. They hide a secret weapon, the perfect defense system against any poten-tial predators whom quickly realise that the Lionfishs beauty is really only surface deep. The zebra-like stripes are, in fact, there to warn off predators and showcase the 18 venomous spines which are artfully enclosed in spotted and lined sheaths and, hidden in their impressive fan-like fins. In the Pacific Ocean we can appreciate their dainty dangerous danceIn the Pacific they are a not an invasive species. In the Atlantic Ocean, its different. Their superficial beauty, their unique buoyancy control, and their powers of self-protec-tion are not something to be marveled at, instead, in this ocean, they become weapons of mass destruction. Here, in the Atlantic Ocean, they are an invasive spe-cies, a pest, and a serious threat to our reef health and biodiversity. The Atlantic inva-sion was started by two of the nine spe-cies of Lionfish in the 1980s. It is believed to have been started via the US aquarium trade, when aquarium owners, dissatisfied with the Lionfishs tendency to eat the rest of their aquarium acquisitions, discarded their imported prizes along with their in-satiable appetites into the ocean, off the coast of Florida.

And so began the invasion, with a slow meandering pace, building up to a roar, and we now see the presence of Lionfish established in most of the Caribbean. The-se voracious predators have several qua-lities which allow them to be an invasive species; their venomous spines and foreign origins mean they have no natural preda-tors in the Atlantic, they become sexually mature in under a year, they multiply a lot (a single female spawning more than 2 million eggs per year and able to reprodu-ce every four days), they can live almost anywhere and adapt to almost any coastal habitat and they eat indiscriminately, with at least 70 different fish species and many different invertebrates known to be regu-lar Lionfish food.

With our beautiful coral reefs already su-ffering the effects of overfishing, coastal development, climate change, land and sea pollution and disease, the last thing the reefs here need is another threat. Lionfish are out-competing other native predators as well as reducing the population of the many native species they prey on.

At Pez Maya, we try to do our bit towards population control and eradication efforts. We record all Lionfish sightings to give us a good indicator of what the local popula-tions are doing and also to help us choose where to go when we have the opportunity to take the spears out. In the near future we hope to get our abundance monitoring programme up and running along with ensuring that every Lionfish killed recei-ves a full necropsy. We are in the process of training all staff on the finer details of a necropsy, like identifying the stages of di-gestion of prey found in the stomachs.

We have developed and are implementing our training programme to get volunteers to help us with the eradication efforts, by learning more about how to safely find, cull and dissect these ferocious fish. Not only is it good for the reef to cull the Lion-fish, but its good for us too as we make good use of our catch. We can use the fins to make earrings, we fillet the meat for din-ner, and can whip up a mouth-watering, deliciously, decadent ceviche for dinner. If you cant beat em, eat em!

lionfish if you cant beat em, eat em

by rachel parry

Recent publications by Morris et al. 2011 and Barbour et al. 2011 indicate that large numbers of lionfish (27% of the adult population per month in the Morris model and between 1565% each year in the Barbour model) would need to be removed regularly to elicit a decrease in the overall population. Large-scale removal efforts with this goal are simply not feasible with cu-rrent technology, but recent efforts in the Bahamas, Mexico, Cayman Islands, and the Florida Keys indicate that locally directed

control at specific sites can be successful in keeping lionfish densities low in removal locations. (Morris, J.A., Jr. (Ed.), 2012,p.25)

inhhh quarter 151 they saw a total of 132 lionfish. the smallest being 4 cm and the largest 35 cm with an average:

of 18.63cm

CoralWatch is an Australian re-search project for the monitoring of coral health, based on obser-vations on coral bleaching. Coral bleaching occurs when the coral expel their symbiotic algae. This inhibits their capability of pho-tosynthesis and causes the coral tissue to turn pale or completely white. This process cuts off their main supply of carbon, killing the affected corals in a few wee-ks. This key indicator of coral reef degradation usually occurs after periods of elevated temperature stress, nutrification or pollution by indirect causes such as tou-rism and fishing.

At Pez Maya we train our vo-lunteers in the Coral Watch methodology by teaching them the different species of coral pre-sent around our base (over 50 species of stony coral!) as well as their biology and ecology. The-se corals come in many different shapes and sizes, from boulders to branches and ranging from the size of a golf ball to that of a small car.

Our divers go down in buddy pairs with the necessary equi-pment, consisting of the Coral Watch Chart, a dive torch, a sla-te and pencil. When they find a candidate for the Coral Watch, they look for the darkest and the lightest part of the coral and find the corresponding colors and brightness on the chart. They then record their findings on the slate. Volunteers collect data from 20 different corals they encounter during each CoralWatch dive.

Very little is known about trends of coral bleaching on a global sca-le. Currently coral health monito-ring mainly occurs around a few reefs that are regularly visited by scientists. There are many ques-tions that will have to be answe-red in order to try and save the reefs. This is why we at Pez Maya are working hard to get as much CoralWatch data as possible. We send the data to the CoralWatch project where it is analyzed and made available on the projects website. This will make it possible to compare the condition of many

different reefs at any one point in time, as well as the condition of a single reef over time.

CoralWatch have also joined for-ces with Project AWARE Founda-tion, a nonprofit environmental organisation working with divers all over the world to conserve un-derwater environments through education, advocacy and action.

We at Pez Maya are passiona-te about the project and believe efforts such as these are impor-tant for the understanding of co-ral reefs all over the world!

Coral Watch

The CoralWatch method can be used by an-yone with the Coral Health Chart, which is designed specifically for the purpose of performing a CoralWatch. It works like a paint color matching chart and is

thus easy to use for everyone.

By Friso Dekker

This 3 months we helped with21 Coral surveys, thats420 Corals recorded!


Turtles, Rays and Dolphins

awesome incidental sightings at Pez Maya!

Every diver is happy to see them, and everyone who has never been diving wants to see them too:incidental sightings like sharks, dolphins, turtles, moray eels & other amazing marine animals. In Pez Maya we are lucky enough to see all of them (how amazing is that?) and very lucky peoplecan even add manatees to the list.

In the last quarter the volun-teers saw & identified 7 Atlantic Spotted Dolphins, 10 SouthernStingrays and 5 Green Turtles. Some very fortunate people on base were even able to see Bull Sharksand Nurse Sharks in the reserve.Most people I know have never seen any of those animals, but we have the opportunity to seethem almost everyday.

The volunteers even had the chan-ce to swim with those Atlantic Spotted Dolphins. This actuallyrequires a lot of luck and skills to do. Trying to get in the water

from the boat, without making alot of noise and splashing around, which would obviously sca-re them away, can be quitechallenging. From my own ex-perience I can say: thumbs up!

The Atlantic Spotted Dolphins are known to come right up to hu-mans, which is just another luckycoincidence for us. The young ones dont have any spots along their body, so it is very easy toconfuse them with other species. Only the adults have these very distinctive spots.

Another dolphin species found in Pez Maya is the Bottlenose Dolphin. They can swim up to 260 m below the surface and are able to remain underwater for up to 15 minutes.Their brain is larger than that of a human.

Bottlenose Dolphins are able to reach speeds of up to 32 km per hour & they coopera-

te among each other to get food.These facts actually make me a bit jealous!

Sadly, as is the case with most of our marine species, these beauti-ful creatures are currently at risk. The biggest danger to marine ani-mals in the reserve is pollution. Animals become tangled in or consume plastics and other non-degradable materials which make their way to our oceans. This can lead to severe injury and death.

In the last quarter our volunteerscollected 2.3 tons of trash on our weekly beach cleans to help mana-ge this issue within the reserve. But not only marine conservationists can help! Every diver or non-diver should take action to make sure these incredible animals are safe!

Wish you all happy diving & many incidental sightings!

By Lara Kalisch

quarter 151 was lucky to spot:30 eels, 48 marine mammals, 29 rays, 6 sharks and 19 turtles. A total of 132 of awesome incidentals!


Its no secret that we have polluted, and continue to po-llute our oceans, whether it is through simple actions like dropping the odd plastic food wrapper, or the lar-ger problem of simply feeding the wasteful habits of consumer companies in general by being too lazy to spend a few extra minutes looking for more sustaina-ble options. Either way, we are all guilty, every one of us.

But have you ever been on an organised beach clean? Trust me, go on one at least once, itll certainly bring a few things to light when you find these items washing up on a daily basis.

We run our own beach cleans, covering around 200-300 metres of beach, once a week. Heres a list of our top ten item categories that we have collected just since January this year:

1. Plastic caps/lids 63822. Disposable cutlery 28233. Straws 1024 4. Shoes/sandals 790 5. Plastic drinks bottles 7856. Food wrappers/containers 435 7. Rope 428 8. Plastic bags 288 9. Bleach/cleaning bottles 12510. Cigarette lighters 24

Also we found a fridge! Shocking? Im sure some of those items dont exactly surprise many people, I mean its dis-posable cutlery, people are going to dispose of it not re-use it. But with those in mind, Ive always quite liked this little thought provoker:

Whats that? You want more facts about us? Well alright then, here you go. Here are some facts about our beach cleans so far here in good old 2015. Total weight since January 2015 = 735.8 kg Average weekly collection = 57.6 kg

So, in 2014 we collected around 2.5 tonnes of both recy-clable and unrecyclable waste from our beaches. Assu-ming we can keep on chugging along at this speed then we can expect a total of around 3 tonnes of trash! Thats a lot!

Thats just a team of around 15 30 people cleaning once a week. Think how easy this could be if everyone near a coastline did this more than once a year, we could really start reducing our impact. Speaking of which, the Ocean Conservancy run an International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) once a year, as well as periodic clean-ups locally. Check them out to see if there is one near you!

Saving the world one straw at a

time...By Sam Wilson

Its pretty amazing that our society has reached a point where the effort

necessary to extract oil from the ground, ship it to a refinery, turn it into plastic, shape it appropriately, truck it to a store, buy it, and bring

it home is considered to be less effort than what it takes to just wash the spoon when youre done with it.


This may seem like we are getting all excited about nothing, but this information helps validate these guides and keep them up to date. So the fact that our data shows what the book already told us is great, because it means we chose the right ones!


Our birding programme is a relatively new project, and is still being de-veloped. However, even at these early stages, measuring the presence and absence of species, combined with a simple tally of abundance, allows us

to observe some of the annual and seasonal population patterns.

Heres a quick few examples of some of the patterns we have noted so far:

Birds of the Sian Kaan Reserve

These findings are all supported by information in the Guide to Birds of North American and Mexico by Ste-ve N.G. Howell and Sophie Webb

Laughing Gull (Right: Adult, Left: Breeding adult)

American Brown Pelican(Left: Breeding adult, Right: Immature)

Around this time of year we have moved out of winter and are beginning to welcome spring, a season of productivity for all life, but more spe-cifically, the season of reproductivity! (Yes, I am well aware that is not a word but it worked, so can we just move on?). This means a change for most birds, from their scraggly every day plu-mage, to their sexy breeding plumage. So here is a look at how our breeding birds get their sexy on this time of year. Sometimes even we have to admit we may mistake them for being a separate species, would you be fooled?

So thats just a quick insight for now, next time we will melt your hearts with the progress of our Least Tern chicks that should be joining in the next few months.

By Sam Wilson

Tour de Tulum 2

On the 27th of February, volunteers and staff from both the Pez Maya and Playa Community projects in Mexico joined for-ces to embark upon the challenge of the century; our Tour de Tulum Two.

Excitement levels were high. After weeks of anticipation, par-ticipants had still only heard rumors of the challenges and scavenger hunt that lay ahead. The 30km bike ride along the reserve road and into Tulum seemed daunting enough.

At the stroke of 9.00am, each of our 6 teams were given the details for our first challenge: designing top-of-the-range cos-tumes for the race. Materials, including paints, sharpies, an old sheet and some slightly damp cardboard were strewn across our communal area, and after a chaotic 15 -20 minu-tes everyone was dressed and ready.

As each team were marked and signed off on the challen-ge, they received the first half of our photo-based scavenger hunt and a map of the road ahead. Scavenger items could be found anywhere from base to the site of Challenge # 2, and included tasks such as burying a team member in sand, sunbathing with a crocodile, and discussing philosophy with a tucan. Points could only be received by capturing a photo of each item, with at least one team member featured in the image.

And so our riders were off! They went flying from base at top speed, on bikes that would make Cadel Evans weep with jealousy. Their fury upon the road couldnt be dampened by torrential rain, lake-sized puddles or a lack of mud guards. (Our paper maps were sadly less resilient!).

Eagerly hunting for each item on their list, volunteers had two hours to collect as many as possible, before arriving at the site of the second challenge: a local co-chinita restaurant.

A flat tyre and some mild toe damage later, and our teams began to appear, looking tired, stressed and muddy, but ready for more adventure. Upon arrival, each team was handed details of the second challenge; eating three mystery tacos, filled with chapulines (fried crickets) and a very spicy salsa. Milk was on hand to put out any emergency belly fires.

Not until the plate had been licked clean could partici-pants receive the next half of the scavenger hunt and continue the race. The second list was filled with items to be found in Tulum center. Once collected, teams made a final mad rush for the finish line : The Ayunta-mineto. Extra points were given to reflect arrival times.

When the challenge was over, we had a picnic lunch together. There was a lot of excited chatter and team banter. Accusations of cheating were thrown around like celebratory confetti. Injuries were few and laughs had been many. Best of all, every participant had completed the race successfully, and had had a lot of fun doing so.

Sliding in for the winBy Jill Wheeler


After a weekend of recovery and point-counting, our winning teams were announced. Gag and the Bivittatus had won! An impressive feat, as their team had remai-ned struggling at the back for the whole race (claims of a childs bike are still being investigated). However, team members Nic, Lucas, Kirsi and Craig, were able to go the extra mile, after gaining 80 bonus points by ta-king up the shaving challenge, which other teams had shied away from. As wed said all along, it was a test of courage, not speed!

Our second champions, The Blues Brothers, were awar-ded the prize for best fundraising effort. Emma, Jonny, Elli, Marcos and Blue were absolute heroes, raising over US$600 between them.

In total, we managed to raise US$1,680. This money will be given to our key partners, Los Amigos de Sian Kaan, so they can improve their science monitoring equipment.

The funds raised are key to our marine conservation project here in Mexico, as they ensure that our work can continue long-term. Investing back into the community with which we work is essential if we hope to create and stabilise community-based conservation action. By sup-porting and empowering groups like Los Amigos de Sian Kaan the reach and impact of our efforts is far greater.

Finally, we would like to thank all those who participa-ted in the Tour de Tulum Two, including those racing, involved in the organisation, and especially our donors. Without you, projects like this cant happen you are the difference!


For many people living on a beach and diving every day seems a far cry from reality. For those who take the first steps in becoming a PADI professional this dream can quickly become a reality.

Whether this is something you have always wanted to do, or you are looking for a change in career, becoming a PADI Pro is possible for any-body who has the enthusiasm and passion to help others en-joy the amazing underwater world.

The first step in the door is completing the Divemaster course. This can be comple-ted in a few different ways but one of the most popular is a Divemaster internship. As an intern you will gain a full in-sight as to what it is like to be a professional diver. You learn to work in a dive shop, main-tain equipment, use compres-sors, interact with customers and gain experience in sales

amongst much more. All of this is alongside the required training for the course. In-ternships can range from a few weeks to a few months and at the end you will be cer-tified to lead dives, assist on courses and even lead some courses independently.

Our names are Eugene and Kerry and we have both rea-ched the level of PADI IDC Staff Instructor by devoting the last few years to leading the life of a PADI professional. We both began by joining the GVI Divemaster internship and from there progressing through a series of jobs, ad-ventures and travels.

Upon completing our Dive-master we both realized we wanted to pursue a higher level of education in the dive industry and proceeded to complete our Instructor tra-ining at XTC Dive Center in Xcalak, Mexico.

Life as a PADI Pro

After passing our Instructor examinations we began to travel looking for the next adventure and upon traveling to SE Asia we were offered a job in Viet-nam at a 5 Star PADI Career Development Center.

We began teaching courses ran-ging from Open Water to Di-vemaster and were constantly improving our experience and knowledge in the process. Du-ring our time in Vietnam we progressed from Open Water SCUBA Instructors on to Mas-ter SCUBA Diver Trainers (MSDT) and finally IDC Staff Instructors, all the while pro-gressing our position in the dive center until we became Mana-gers.

During the time we were pro-gressing as PADI professionals we realized that we had a spe-cific passion for training profes-sional level divers such as DMs and Instructors. It is an amazing thing to be able to relay all of the experience and training you have acquired over the years to an aspiring dive professional.

After 2 years of working in Viet-nam we were ready for the next adventure and to our delight we were contacted by our past supervisors in GVI with a job opportunity. The position was a perfect fit as GVI was starting an Instructor internship so we would be able to continue our passion for training professio-nals as well as get back to the extremely gratifying life of wor-king in marine conservation.

So it seems we have come full circle beginning as volunteers and now returning as experien-ced Instructors as members of staff and its all thanks to the op-portunity and extremely high level of training we received whilst beginning our journey with GVI. We highly recom-mend this program to anybody who is seeking a profession in the dive industry and / or ma-rine conservation, or if you are just looking for your next cha-llenge and an amazing expe-rience!!

By Kerry Passingham and Eugene Beery


The Pez Puzz lerLife as a PADI ProBy Kerry Passingham and Eugene Beery


By Jodie Savage

Pez MayaDiving

Coconuts Sand

Crocodiles Hammocks

Compressing

Lion fish Turtles

Boat pushWarm beer

SunriseBlue tower

Birding

Bumpy roadIguanas

Party nightSargassum

SharksTanks

Just a few words to remind you of your time at Pez Maya

Pez Maya Magazine Vol 1

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