CEA

So, how can I summarise my time at CEA?

Well, the first month was a little slow, although we did do some basic reef monitoring as part of a worldwide reef check. I began to specialise in Corals and reef creatures. fascinating. The technique involved some ballet like diving, unside down S shaped surveying. It must have looked very funny. we did well though.

The following 2 months involved some intensive study, and snorkling, in addition to the bay monitoring work which had me out in the kayak each day trying to regulate the bahaviour of visiting snorklers. The time in the 'palapa' was also interesting, talking to and attempting to educate visitors as to the importance of limiting their impact on the bay. Although latin was never my forte, with a bit of help, I finally managed to learn all of the species required and recognise them under water. The reefs are unfortunatel in pretty bad shape and heading towrds being algal reefs rather than coral. A sad state of a ffairs, and apparently destined to get worse if something insn't done to limit the damage development causes. The main problem is lack of treatment of waste water.

The 3rd month, thanks to Amigos de Sian Ka'an, we actually did 2 weeks of really great survey work, in Playa del Carmen, Puerto Murelos and Akumal. It was so good to put into practice what we had learnt and also a privalege to get to see so many different dive sites. I loved it and given half the chance would make a career move into this area.

http://www.amigosdesiankaan.org/

Spurred on by the damage I had seen, I decided to spend the last month on the water programme carrying out research to discover what was happening to the waste water in the area. Unfortunately this yielded some rather disturbing results as it appears a lot of it is being dumped in 'the jungle'. The bedrock of the Yukatan peninsular is porous karst and internally holds a rather complex system of underground rivers - the areas water source. This practice is therefore not only damaging for the reef as all water empties eventually out to the coast, but also a potential health hazard. It will be interesting to see actually what becomes of this area with the increase in development planned. I can't help feeling it is on the verge of an ecological disaster. I can only hope that policy is altered, and more importantly implemented. Too often the laws are bent or ignored, with devestating results.

Part of this programme was educational, working with the local high school. I actually realy enjoyed working with young people again. I also gave a talk to a visiting group of students from the US. Just to blow my own trumpet, I was told they were more involved in this that any of the other things they did. I really enjoyed it, and it was great to hear that my teaching skills have not left me. Phew!

The last two months I also started doing some English teaching at the local library. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed doing this. It was so wonderful to be able to pass on a much needed skill to the workers of the area. I was asked to take over the library for a while, and to be honest was tempted. However, I feared I would never leave so decided to decline the offer. Whilst I was sad to leave. I felt the time had arrived. For those wanting to know more here is the cea link}

http://www.ceakumal.org/