{"id":170,"date":"2012-02-13T00:00:16","date_gmt":"2012-02-13T00:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/?p=170"},"modified":"2012-02-13T01:42:24","modified_gmt":"2012-02-13T01:42:24","slug":"notes-from-the-field-akumal-bay-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/archives\/170","title":{"rendered":"Notes from the field: Akumal Bay, Mexico."},"content":{"rendered":"
Every fortnight we feature a seagrass meadow from around the world. This week, Elizabeth \u2018Z\u2019 Lacey writes about Akumal Bay, an ecosystem in the Caribbean off the coast of Mexico. Z is finishing her Ph.D. at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. <\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n
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Photos and text by Z Lacey<\/h5>\n

I have a confession.\u00a0 I did not go to Akumal Bay to study the seagrass beds; I went to study the coral reefs.\u00a0 Before you kick me off the World Seagrass Association blog, hear me out.\u00a0 I first came to Akumal Bay, Quintana Roo, Mexico to study the return of an important herbivore to the coral reef community BUT<\/strong> I was quickly and irreversibly intrigued by the seagrass beds and the graceful green sea turtles in short order.\u00a0 Does that redeem me in your eyes, fellow seagrass lovers?<\/p>\n

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A typical weekend in Akumal Bay: lots of tourists and fishing boats!<\/p><\/div>\n

But I get ahead of myself.\u00a0 Let me introduce you to a beautiful place that I\u2019ve been working in for the past four years.\u00a0 Akumal Bay is located along the MesoAmerican Reef on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and its name means \u2018place of the turtles\u2019 in Mayan.\u00a0 It is a unique environment as it\u2019s one of the few public access beaches for locals as well as serves the surrounding tourist populations coming from Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Cancun.\u00a0 There are lots of interested stakeholders, which is a challenge for the managers of this important ecosystem.\u00a0 Incredibly this bay is monitored by the non-governmental organization Centro Ecologico Akumal (www.ceakumal.org<\/a>) and Director Paul Sanchez-Navarro.\u00a0 They rely heavily on donations and volunteer stewards to monitor the coral reefs, water quality and abundant turtle population.\u00a0 To do this they hold turtle walks, give informative lectures in the education center, run a recycling program, provide life jackets\/snorkeling vests and many other initiatives, all free of charge to visitors and the residents of the nearby pueblos.<\/p>\n

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Lush T. testudinum, S. filiforme and H. wrightii bed<\/p><\/div>\n

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A patch of seagrass dominated by the calcareous green algae, Halimeda<\/p><\/div>\n

Unlike Siti\u2019s last post on the diversity of species to be found in South Sulawesi, the seagrass meadows in Akumal typically consist of just three seagrasses: Thalassia testudinum<\/em>, Syringodium filiforme<\/em> and sparse Halodule wrightii<\/em> intermixed with calcareous green macroalgae.\u00a0 The seagrass beds are patchy throughout the lagoon from the shoreline to the reef approximately 250 meters offshore.\u00a0 In some areas of the bay, patch reefs are interspersed throughout the seagrass meadow, providing refuge for fish, urchins and other diverse marine life.<\/p>\n

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A green sea turtle Chelonia mydas: caught in the act!<\/p><\/div>\n

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A southern stingray Dasyatis americana taking flight over a bed of S. filiforme<\/p><\/div>\n

Akumal Bay is easily accessible by tourists groups from land as well as those entering on boats via the channel through the adjacent barrier reef.\u00a0 Part of my research is considering this impact by humans on the seagrass beds and how the herbivores, both sea turtles and fish, have shaped this ecosystem.\u00a0 Similar to other regions along the Mayan Riviera, this area is experiencing dramatic population growth and even further tourism development.\u00a0 While the fate of these seagrass beds is unknown, change is inevitable.\u00a0 CEA is in a difficult position as they try to protect the ecosystem with their limited financial resources while also listening to the needs of the local residents, tour operators and businesses, which rely on the bay mainly for tourism income rather than as a food source.<\/p>\n

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Yvonne, a volunteer seagrass ranger, harvesting some samples<\/p><\/div>\n

Volunteers come from all around the world for a three month adventure at CEA and learn skills such as coral reef identification and sea turtle tracking.\u00a0 Throughout the years I\u2019ve had volunteers from France, Netherlands, Germany, the Philippines and of course Mexico as they assist in my research along with their other volunteer duties.\u00a0 For some, such as my new friend Yvonne Kleinschmidt pictured here, they were completely unaware of the different types of seagrass before I took them into the field to make them honorary seagrass rangers.\u00a0 It\u2019s been fun for me to teach workshops on identifying seagrass and macroalgae to the volunteers as part of their reef monitoring training.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Hiking to the top of Coba, one of the many Mayan ruins in the region<\/p><\/div>\n

Before you think it\u2019s all work and no play in Akumal, I have to mention the many Mayan ruins to explore, cenotes to swim in and cities like Playa del Carmen to visit!\u00a0 Not to mention the amazing local cuisine and fresh fruits and veggies available at the farmer\u2019s market in the town square.\u00a0 A day off from the field is rich in cultural experiences as well as ecological discovery \u2013 another reason I\u2019ve come back to Akumal year after year.\u00a0 And while I initially studied the coral reefs, you can see how the interesting marine life living within the seagrass beds and the stories waiting to be explored were able to pull me into Akumal Bay!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every fortnight we feature a seagrass meadow from around the world. This week, Elizabeth \u2018Z\u2019 Lacey writes about Akumal Bay, an ecosystem in the Caribbean off the coast of Mexico. Z is finishing her Ph.D. at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. ————————————— Photos and text by Z Lacey I have a confession.\u00a0 I did […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nftf"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Cwsq-2K","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":199,"url":"https:\/\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/archives\/199","url_meta":{"origin":170,"position":0},"title":"Notes from the Field: South Florida","author":"Siti","date":"23 May, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"22nd May is International Day for Biodiversity and the theme for 2012 is Marine Biodiversity. In celebration, we will be featuring a series of articles on seagrass. This week, Elizabeth \u201cZ\u201d Lacey writes about her experiences in the long-term monitoring project in the seagrass beds of South Florida under the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes from the field"","block_context":{"text":"Notes from the field","link":"https:\/\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/archives\/category\/nftf"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/FLO1-300x214.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":383,"url":"https:\/\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/archives\/383","url_meta":{"origin":170,"position":1},"title":"Notes from the Field: Beaufort, North Carolina, USA","author":"Siti","date":"11 January, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A very Happy 2015 to all our readers. To kick off the new year, we bring you a new segment of notes from the field, this time from the USA, where Amy Uhrin writes about the research work going on in the eelgrass beds of Beaufort, North Carolina. Amy is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes from the field"","block_context":{"text":"Notes from the field","link":"https:\/\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/archives\/category\/nftf"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IMG_0513-0.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IMG_0513-0.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IMG_0513-0.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IMG_0513-0.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IMG_0513-0.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IMG_0513-0.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":309,"url":"https:\/\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/archives\/309","url_meta":{"origin":170,"position":2},"title":"Notes from the field: A wee taste of Scottish seagrass","author":"Siti","date":"17 February, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Every so often, we feature seagrass meadows from all over the world. This week, Maria Potouroglou writes about seagrass in Scotland. Maria is a PhD student at Edinburgh Napier University studying carbon sinks in seagrass. Her seagrass adventures started six years ago with projects in Greece, Spain and England. --------------------------------------------------------\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes from the field"","block_context":{"text":"Notes from the field","link":"https:\/\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/archives\/category\/nftf"},"img":{"alt_text":"maria_soctland_fig1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/maria_soctland_fig1-300x182.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":293,"url":"https:\/\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/archives\/293","url_meta":{"origin":170,"position":3},"title":"Notes from the Field: All around the UK","author":"Siti","date":"20 August, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Every so often, we feature a seagrass meadow from around the world. This week, we were lucky enough to hear from Benjamin Jones who'll be reporting from several seagrass meadows all over the United Kingdom. Ben is an MRes student at Swansea University where he is part of the Seagrass\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes from the field"","block_context":{"text":"Notes from the field","link":"https:\/\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/archives\/category\/nftf"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wales1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Wales1-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":146,"url":"https:\/\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/archives\/146","url_meta":{"origin":170,"position":4},"title":"Notes from the Field: Barang Lompo, South Sulawesi","author":"Siti","date":"1 February, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Every fortnight we feature a seagrass meadow from around the world. This week, I thought I'd take a stab at writing about a recent trip I made to a seagrass meadow on a sand cay called Barang Lompo in South Sulawesi. By Siti M. Yaakub (text) & Marjolijn Christianen (photos)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes from the field"","block_context":{"text":"Notes from the field","link":"https:\/\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/archives\/category\/nftf"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Combined-map.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":79,"url":"https:\/\/wsa.seagrassonline.org\/blog\/archives\/79","url_meta":{"origin":170,"position":5},"title":"Notes from the Field: Calvi Bay, Corsica","author":"Siti","date":"23 September, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a the first of a series of fortnightly articles featuring seagrass meadows around the world. 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