Academic News: Dr. Francisco Ollervides, Center Director, February 25, 2005
We have had a very productive two weeks since our last report. We are in the midst of hosting 25 people for a regional workshop on the toxicology of migratory waterfowl, where our students will learn lab and field techniques which are only now being taught for the first time to Mexican wildlife and game officials. Right before this workshop, we were visited by the US Consul in Baja California, Marc Leoni. His was interested in meeting us since we are part of a network of a warden system from the US Department of State in Mexico. Prior to the Consul's visit, we also had a guest from the University of Denver, Steven Hicks, who gave our students two very intensive days of learning the basics of Geographic Information Systems. All staff and faculty also participated. I personally felt that in those 12 intensive class hours we learned material that is normally taught in a semester!

The weather is still a bit cold, but we have braved the elements to conduct several well-planned interdisciplinary field exercises, an all-staff and all-student three-day field trip, and three Directed Research data recollection dates. Once the students were exposed to all three Directed Research projects, they selected in a democratic manner which one they would pursue, dividing themselves equally amongst the three projects. The students then met with their respective advisors: Salvador Garcia, leading the Lion's paw aquaculture project; Paloma Valdivia (temporarily replacing Camila Henriques) leading the sea turtle project; and Francisco Ollervides, leading the photo identification of Gray whales project. The three faculty also taught the students basic guidelines for oral presentations, skills that will come in handy throughout the semester's assignments and specifically for the final presentation Our students also had a theoretical class on hypothesis testing.

For the Economic and Ethical Issues of Sustainable Development class, we had a field exercise (and assignment) on ethnobotany. We also discussed current conservation issues in Baja California and the students turned in an assignment identifying these threats and the major stakeholders of the region. The latter assignment will be part of an application to include the community of San Carlos in the Waterkeeper Alliance, a grassroots movement to voice concerns for the welfare of this body of water (Magdalena Bay).

In the Principles of Resource Management class, the student learned about Coastal Zone Management, about Marine Protected Areas, and just recently about the parks and reserve system in Mexico.

In the Coastal Ecology class, the students learned first hand about the life history of sea turtles, netting and mark/recapture exercises. A joint class of ECO and CEC was given on Gray whale life history. The students participated in a field exercise to assess turtle mortality throughout the bay. We also had guest talks from two graduate students from the local university doing work on algae of the area.

Now we are preparing for our next camping trip to Loreto.

Student News: Student Affairs Manager Pearl Ly
Time is flying here in Baja at the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS).   

The students have really jumped into their Directed Research (DR) Projects during the last two weeks. Our turtle group was enthralled after capturing their first live sea turtle – a black turtle named Lola that was previously tagged two years ago.  The aquaculture group had a great exercise snorkeling for Lion's Paw scallops and trying sea urchin gonads or roe, a delicacy often used for sushi.   The whale group had a fantastic Photo ID trip, having eight Gray whales encircling their boat at one time.  Last Saturday, the students participated in a sea turtle mortality field exercise, spending a morning walking along a beach looking for evidence of natural sea turtle deaths or in a local dump looking for evidence of human consumption of sea turtles.  In one dump site, students located 37 sea turtle remains discarded by locals.  The students were saddened after witnessing the human threats to sea turtles but were inspired to protect them at the same time.                

In addition to the regular lectures and field exercises, the students participated in a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) map-making training and a Sea Bird Toxicology Workshop held at CCS.  On the non-academic front, we painted trashcans with beautiful, environmental messages to place in the town plaza.  We have some great artists in the group!  Folkloric dancing lessons have started - not sure if the students are more excited about the twirling skirts or the learning the traditional dance steps.  To practice some non-traditional dance moves, some of the students went to the Whale Festival Queen Disco Dance this weekend.  They had a great time.     

Student Reflections
“The last two weeks have been AMAZING!!!! We've done really interesting activities. Since our meeting where we chose our Directed Research (DR) Projects, we have not stopped working. We have done some monitoring at the dumps from different regions of Mag Bay to find the carapaces (shells) of poached sea turtles, to get data about sea turtle mortality. Even if this was not really pleasant work, it made us more aware of the social and natural problems that this organism encounters in this region. This definitely encouraged us to give our best these three months in order to help as much as we can in the conservation of sea turtles, as well as marine mammals and the great ecosystem in which we have the chance to be living.

We also had a great workshop last week. It lasted two days; we learned ALL about GIS (Geographic Information Systems). Well, probably not all, but our professor, Steven Hick (a visitor to SFS from the University of Denver), did a wonderful job teaching us as much as possible. We had really close contact with the GIS software and its uses. We are looking forward to applying all our newly acquired knowledge to our DR projects!

Right after the workshop finished, the sea turtle DR group (including me) went camping at Conchalito. Our mission: catch as many turtles as possible to get live data. So we had the same procedure as on our last camping trip: we  went to check our nets in different shifts all night long. The results of all our hard work : Lola, a 67 cm long recaptured Black turtle, who was caught at 4 am. Lola was the best reward we could have for our non-sleeping night!

Actually, it seems that all the DRs are having rewarding experiences. The whales DR had a field day last week, and even if they say they just saw a few whales... we think they saw at least 100, because they have work meetings every 10 minutes!!! Meanwhile, the aquaculture DR had a really cool, or should I say cold time, while snorkeling to get some data on scallops.

I guess this is a really general overview of what we've been doing the last few days, which is a lot! But for me the most important thing we have done is: grow, in all possible aspects. This experience is giving us so much, we are all having a great time!”
-Eglé Flores González, Universidad de las Americas Puebla

“Somehow, between time on the boats, being out in the field, and being in the classroom, a month has passed since we first arrived.  It is so hard to believe how quickly time is going, but I must say we are enjoying every minute of it!  Last weekend, we went on a turtle mortality walk and found way too many carapaces for comfort, but we were able to take the data and add it in our database in the hope that with our conservation efforts, turtles will one day be plentiful.  We have also, within our Directed Research groups, done other exciting work in the field.  The turtle Directed Research group, which I am proud to be a part of, took an overnight camping trip to a little island called Conchalito.  We set our nets in hope to find turtles.  In fact, we did get to see and work with one 4 AM turtle, which we have named Lolita.  It was quite a rush!  The aquaculture group has counted close to 300 scallops with their snorkeling (and although the water may be warmer than in most places, I must say they had guts to get in some pretty cold water).  Last, but not least, the whale DR went out on the pangas and saw TONS of whales... some mating, some just chilling in the water.  With all this data gathered, we are all working on our hypotheses for our research papers.

We have also had some interesting guest lectures, including a two-day course on Geographical Information Systems.  Now we can map pretty much anything…talk about amazing.  Four undergraduate students from La Paz also came and gave us a lecture on algae.  I did not know so many types of algae existed! 

With all these field exercises and classes, we still have been able to relax, enjoy Baja, and grow closer to one another.  Each week we are having folkloric dancing class.  The girls are all excited about getting our skirts and eventually showing off our mad talent. Valentine's Day was wonderful here, although many of us were missing our wonderful Valentines back home.  We made valentines and learned that we have some awesome artists here!  We have also been able to celebrate birthdays.  I had my 21st birthday last week here and I must say it was fantastic.  Not many people can say that they celebrated their 21st birthday on the water under the stars and even received the present of a singing tribute by our wonderful pangeros.  In addition, my classmate Leigh had her 20th birthday on the 18th of February.  In celebration, we had a gigantic game of hide-and-seek.  From hiding in trees to being in small spaces that shall never be revealed, we are a sneaky group. These are the memories that will last forever!   

It has been great getting more into the town of Puerto San Carlos and having the chance to explore.  Some of us have gone to the disco, others to taco stands…the list is endless.  One thing we all agree on is that the people are so welcoming and helpful, even when you order…oh, say, a sand tortilla, instead of flour tortilla. 

Well, as we roll into this next week, we await a camping trip to Loreto, a sea bird workshop, more fun times together, and of course the sunrise and sunset over the water each day.  Can life get much better?! Highly doubtful---we are surely blessed!” 
-Theresa Turner, Belmont Abbey College
   

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