 | Mexico
Center for Marine Mammal Studies
La Paz, Baja California Sur, 1990-1995
Center for Wetland/Coastal Studies
Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur, 1997-present The first SFS program in Mexico took place in the summer of 1981 on the Yucatan Peninsula where students focused on the ecology of tropical and temperate plant communities. It would be seven years before SFS returned to Mexico again, this time to an island in Lake Catemaco in Veracruz State to study a small breeding colony of endangered Stumptail Macaques which had been relocated from Asia. With interest high in SFS courses focusing on Humpback and Killer Whales, Harbor Seals, Bottlenose and Spinner Dolphins at study sites as diverse as Alaska, Hawaii, North Carolina, Maine and British Columbia, it was clear that dedicating a center to the study of marine mammals made a lot of sense. With start-up funding from the Island Foundation and in cooperation with the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, the SFS Center for Marine Mammal Studies opened in La Paz in 1990 as the world's first year-round field program offering undergraduate training in marine mammal conservation. Its initial goals were to: 1) collect baseline data on diversity, distribution and abundance of marine mammal species in the Bay of La Paz; 2) to assess the effects of human disturbance—boat traffic, fishing activity, development and pollution—on local marine mammal populations; and 3) to collect baseline ecological data in the Bay of La Paz. SFS programming in Mexico was temporarily interrupted for several years with the closure of the Center for Marine Mammal Studies on the Sea of Cortez side of the Baja peninsula and the subsequent opening in Spring 1997 of a new SFS center on Magdalena Bay on the Pacific side of the peninsula. The construction of the new Center for Wetland Studies was partially funded by a debt swap with the government of Mexico, the first of its kind in support of an environmental research and educational facility. Within a year it was determined that although the study of wetlands, specifically mangrove environments, was indeed a component of the center's research, it was not the main focus. Thus was born the Center for Coastal Studies whose current research goals—remarkably convergent with the goals of the center in La Paz—are to: 1) Conduct habitat and species conservation research that addresses sea turtle population status, trends and threats, and the impacts of whale watching tourism on grey whales; 2) Conduct pollution research that addresses the effects of fish cannery effluent on water quality in the Bay; 3) Research the biological and fisheries management aspects of selected commercial species (e.g. shrimp, blue crab, lobster, and abalone) as well as the potential of aquaculture as an economic alternative for the local community; and 4) Research urbanization and development in Puerto San Carlos to address its infrastructure and service needs and maximize the potential for ecotourism and environmental education programs. In 2004, the SFS Center for Coastal Studies was awarded $24,000 by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to support a project on community conservation of the black sea turtle in Bahia Magdalena, Mexico. This was an important addition to the Center's increasing focus on the sustainability of this important population, allowing students to work directly on issues critical to the turtles' survival. In 2006, in collaboration with Magdalena Baykeepers, the Center organized a successful clean-up of the coast of Bahia Magdalena for the fifth year. The annual clean-up was completed by a fleet of volunteers, including the students and staff at SFS-CCS, and yielded 2,520 pounds of trash collected from over two miles of coastline. The issue of trash pollution in Puerto San Carlos and on the coast of Bahia Magdalena is a prevalent and long-running issue within this small community. In August of 2008, as a joint milestone of the Center's work with sea turtle conservation and pollution, SFS students and members of the Grupo Tortuguero, a global network dedicated to sea turtle conservation, held their seventh annual Turtle Festival in Mexico's Puerto San Carlos, with an attendance record of 10,000 people, an increase from 150 at their first festival in 2002. In February of 2009, the SFS Center for Coastal Studies was officially recognized as a research institute by the National List of Technological and Scientific Institutions and Business. The List is administered by the National Council for Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACYT), a government council created to respond to the most pressing problems of the nation through the advancement of scientific research. This is a distinguished recognition and will allow the Center to apply for federal funding of critical habitat restoration projects and long-term conservation efforts.
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