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On 7 August 2000 at 4:00 P.M. I had a meeting at the Centro Ecologico Akumal with the new Director of the Turtle Project, Jesus Rosiles Nieto. Kate Robinhawk, the Director of Communications, was present and kind enough to arrange the meeting. Mr. Rosiles Nieto had not seen my '99 report or the accompanying photographs although they had been at the center for several months. Mr. Nieto knew about the work for he had worked with Ortiz in 1998 and remembered seeing me at the center. His reaction to the photographs was enthusiastic and asked permission to take them and a copy of the report to Alejandro Arena (of the Foundation to Protect Marine Turtles) in Xcaret the following day. Permission granted, we scheduled a meeting for the 8 August at 4:00 P. M. On the 8th Jesus Rosiles Nieto gave me several copies of articles concerning turtle research and asked if I could join him on the 9 August to meet with Alejandro Arenas at the Xcaret Aquarium turtle research project. I agreed and the following day I meet with Alejandro Arenas who was very excited about my observations and the photographs. Both Jesus and Alejandro said that they would contact the Marine Turtle Newsletter people and ask for my study to be sponsored at the next 2001 Conference in Philadelphia. Permission to use my material, with appropriate credit was granted on an item by item basis. Alejandro said he would foreword to me a chart which clearly illustrates the living tag scute marks year by year for better identification.
1 The number of logged hours for turtle sightings and observations in Akumal Bay were: 1997 was 28 hours; 1998 was 42 hours; 1999 was 11 hours, and for 2000, one hour and thirty-five minutes. The total logged time over four selected time periods from 1997 to 2000 was 82 hours and 35 minutes. Notes and sighting were verbally delivered to the Center in 1997 and, written up and hand delivered at the end of each day in 1998. (In addition, there were a series of e-mails with Luis Manuel Ortiz concerning the 1997 observations which were confirmed 18 September 1997 as well as the observations and photographs of 1998.) In 1999 the observations were recorded in situ on an underwater writing tablet and daily rewritten in notebooks. The same procedure was used in 2000. Depending on lighting conditions and water depth, photographs were taken to support observations.
2. Luis Manuel Ortiz wrote several e-mails concerning
the observations and photographs '98 which caused the scientists in the area
to change their thinking about turtle behavior.
Kate Robinhawk has kept up a correspondence via e-mail concerning the turtles
in Akumal. In Fall, 2000, Alejandro Arenas wrote several e-mails concerning
the Akumal turtle observations reports I had sent him for 1997 to 99. He was
most interested in the observations made in August 2000. He forwarded a copy
of the chart which shows the year of tagging and the location of the "Living
Tags" on the carapaces of the turtles. It was Alejandro Arenas who suggested
during a meeting in August that the work be brought to the attention of the
"Marine Turtle Newsletter," and the Seaturtle Symposium. According
to e-mail received from Ortiz (9 November, 20 November & 14 December)
the 1998 photographs revealed totally new data concerning Chelonia mydas.
The turtles were marked and tagged south of Akumal, in X'Cacel, or north in
Xcaret, and, were expected to leave the region during the maturation process.
The photographs indicate that the turtles remain in their birth region prior
to venturing into the deep and crossing the oceans. This information was confirmed
August, 2000 by Jesus Rosiles Nieto, who took over for Ortiz, and Alejandro
Arenas of the Foundation to Protect the Sea Turtle at Xcaret.
3. Several times during my discussions with the people involved with turtle research at the Centro Ecologico Akumal and the Fundación para la Protección de la Tortuga Marina, comments were made about the "missing years." When questioned, Ortiz, Nieto, and Arenas indicated that a theory developed by Archie Carr held that turtles (Chelonia mydas) migrated to unknown areas for unknown periods. They seemed to think that the photographs taken in Akumal Bay provided additional information concerning the current theory of the "missing years".
4. Ortiz and Robinhawk discussed the possibility, depending on funding, of a special video project in Akumal.
5. Charles Shaw (Geologist on staff at the CEA) informed me in August, 1999 and 2000, about the critical condition of the bay. He provided a copy of the article concerning the sewage disposal system in use and the plan for "wetlands." During the summer of 2000 Kate Robinhawk informed me that many people in Akumal had started to use the "wetlands system" and the bay already tested to be healthier.
6 Although an actual fish count was not made, the schools of fish observed in August 1999 were smaller and of fewer variety. In 1998 there were three very large schools of Mullet in the bay at various times. One large school of Mullet with fish approximately sixteen inches in length had surrounded a four foot Nassau Grouper and moved about the bay as the prow of ship in front of the Grouper. The Mullet created a vertical wall as deep as the water in the bay and several fish in thickness. In 1999 no schools of Mullet were observed. In addition, there were practically no fish swimming close into the beach. In the past one could sit or stand at the water's edge and have fish swim about your feet. Visible in many areas of the bay were Long - Spine Urchin. In 1998 and 1997 Urchin were usually seen in the cracks, and crannies of the sea floor and the reef. In 1999 the number seemed to be greater and their living habitat extended beyond the nooks and crannies. In August, 2000, visibility close to shore was very poor, therefore fish sighting were virtually none existent. Schools of fish, however, were observed further off shore toward the southwest.
7. The three principle turtles observed in 1998 were named by the author in the Fall 1998 upon a request from the Director of the Turtle Program, Luis Manuel Ortiz. Ortiz left the CEA in the spring of 1999 and a replacement had not been found by August. Kate Robinhawk, director of Education and Communication, suggested that the photographs and notations of the 1999 turtle observations be edited for possible publication by the Center. In the meantime permission to use selected photographs from '98 was granted to CEA as was permission to use the Photograph 1998 # 5 of Clonia, A-16, showing the carapace with the clear marking on L1 as she rises vertically to the surface was given to Mr. Ortiz to use in a poster. Permission to use several other photographs from 1998 was granted to MEDASSET.
8. The sound of tearing lettuce by hand to make a salad describes the sound made by the turtle as it bites and tears blades of grass. It's chewing sounds are similar to the crunching and grinding of grass as when a cow eats. The sounds of eating where heard in '99, '98 and '97, as well as in 2000.
9. This was the largest animal I've seen in these waters. It was long, had width and had height. From my viewing position I could not observe its tail, but its head had a large blunted conical shape with many visible teeth. Upon checking various photographs of Barracuda and Sharks, it appears that the predator looked most like a Bull Shark.
10. According to the CEA staff the larger turtles observed in August, 1999 were sub adult.
11. Although the shallow warm water provides a haven for young fish, and the variety is great, the cooler deep water of the bay contained larger fish and turtles. Working in the cooler water was rather refreshing and less fatiguing. According to members of the CEA the cooler water was a current within the warmer water of the bay.
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