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It is 10 am Sunday 7/14. I am sitting here under a palm tree overlooking
beautiful Akumal Bay. The bay is like glass. Waves crash over the reef
crest, a distant whoosh, whoosh. The ocean is rough though and white caps
glisten in the sunlight as far as the eye can see. Stationary cirrus clouds
ripple the light blue sky, while lower gray cumuli skitter quickly
southwest.
I squint as droplets of sweat bounce off the white paper. There
are sixteen boats spread erratically across Akumal Bay, gently bobbing up
and down, all facing their eventual destination the cut in the reef crest
and the ocean. Two frigate birds ride the persistent 8-knot wind. A tiny
brave bird fearlessly chases one of the larger birds, forcing it to clumsily
abandon the heat waves, which it easily glides. Three brown pelicans flap
heavily across the water. Close to the shore, they follow each other in a
single fine. The first glides low and the others trail behind. It looks as
though they are riding a roller coaster that only they can see. They slowly
disappear around the Northern point of the bay.
Alex, the snorkeling guide and CEA's Information and Protection person,
(not my brother, there is often confusion which Alex is which when I talk
about either, the visual differences between the Alexes is gargantuan), dons
his gear and points to where he will be taking his eager snorkelers. He
reminds them "DO NOT STAND ON CORAL" and lists some of the many creatures
that inhabit the waters in Akumal Bay. "Turtles: green, loggerhead, and hawksbill"
"Fish: parrot, damsel, hogfish, wrasse, grouper and barracuda"
"If you are lucky maybe you will see a big green moray eel who lives in the
bay or the school of big-eyed scads who encircle both you and an
opportunistic five foot barracuda." (Close quote, not exact)
Three of my stations are now officially in operation. There are two
DO NOT STAND ON CORAL and one REST HERE and they form a triangle. The
station that creates the farthest point of the triangle, closest to the reef
crest, easily bears the weight of three swimmers. They work and better
than I ever could have expected. The other two are unoccupied, but supply
a marked path between two coral outcroppings, a guide for the dive boat
returning from an excursion. Hopefully the catamaran pilot will find these
useful and not crash into the large brain coral again.
Sunday is beach day for the locals. Large families escape the heat of the
pueblo to spend the day on the beach. It seems as though the whole village
is here. Little Mayan children clamor onto dive boats and quickly jump into
the water, over and over. There are very few tourists on the beach today.
Yesterday, Alex (my brother) and I were dropped off at the opening of Yal
Ku lagoon, located one mile north of Akumal Bay (thank you Greg for the
transport). Our objective was to snorkel down the coast past Half Moon Bay,
and video all the interesting creatures and formations that we saw. It took
two hours to reach the southern most point of Half Moon Bay. Tired and
thirsty we made a pit stop at Buena Vida for some agua and a cerveza. The
wind picked up and we decided to cut the trip short and walk the rest of the
way. We were lucky again and managed to hitch a ride back (thank you,
Robin). It was a very interesting trip. The powerful surge will make for
some interesting video. WHEEEEEEE!
Some of the points of interest: -
There were thousands of sea fans swaying back and forth in the turbulent
waters.
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Pink flamingo tongues, an orange spotted invertebrate snail, were attached
and feeding on many of the fans.
-
We observed many cleaning stations. Little yellow wrasse were judiciously,
picking and eating tasty unseen tidbits on blue tangs, doctor and parrot
fish.
-
A huge growth of healthy Acropora palmata, Elkhorn coral, located in the
warm shallow waters of Half Moon Bay.
-
One solitary five foot Tarpon, a prehistoric looking (submarine) fish was
surprised by our presence. There is not much here that is as large as he
is.
-
Six reef squid in perfect side-by-side formation, hovering effortlessly
inches above the ocean floor.
-
Turning over dead pieces of coral we found fire worms, small crabs and
brittle stars.
It was a very interesting trip; Half Moon Bay is very different
geologically then Akumal Bay. It is much shallower, has a sandy bottom,
and very little Thalassia, turtle grass, grows there. Like Akumal Bay, I
observed many instances of coral disease, over fishing and vast areas of
algal growth. It is just a skeleton of what it once was. I can easily
imagine how beautiful and productive this area used to be before the massive
coastal population growth in the Yucatan.
Last Thursday Greg and I dove Aak Kemen caves (means dead turtle in Mayan).
This is an underground cave system that contains runoff fresh water from
the land and tidal saltwater. Eventually this water exits into Yal Kú
Lagoon or percolates through cracks in the ocean floor. We borrowed a
powerful HID light and were able to get some great video footage.
Friday, Alex and I went on a jungle walk with Carlos, a waiter at El Pescador. This restaurant is a frequent hangout for Cornell students and
volunteers. During siesta, the hottest part of the day, we play dominos and
cards with the pesca boys. Many of us eat there regularly, besides
they have the best chips and salsa in Akumal. Good food at special discount
prices, free beer, for us regulars and jokes galore, you cannot beat that
deal. Anyway, Carlos volunteered, on his day off, to show us the jungle.
We spent two hours clamoring over rocks, under tree growth and vines. The
jungle is not suited for us tall gringos. Carlos, a wee Mayan, easily
traversed the terrain. You know I never saw a drop of sweat on the little
man. By the end of the trip I was wringing the perspiration from my shirt.
The highlights of this trip were: a wide variety of lizards and insects,
including many colorful butterflies, Carlos identified numerous plants and
trees, including varieties used by the Mayans for medicinal purposes. We
also stumbled across two small ruins, tiny limestone buildings built years
ago, decrepit and overgrown. The trip ended with a jump in a cenote where I
was able to wash off some of the sweat and jungle grime in the cool fresh
water.
For those who do not know, a cenote is a collapse in the limestone
cave system. This particular collapse has created a massive ledge. Thousands
of years of ground water percolation and cave flooding have created
interesting formations on the ceiling. Bats glide back and forth
disappearing into little nooks and crannies. Very cool stuff. The hunt
for the illusive jungle turkey was unsuccessful though, it reminded me of a
snipe hunt.
Talk to you all later
Scuba Steve Marsh
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