Day 1; Cayo Ron Survey

One happy group of volunteers!  (photo:  W Merten)

This past Saturday 18 volunteers joined myself to kick-off the chapters' coral reef restoration project titled "Coral Reef Protection through Marine Debris Removal in two Marine Protected Areas (MPAs); Arrecifes de Tourmaline and Reserva Marina Tres Palmas.  The goal of Saturday's adventure was to survey the reef, mark the location of any debris we discovered, survey and ID the corals on the big boat hull, and have fun all the while.  I'm very pleased to report that all of our objectives were completed for day.  All of the volunteers deserve a big round of applause for the hard work they endured and for greatly contributing to this project.  I would also like to thank Taino Divers for providing 6 tanks of air and Surf 787 for providing 2 soft-top surfboards and a kayak.  I would also like to thank Oliver Bencosme and Pinchon from Seagrant for their help with documenting the adventure.  Thanks!!

The next field days are on for Friday (9/2) and Saturday (9/3).   Friday's objective is to remove previously marked small to medium size debris and to survey and ID corals on another large piece of the boat hull.  Saturday's objective will be to transplant the previously identified corals on the large pieces of boat hull to nearby suitable substrate.  If you are interested in helping out please contact me by email at wessley.merten@upr.edu.  Check out the figures and photos below from Saturday's mission.  

The figure above displays the survey tracks conducted by volunteers this past Saturday.  The inset, or focus area, is where most of the survey's were conducted due to the increased amount of shipwreck debris (Fig. W Merten).

The figure above displays the location of the debris the volunteers found during their surveys.  Within the hull grid is a schematic of the shape of the large boat hull.  See the figure below for a more detailed view (Fig. W Merten).

A total of 100 lbs of debris was removed from Cayo Ron as a result of Saturday's outing.  However, we positioned probably around 300 lbs to be removed this Friday at a drop site in a sediment area in the backreef.  Along with that debris, I estimate that this Friday we will remove around 500-700 lbs of debris! Bring your working muscles!  Take a look at one of the monster boat hulls we are going to need to cut up to remove below.

The figure above displays the boat hull on the substrate of Cayo Ron.  The hull is covering 57.8 m^2 of habitable reef substrate.  The numbers on the hull indicate the individual corals that are going to be transplanted to a location nearby.  Below is a species list by number (n = 40).  The white background is the grid that the measurements were based on.  The tan background represents the substrate minus the abundance of hard and soft corals and other associated reef species (Fig. W Merten & Hector Ruiz). 

Information prepared by Hector Ruiz

The quantitative estimate of the boat hull was derived from in situ (in the water/field) measurements and through calculations in ArcGIS and Photoshop.  A special thanks to James Sethward, Kathy Hall, and Carol Ramos for helping establishing the grid and with the process of taking measurements.  Additionally, I would like to thank Hector Ruiz and Tim Rowell for their work identifiying the corals that will be transplanted.

Our next outing is this Friday!  Contact me by email if you are interested in helping out.


Contact:

Wessley Merten
787-436-8300
wessley.merten@upr.edu

Saturday, August 27th, Field Day Outline

Cayo Ron located 8 km off of Cabo Rojo and 13 km from Boqueron Bay (~250 acres)

Our goal for Saturday is to survey the reef like the image below.  This entails dragging, pulling, or swimming a GPS around with volunteers while looking for debris.  If and when we find debris we will mark it with a waypoint, log the type of debris, size, etc., then remove it.  However, on Saturday we will be removing only the small debris such as clothing, fishing line, rope, etc. that is smothering the reef.  Other large objects, so long as they have not become encrusted or overgrown with corals, will be lifted with lift bags and swam to an accessible sand area and left to be removed on the 3rd field day to Cayo Ron (to be announced) along with the large boat hull.  Most of the survey work we will be doing will be confined to depths less than 15-20' deep.   

Survey of Reserva Marina Tres Palmas and adjacent areas (500 acres).

Timeline of events

715-730 am      Participants arrive at Monaquatics (click the link for directions/location)

730-745 am     Day Briefing
 
800 am             Leave the dock

 830 am           Arrive to Cayo Ron

830-900 am     Break into teams

900-1100 am   Dive 1

11-1230 pm     Lunch

1-230 pm        Dive 2

 300 pm           Leave for home

 330 pm           Arrive at dock

Things to bring

Sunscreen
Sunglasses
Snorkeling or Dive gear
Lunch
Water
Rashguard or wetsuit
$10 bucks for a tank if you have dive gear
water camera

Please be on time! 

Contact Wessley Merten at 787-436-8300 or wessley.merten@upr.edu for more information on helping out in this coral reef restoration and marine debris removal effort.

Un Nuevo Proyecto de Desperdicios Marinos

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Recientemente, el capítulo de la Fundación Surfrider en Rincón recibió una subvención de la Administración Nacional Oceánica y Atmosférica (NOAA) Programa de Desechos Marinos hacer otra proyecto de restauración de los arrecifes con la remoción de desechos marinos en Puerto Rico. Este es el tercer proyecto que el capítulo de Rincón ha recibido de la NOAA hasta que el primer proyecto en 2006. Ese proyecto, junto con la segunda, que se completó en 2008, eliminó más de 475 gomas y un montón de otros desperdicios como partes de lanchas, bloques de cemento, cable, y la ropa que todos los afectado negativamente a la salud de los corales y otros organismos dentro de los Tres Palmas la Reserva Marina. En total, 150 corales individuales se salvaron de la asfixia y en detrimento de los desechos marinos. Ahora, en 2011, el capítulo se complace en anunciar el título de su tercer trabajo: Protección de los Arrecifes de Coral a través de eliminación de desechos marinos en dos Áreas Marinas Protegidas (AMPs): Arrecifes de Tourmaline y Reserva Marina Tres Palmas.

El sitio de estudio principal de este proyecto es Cayo Ron dentro de Arrecifes de Turmalina (de Cabo Rojo) como se describe anteriormente. La imagen superior muestra Cayo de Ron, la densidad de cuerno de alce (círculos de colores), y la ubicación de un gran parte de un barco (signos) que se corta en trozos y se retira. (Fig. M. Scharer and M. Nemeth)

La figura anterior muestra el sitio de estudio secundario, RMTP (línea de color negro sólido), los desechos marinos previamente marcados, y la extensión del proyecto indicado por la línea punteada negro. El recuadro muestra la densidad de coral cuerno de alce en RMTP (Fig. M. Scharer, M. Nemeth, and W.Merten).

Con este proyecto, el capítulo se ampliará la zona de arrecifes estudiados y atendidos (~ 750 acres), aumentar la cantidad de voluntarios de la comunidad que participan y las escuelas que participan en la difusión y la educación, y trabajar con los municipios de Rincón, Añasco y Cabo Rojo para alcanzar los siguientes objetivos: restaurar y proteger la salud de los arrecifes de coral de cuerno de alce y otros organismos mediante la eliminación de los desechos marinos; iniciar un programa de prevención de los desechos marinos mediante actividades de divulgación y la educación; evitar que los desechos entren en el océano por el trabajo con los municipios de Rincón, Añasco y Cabo Rojo para fortalecer sus programas de reciclaje, establecer un sistema coherente del ciclo de la costa de recolección de basura, y establecer normas para las actividades de gran tamaño que se llevan a cabo en las playas.  Juntos, estos objetivos comprenden el objetivo general del capítulo de mejorar el estado de la salud de los ecosistemas de arrecifes de coral se producen a lo largo de la costa oeste de Puerto Rico.

Para leer un resumen completo del proyecto, haga clic aquí.

El trabajo de campo contendrá 20 días en la lancha; 5 se llevará a cabo en Cayo Ron y 15 en Rincón. El trabajo de campo en Cayo Ron se iniciará en una semana. El trabajo de campo en Rincón comenzará en octubre, el tiempo lo permite. Los buzos certificados y buzos interesados ​​deben comunicarse con el director del proyecto para obtener información sobre cómo reservar un lugar en la lancha por uno de los días de campo.

Si usted está interesado en ayudar en este esfuerzo por favor comunicarse con el director del proyecto, Wessley Merten, a (787) 436-8300 o wessley.merten upr.edu @ para más información. Necesitamos voluntarios que nos acompañan en el campo para el localización y eliminación de los desperdicios, ayudar en la installoción de zafacones  a la costera, la pintura contenedores de reciclaje con los estudiantes, y aumentar la conciencia sobre la protección de nuestros recursos locales preciosos.

A New Marine Debris Removal Project is Initiated

Haga clic aqui para espanol

Recently, the chapter of the Surfrider Foundation in Rincon was awarded a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program to spearhead another coral reef restoration and marine debris removal project in Puerto Rico.  This is the third award that the Rincon chapter has received from NOAA since the first project was undertaken in 2006.  That project, along with the second that was completed in 2008, removed more than 475 tires and copious amounts of other items such as derelict boat debris, cinderblocks, cable, and clothing that all negatively affected the health of the corals and other organisms within the Tres Palmas Marine Reserve.  In total, 150 individual corals were liberated of the smothering and detrimental marine debris.  Now, in 2011, the chapter is pleased to announce the title of its' third effort: Coral Reef Protection through Marine Debris Removal in 2 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs): Arrecifes de Tourmaline and Reserva Marina Tres Palmas.

The primary study site of this project is Cayo Ron within Arrecifes de Tourmaline (off Cabo Rojo) as depicted above.  The top image shows Cayo Ron, Elkhorn densities (colored circles), and the location of a large hull of a vessel (plus signs) that will be cut into pieces and removed.  (Figure M. Scharer and M. Nemeth)

The figure above depicts the secondary study site, RMTP (solid black line), previously marked marine debris, and the project extension indicated by the dotted black line.  The inset depicts the density of Elkhorn coral within RMTP. (RMTP Fiqure:  M. Scharer, M. Nemeth, and W. Merten)

With this project, the chapter will expand the reef area surveyed and serviced (~750 acres), increase the amount of participating community volunteers and schools involved in the outreach and education, and work with the municipalities of Rincon, Anasco, and Cabo Rojo to acheive the following objectives: restore and protect the health of Elkhorn coral dominated reef systems and associated organisms by removing large amounts of non-re-accumulating marine debris; initiate a strong marine debris prevention program through outreach and education by raising awareness about the importance of protecting reefs, the link between land-based activities and the health of the reefs, and how our everyday actions can have a direct impact on reef health; prevent debris from entering the ocean by working with the aforementioned municipalities to strengthen their recycling programs, establish an effective and consistent coastal trash pickup cycle, and to set standards to abide by when large activities are conducted on municipal beaches i.e. festivals, fishing tournaments, surfing competitions, and races such as triathlons that consistently occur in these areas.  Together, these objectives comprise the chapter's overall goal of improving the state of the health of the coral reef ecosystems occurring along the west coast of Puerto Rico.  

To read a more comprehensive summary of the project click here.  

The field work will be comprised of 20 boat days; 5 will be conducted at Cayo Ron and 15 in Rincon.  Field work at Cayo Ron will begin as soon as possible where the reef will be surveyed and the debris will be removed prior to arrival of any large storms.  The field work in Rincon will begin in October, weather permitting.  Certified divers and interested snorkelers should contact the project manager for details on how to reserve a spot on the boat for one of the field days. 

If you are interested in helping in this effort please feel free to contact the project manager, Wessley Merten, at (787) 436-8300 or wessley.merten@upr.edu for more information.  We need volunteers to accompany us in the field locating and removing debris, helping to install coastal trash cans, painting recycling bins and containers with students, and increasing the awareness about protecting our precious local resources.