Cooperation of neighbors, agencies
lessens Kantenah lagoon sargassum
PA developer works to end future invasions;
Akumal hit hard at Turtle, Half Moon bays
By Staff
While decisive homeowners like Alberto and Gabriella Rivera, their neighbors, a handful of marines from the local base, Colonos employees and hired help skimmed the Kantenah Lagoon of odiferous sargassum weed a few weeks ago, iconic Puerto Aventuras developer Roman Rivera Torres was at his desk quietly studying and designing proposed barriers to prevent a reoccurrence of such invasions in the lagoon and the shores of Puerto Aventuras.
Simultaneously, Colonos GM Armando Rincon hosted several meetings of Kantenah neighbors to explain what the Colonos could and could not do to rid the lagoon of an attack that was killing fish and emitting a quite unpleasant odor, making life difficult for the lagoon residents. After one such meeting, Alberto Rivera, not a relative of Roman Rivera, decided that time for talk was over and took personal action.
No Mexican’ts here
The owner of “Definitive Solutions”, a roofing , painting and waterproofing company, rallied nearly a dozen of his employees on a Saturday morning, purchased numerous rakes, gathered several kayaks and began the task of skimming the weed from the water to the lagoon shoreline and packing it in plastic bags provided by the Colonos. They were soon enough joined by federal marines, Colonos employees and neighbors who either worked or donated money to help defray the cost of hired help and the purchase of rakes.
“One of our employees brought a large net he used for fishing,” Alberto Rivera said, and by mid-day the thick collection of weed that had settled at the very end of the lagoon was netted onto the shore to be stored in some of the 300 bags provided by the Colonos. Colonos GM Rincon said the bagged sargassum was collected by Colonos trucks and deposited on land behind the cultural center and, when ready, will be used as mulch on Colonos property.
The lagoon clean-up continued for a week with some 10 workers from the Colonos, the marines, the Catalonia hotel and Quinta Luna condominiums, including use of a pump to generate water flow and raise sargassum that had sunk to the bottom and remove it from the lagoon.
A temporary net has also been placed further up the lagoon to partially block any potentially imminent repeat of the invasion. The result? Sargassum continued choking the lagoon channel south of the bridge where Catalonia workers continued raking it ashore, while the inner lagoon, where residents live,has remained relatively free of the weed.
Long term solution
Some residents said this has never happened before with sargassum. They alleged the Catalonia hotel’s recent tinkering with the natural flow of water by installing a series of pyramidal stone reef just off-shore to preserve beach sand is what caused the lagoon invasion. They also say the hotel altered the natural lagoon entrance channel that could also be contributing to the vegetative intrusion.
Arq. Roman Rivera Torres believes the residents have a point to make. He pulled a file from among many on his desk and displayed a series of drawings of the PA shoreline marked with lines and arrows showing the flow of local sea water. In particular, he also displayed what he believes could be the reason for the possible first-ever flow of sargassum into the lagoon.
Permitting process flawed
He said the design of the hotel’s reef was to keep the sand in but probably didn’t consider keeping the sargassum out. The drawings show new designs for the reef placement and changes in the lagoon entrance channel. The design will be reviewed by scientists for a second opinion, he said.
Roman Rivera said even if the Catalonia agrees to reef and channel changes, new permits will be required and that presents a whole new problem. “They (the hotel) had to wait 2.5 year for the barrier permit,” Rivera said. “Another permit to make some changes could take another year or more.” He inferred that the permitting process is too cumbersome to yield quick fixes and needs some serious fixing itself.
He said the first wave of sargassum to hit the shore occurred several months ago and settled on the Chac Hal Al Condominium shoreline. There too, about 24 neighbors – some elderly – worked together to remove the the pest weed. “Other residents made lemonade and brought it down to them,” he said. The Omni Hotel next door also took steps to clear the beach while the developer worked on designs to hopefully prevent a recurrence in the future. All the parties agreed that the clean-up efforts in both locations showed exemplary community spirit. (See Mail Bag letter below)
Caleta has tidal deposits
Meanwhile, the caleta in Phase 4 continues to have rather large recurring deposits of sargassum at its terminus near the Mayan ruin. These deposits, however, apparently come and go with the flow, perhaps some of it sinking by the ruins. While the deposits in the Kantenah lagoon, where tidal flow is minimal, have resulted in fish kills for lack of oxygen, the sargassum in the caleta, which has strong tidal flow, is teeming with tiny fish that are similar to sea horses and swim so slowly that bathers can easily capture them with bare hands. Dr. Enrique Perez, PA’s resident dentist, happened to be bathing at the caleta with his family last weekend and suggested the substantial flow of water in and out of the caleta brings with it enough oxygen to sustain the fish there.
The assumption among bathers there last Sunday is that these fish, never seen before in the caleta, came flowing in with the sargassum and are responsible for attracting sea birds such as egrets and even land-based black grackles observed landing and standing on the sargassum – thick as it was – perhaps feeding on the tiny fish.
Eat it to beat it
Sargassum to this degree is a relatively new natural occurrence along the coast here just as a newly discovered warm seawater mass along California’s Pacific coastline dubbed “The Blob” is believed responsible for thousands of dead seabirds and emaciated sea lion pups washing ashore.
Taking a page from the “Lionfish” saga’s mantra “Eat it to beat it”, three students from the Riviera University researched possible uses of sargassum to help sustain society and found answers in Japan, France and University of California where sea algae is turned into food and/or fertilizer. The students actually baked a cake of kelp and are now looking for approval to market the product.
A walk along Turtle Bay in Akumal this week also revealed a shore loaded with sargassum as large-scale construction of all-inclusive hotel rooms continued for quite a stretch along the bay. Workers loaded and hauled sargassum into wheelbarrows for removal as some hotel guests snorkeled and others sunned themselves among the clusters of beach palapas under construction despite the weed infestation.
Billfish tourney here May 5-19
to host eight wounded warriors
By Staff
Eight American “wounded warriors” will be treated to four days of fishing, golf and snorkeling from May 15-19 in collaboration with Capt. Rick’s Sportsfishing center and the 12th annual Dave Harris Memorial Charity Billfish Tournament.
“The tournament is very excited to share this incredible experience with these soldiers who have sacrificed so much for world peace.” said tournament spokesman Don Harris. He said in all there will be 48 people participating in the tournament, including the eight warriors, all of whom will be staying at the Aventuras Club.
Last year the Hard Rock Hotel treated the warriors to a Bon Jovi concert and donated a weekend stay to a Wounded Warriors In Action (WWIA) raffle in support of the event.
The organization serves U.S. combat veterans wounded in action by providing world class outdoor sporting activities as a way of recognizing their sacrifice, encourage independence and promote healing.
Purple Heart recipients participating this year include Justin Gaertner who lost both legs in Afghanistan; Raymond Kusch, who lost his left leg and suffered other major injuries when stepping on an improvised explosive device (IED) ; Mark Broda, who suffered multiple shrapnel wounds when a truck bomb detonated in Saudi Arabia; Aaron Estes, suffered life-threatening injuries over most of his body when stepping on an IED in Afghanistan and spent three years in rehabilitation; Tyson Scott, injured seriously by a mortar explosion; Adam Kiselewski, who lost his left arm and right leg to an IED in Iraq; Brett Bondurant, who lost both legs and suffered fractures to his left arm, both hands and pelvis in Afghanistan from an IED. The eighth warrior asked for anonymity.
Federal agency declares stretch
of Akumal area a fish sanctuary
Beach access for puebla residents still an issue
By Staff
A federal agency has decreed a 7.6 km section of Akumal’s shoreline as a protected fish sanctuary, but it hasn’t stopped residents of the community’s puebla from seeking to negotiate assurances of continued free access to the beach.
While a press release from the privately held Centro Ecologico Akumal (CEA) announced the April 14 decree by the federal SAGARPA agency (oversees agriculture, livestock, rural development, food and fisheries), a contingent of puebla residents was meeting with municipal officials in Tulum seeking assurances they would have continued free access to the beach. The CEA has previously issued statements that Akumal puebla residents will continue to have free passage even if other day-guests are eventually charged a fee.
The protected area begins at the Caleta del Yalkuito on the north and continues southerly through the CEA property to the southern limit of the Hotel Grand Bahia Principe and 1.5 km from the beach seaward. The decree was issued on its face value to protect 21 species of fish and crustaceans of commercial interest, and to curtail and reverse the deterioration of the reefs.
Since the whole idea of the refuge is to allow dwindling stocks time to propagate and re-populate, no commercial fishing is allowed in the newly declared refuge area, according to the press release from CEA. The need for such action was outlined in various studies that found declining health of coral reefs and 60 percent reduction in density of fish population during the last seven years.
Puebla residents claim the underlying intent of CEA lobbying for a refuge decree, which they said they perceive as legal trickery, is to control access to the beach for hotels there with an eye toward charging a fee to enter and thus limiting access under the guise of conservation. The CEA says those opinions are the product of misinformation. (See companion brief in Nature Watch below.)
PA poblado also pursuing beach access
If there is a light at the end of the tunnel for residents of the Puerto Aventuras Poblado praying for beach access, it shines on rocky ground. It appears that the municipal government is looking at legally disputed land across from Dolphinarius on Highway 307 between PA and Paamul as a possible corridor to the sea for them.
Problem is, however, that the beach is rocky terrain “both on the shore and in the water,” reports one of two PA resort women who recently walked the shore from PA to Paamul, “not what one would call a beach.” At any rate, the government says even that option is not seen as a short-term solution but one that would take considerable time to decipher the legal ownership status. A spokesman for the poblado residents replied that they have “patience.”
Meanwhile , the group is also looking for a discount to use the beach at Xpu Ha where there is a charge of 50 pesos to gain beach access. They ask for a 50 percent reduction to 25 pesos.
Commerce Corner…
Court rejects complaint filed
against Centro board by café
HOA wants back-fees, common area cleared
By Staff
The court has rejected the merit of a criminal complaint filed by Café Ole against a former board of Centro Comercial. The charge was brought following the board’s ordering the destruction of parts of a bar that was installed on common property by the café. It was a voted action by the board to return the common property to its original state to end running disagreements between the two parties.
The prior board’s action caused an unsettling commotion at the scene on the day it occurred. Subsequently, café supporters took to social media with some unpleasant protest of the board’s action. The board was subsequently recalled in an effort to help cool the rhetoric and a new board elected while a criminal complaint that was filed by the café awaited a court decision. That decision has now been rendered and it favors the prior board.
Meanwhile, voters of the business district have approved continuing the action in the case of the café and of several other unit owners to collect late fees the association claims it is owed, according to the minutes of the Feb. 21, 2015 assembly. In addition, the assembly voted to continue the legal process of returning the cafe’s common property to its original state.
Asked if he wanted to comment on the court decision dismissing his complaint and the latest assembly vote to continue the process started by the previous board, café co-owner Gary Adams said : “I think it’s best we all wait and see. I don’t need to go public. This is far from over.”
Q. Roo third in malaria cases
The state of Quintana Roo ranked third in cases of malaria so far this year, after Campeche with 53 cases and 22 in Chiapas, it was reported on World Malaria Day last Sunday. In the entire country over the last thirteen weeks, only eight states reported malaria infections, which is mosquito-borne, as is dengue fever, except that dengue is a virus and malaria a parasite.
Both of these afflictions are transmitted by the bite of the mosquito and one reason cases have been reported in Q. Roo is the presence of many mangroves, a favorite breeding spot for mosquitoes.
High fever is the major symptom of malaria with a temperature of 39-40 Celsius (102-104 F) . People of any age can be infected. Protection against malaria is much like protection from dengue – comprehensive large-scale mosquito control efforts, keeping a clean yard and environment, elimination of pooling, still water and localized spraying.
Mexlaw Primer…
Two ways of investing in Mexico,
as individual or as a corporation
By Gerardo Gonzalez Gamboa
Mexico is a country of emerging economies and it is safe to assume that it would be a profitable place to establish a business either on your own or through a partnership. In either case, an experienced legal/business advisor is a good way to start.
From the legal point of view, as in most countries, there are two types of legal figures: An individual or a corporation (persona física and persona moral, respectively). An individual is the person enjoying rights and is the one to incur obligations. Any individual and corporation coming together for a lawful purpose is known as “social order,” and can include companies, associations or any other legal figure.
Unlike a natural individual, a legal individual must choose the corporate name, or denomination, with which to operate in this country. The denomination has legal disposition, i.e. rights and obligations, and a heritage.
For foreigners, it is important to know why: If you are part of a legal entity created in Mexico by the laws of this country, this entity is considered 100 percent Mexican: It will be unable to take any other nationality and can include individuals that may have more than one nationality.
There are many investment options in Mexico that take many forms, each due to different situations. That is why, after researching the topic, it is very important to seek efficient and reliable legal advice to explain your particular circumstances and take the decision that best suits your needs and those of your business.
If you’ve decided that Mexico is the ideal destination for your investments, the next important decision is to have a representative in whom you can trust, make your goals yours and who will be by your side all the way. This how you can ensure your investments are on the path to success. (Learn about Mexlaw by clicking on its logo in the sponsor column.)
CONTINUING EDUCATION – Dr. Enrique Perez, the PA resort’s general dentist and local resident, will be at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, May 2-6, for a clinical leadership course presented by Harvard’s Department of Oral Health. This is the fourth course Dr. Perez has taken at Harvard in recent years. He also attended the World Congress of the International Federation of Aesthetic Dentists in Germany in September, 2013.
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Two house breaks reported
A thief broke into two houses on Bahia Chemuyil in mid-April and in one case, walked into the bedroom of the owner while the owner slept. Security reported that the owner was awakened when the thief knocked something over, causing the thief to scramble out of the room, with the owner not far behind. The thief reportedly was photographed on a security camera before jumping a fence onto the resort property, but not leaving the property. A computer was taken in this break and a camera in the other.
The events prompted distribution of a letter drafted by the Colonos and sent to homeowners cautioning them to lock ground-floor windows and doors to deter what Security believes are amateur crooks who are apparently desperate for one reason or another, such as purchasing drugs. It is believed this type of thief goes from one building to another looking for an easy entry.
Security said in its report the thief or thieves are using the golf course as a means of quick access to the perimeter fence after breaking into nearby homes. The Security department has recently acquired a golf cart and is patrolling the golf course at night while a new Security car is patrolling the perimeter fence.
Owners of individual homes and condos, particularly on the ground floor, are reminded to secure all possible means of access to their units. Forewarned is forearmed.
Editorial-ito…
Hope cashier “wins” dose of honesty
A cashier at Chedraui’s Super Market across the highway purchased a lottery ticket last week, no doubt hoping to win a big prize to fulfill her dreams. Problem is, she bought the ticket with a customer’s money and instead of winning, she at least lost face because she got caught.
The gamble occurred as a man and his wife were checking out and the wife was engaged in a conversation with a bagger in an adjacent line. The husband noticed the cashier nervously fidgeting with a lottery ticket as she punched in prices of purchased items.
When the customers returned home, the wife noticed this item at the bottom of the receipt: “Salto del Gane – 10 pesos.” Several days later on another shopping trek, the receipt was brought to Chedraui’s to ask the person at the customer service booth what “Salto del Gane” meant. He concurred it was a lottery ticket purchase…which neither the man nor the woman had asked for or received.
As it happens, the cashier was at work that day too. The customer service man went to her and after a short conversation with her – as she looked with worried demeanor at the customers in question – returned with 10 pesos and offered it to the customers with his deepest apologies. “She said it was a mistake,” he said. The customers didn’t take the pesos in the hope the woman “won” a new respect for honesty. Forewarned is forearmed. Keep your vigilance close, and your wallet or pocketbook closer.
If these shenanigans continue, PA will become known as a sunny place for shady people.
Briefly Noted…
PLAYA RED CROSS DIRECTOR Horacio Moreno Trinidad, now in negotiations with Puerto Aventuras financial elements for the potential re-opening of the PA clinic and ambulance service, has been named fire chief in Playa del Carmen. It was not reported whether he will continue in both jobs… A NEW RESTAURANT is expected to open sometime this summer in the former Tiramisu location adjacent to Hippo’s… DRONE COMPLAINTS were expressed at a local eatery by a group of women who resent drones flying around their windows at 11 p.m. … FERRY CROSSINGS to Cozumel averaged 12 to 15,000 tourists a day during the Easter season, breaking records… LOST AT SEA was a man on a jet ski who tried to cross the channel from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel last weekend. A female companion on another jet ski was rescued by the Navy some seven hours after leaving Playa on the journey. Mechanical failure and strong winds may have played a part in the disappearance… TOYOTA will build a modern assembly plant in Guanajuato State to produce the Corolla model for the U.S. market now being made in Canada. The plant should be on line in 2019, save 40 percent in production costs and bring consumer prices downward. Unreported is what happens to the Canadian plant and its workers?… MEANWHILE, World Bank leader Jim Yong Kim has applauded Mexico’s “aggressive” reform agenda aimed at “bright” growth… YUCATAN APRIL WEATHER in some places reached a high of 42 degrees Celsius (108F) with a few cases of heat stroke and exhaustion but no deaths. Health officials issued health warnings particularly for the elderly and children vulnerable to various heat-related symptoms The temperature reached a record high in Merida at 43.6 C (110.8 F)… DROUGHT CONDITIONS caused a number of brush fires around Playa del Carmen including one that came close to Plaza Las Americas that scorched more than two hectares before firefighters got it under control… PRESIDENT PENA NIETO canceled a speech at the Panamerican University last month because school officials wanted to limit the audience to a chosen few students… BOULEVARD PLAYA DEL CARMEN, which is Highway 307 under and along the Playa del Carmen overpass, has claimed another life when a Veracruz resident was hit by a transport van near Painters Avenue. In February two workers were hit by a drunk driver while also trying to cross the boulevard…A FOOD POISONING CASE traced to chicken meat in Bacalar prompted federal health commission agents in Playa del Carmen to inspect some 133 outlets selling rotisserie and raw chicken meat to prevent further outbreaks… THE DEATH SENTENCE by hanging of three Mexican brothers accused of drug trafficking was confirmed by the Malaysian high court. The judges rejected the defense’s allegations of insufficient evidence. Only a royal pardon can now save the brothers from the gallows… SEMARNAT’S FEDERAL DEPUTY in Quintana Roo, Raul Gonzalez, has resigned his post for health reasons. SEMARNAT is the Ministry of Environmental and Natural Resources and as such involved in the permitting of many activities concerning development along the coast and a target of various complaints by developers… THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT says your chances of having a bad accident increases by 400 percent while driving and simultaneously talking on a cell phone…
The Mail Bag…
On missing some hurricanes
Dear Editor:
Thanks, as always, for the great service that you provide with your newsletter. In reading the most current issue, I found an omission in the reporting regarding the hurricanes in the Yucatan over the past 41 years.
There have been SIX hurricanes since 1941 – the four that you have named (Inez, Gilbert, Roxanne and Wilma – as well as Hurricane Emily, which made landfall on July 18, 2005 as a Category 4 storm; and Hurricane Dean, which made landfall in Mahahual as a Category 5 on August 21, 2007.
I remember both well – we lost all of the windows on the top two floors of our condo building here on Half Moon Bay in North Akumal, and I was very involved in relief efforts in Mahahual in 2007. Additionally, we drove down to Mexico for the first time following Dean and witnessed the devastation and destruction from the Texas border, along the Gulf Coast and through the isthmus and up the peninsula from Chetumal to Akumal.
My husband and I have owned a condo in Akumal for 12 years and have been dividing our time between here and California for the past eight years. After driving back and forth 14 times, we have decided to make Akumal our home base and are now living here permanently.
Keep up the great work and let me know if there is ever any help that I can give to you from Akumal.
Thanks,
Signed/Sherwood Anders
Dear Editor:
A quick note regarding your article about predicted hurricane activity in the Yucatan and past experiences with same. The Yucatan suffered the aftermath of not one but two(!) hurricanes in 2005. I remember them well. Read below:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_storms_in_the_2005_Atlantic_hurricane_season#Hurricane_Emily
Thanks for all the entertaining and informative news this season. We look forward to each edition!
Signed/Hannah Friedman
Dear Editor:
You seems to have forgotten about our hurricane Emily (Category 5), in July 2005, just three months before Wilma, whose center was a few kilometers away from Puerto Aventuras and was much more damaging to the complex than Wilma. So even if hurricanes arrive every 10 years, you can get 2 in 3 months.
Signed/ T. Defauw
(Ed. Note: Thanks for the fine editing jobs. We stand corrected…and appropriately red-faced)
Restaurateur moves on
Dear Editor:
Hi, I am Peter Metrick, former owner of Latitude 20. You all know me. I have a very nice 43-foot sailboat and an excellent opportunity to do private sailing day charters out of Puerto Aventuras. I am looking for investor/partner for a small business and lots of fun in the sun. Contact me at petermetrickpuerto@hotmail.com—or at 984-128-2933.
Signed/Peter Metrick
Blocking the lagoon
Dear Editor:
My parents own a condo at Quinta Luna, on Bahia Katenhah and the Katenhah Lagoon, across from the Catalonia and I live in Playa del Carmen so am lucky enough to visit the condo on the weekends. Today (the 25th) I noticed workers at the Catalonia Hotel blocking the small stone path that people use to cross from the Catalonia onto the rock breaker. And then I noticed workers taking rocks and throwing them into the water to close the entrance in and out of the lagoon. It is the way people who are kayaking, paddle boarding, snorkeling, jet skiing, etc, get out of the lagoon and into the sea.
My question is: How can the Catalonia do this? Did they have to get permission from the city? How does this part of the lagoon belong to them? I tried to call the Colonos office but since it is Saturday, they are closed. I’ve attached pictures. It’s upsetting to say the least, and I want to understand how they are able to do this?
I didn’t know who else to contact since the office was closed and your paper is very informative so I thought maybe you would know what was going on.Thank you.
Signed/Sarah Benz
(Ed. Note: See today’s lead story.)
Nature Watch…
Native bees without a sting,
must be left to do their thing
Mayan honey medicine: No Rx required
By Gayle Sandholm
What do Mayan artisans, birding with friends and blossoming trees have in common? Answer: “Melipona Beechi” or, stingless bees. Found in most tropical regions of the world, their honey has been gathered by Mayans for centuries. During an April 2 visit to a Mayan Artisan Fair in Playa, I first became aware of Mayan bee honey and its medicinal properties.
Melipona honey is much sweeter than honey from honey bees, imported from Europe, and is a more liquid , up to 40% compared to 20% for honey-bee honey. The flavor is often described as more flowery than honey bee honey. Melipona honey has been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years. It is a topical antibiotic, can help reduce scarring, is used for treating cataracts, and can be used as an antiseptic if you are coming down with a cold. Because honey bees yield more honey and because less of the melipona honey is being harvested, melipona honey is more expensive than honey bee honey.
Later that day. I was birding with a friend here in Puerto Aventuras when a neighbor pointed out a tree branch housing a hive of these Mayan stingless bees. They often nest in hollow trunks, tree branches, or underground cavities. (While visiting with the neighbor, bees emerged from the branch and buzzed around our heads) These bees are somewhat smaller than honey bees. It is also common for the hive to have an entry tube (see photo) as a protection from predators. There are numerous of these tree-branch hives around town. And, in case you have not heard, birds and bees go together. Pollinating bees are a favorite of many insect-eating birds.
Mayans have kept these bees for thousands of years.
They were, and still are, treated as pets. Families would have one or many log-hives hanging in and around their houses. Although they are stingless, the bees do bite and can leave welts similar to a mosquito bite. The traditional way to gather bees, still favored among the locals, is find a wild hive, then the branch is cut around the hive to create a portable log, enclosing the colony.
This log is then capped on both ends with another piece of wood or pottery and sealed with mud. This clever method keeps the melipona bees from mixing their brood, pollen, and honey in the same comb as do the European bees. The brood is kept in the middle of the hive, and the honey is stored in vertical “pots” on the outer edges of the hive.
A temporary, replaceable cap at the end of the log allows for easy access to the honey while doing minimal damage to the hive. However, inexperienced handlers can still do irreversible damage to a hive, causing the hive to swarm and abscond from the log. With proper maintenance, though, hives have been recorded as lasting over 80 years, being passed down through generations. [Wikipedia]
Xunancab,
the traditional Mayan name for the bees, were important to trading activity of the region and only second in importance to corn (maize) in people’s lives and rituals. Considered sacred, Xunancab were the subject of religious ceremonies. It is thought that the small figure over numerous doorways and especially over the entrance of the Temple of the Descending God at the Tulum ruins is the Bee god, Ah Musen Cab.
We would do well to save these bees. Deforestation, increased insecticide use, and changing beekeeping practices with the arrival of the honey bee, have endangered these stingless wonders. So next time you see these bees going in and out of their hive, remember the beauty of blossoms around us, the pollinated fruits we enjoy, the many, striking birds that depend on the blossoms, fruits and insects, and the sweet taste of honey.
NATURE BRIEF– The first turtle of the nesting season came ashore in Akumal in April, dug a tunnel but didn’t spawn as the nesting season was set to legally begin on May 1 and end Oct. 30. The Ecological Center of Akumal (CEA) has already been monitoring the community’s various beaches since April 1. Last year the center recorded 303 loggerhead nests on its shores, 128 at Half Moon Bay, 37 at Akumql Bay and 138 nests in Turtle Bay and South Akumal.