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 Trippin’ on Turtles magazine We want you! The Story of Empanada part one Washed Up T ransforming a trashed landscape THE NITROX KICK The Newest Special ty Course Avaliable in Pez Maya BEHIND THE SCIENCE The Hunt Least Tern Time The Creatures of Pez Maya The Razor

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  • Trippin on Turtlesmagazine

    We want you! Apply for a scholarship now!

    The Story of Empanadapart one

    Washed UpTransforming a trashed

    landscape

    The NiTrox KicKThe Newest Specialty Course Avaliable in Pez Maya

    BehiNd The

    ScieNce

    The Hunt

    Least Tern Time

    The Creatures of Pez Maya

    The Razor

  • Contents A Pez Maya Publication

    Facebook: GVI Mexico Yucatan

    Twitter:GVI Mexico

    Instagram:GVI Travel

    Publisher

    Andy Ez

    Editors Andy Ezeta Jodie Savage

    Jill Wheeler Sam Wilson

    Contributors Sam Wilson

    Lara KalischRachel Parry

    Kerry Passingham Eugene Beery Jodie Savage

    Steffanie Ransom

    Photography Editor Andy Ez

    PhotographersAndy Ez

    Alejandro DurnSarah Davies

    Pez Maya Magazine Second Quarter 2015 Vol 1 Issue 2

    2 You are the Difference

    3 BehinD the Science

    5 tripping on turtleS

    7 WaSheD up:tranSforming a traSheD lanDScape

    9 the hunt

    11 leaSt tern time!

    12 the creatureS of pez maYa,the razor

    13 We Want You!

    14 the nitrox KicKThe Newest Specialty Course Avaliable in Pez Maya

    15 the StorY of empanaDa, part 1

    17 The Pez Puzzler

    Cover photo by Andy Ez:Big storm in Pez Maya.

    The Pez Maya Magazine is published every 3 months by the GVI Mexico - Pez Maya team. This is and always will be a free publication. Copyright GVI.2015

    1Pez Maya Magazine 2015

  • Contents Global Vision International (GVI) is a multi-award winning social enterprise that runs high impact volunteer and international education programs.

    For more than 15 years GVI has helped thousands of people make a real difference to the world they

    live in while also gaining the knowledge and skills necessary to live and work in a globally interde-pendent and culturally diverse world.

    We began more than 15 years ago with a simple mission: To work hand in hand with local commu-nities, NGOs and government organisations to facilitate real change on the ground while also giving

    our participants the opportunity to grow personally and professionally.

    Its an undertaking weve been proud to pursue in over 25 countries, through 450 programs and by the support of over 25,000 participants and we are thankful to all past present and future volunteers.

    you are the difference

    2Pez Maya Magazine 2015

  • So the second quarter of our year has been and gone, and despite the rainy seasons best efforts at catching us off guard and stopping us from diving, we completed four of our monitoring sites, even the fish monitors managed to complete the same number of sites as us this time!

    For this quarter, weve drawn up a few graphs of the coral cover and the species richness. Now the fact that these graphs mirror each other fairly well show that the sites with more corals recorded provide a greater range of species.

    On the surface this seems a fairly simple and obvious result, however, with our current knowledge on the ecology of coral reefs, trends like these can provide useful base data for future studies to use and reference. Everything in our school text books has to be proven at one time or another, and this is the kind of information we can base those on.

    Now that we have reached somewhat of a milestone at Pez Maya, having ten years of data, we can finally get a clearer image of how our reef is functioning. Is it improving? Degrading? Staying the same? Has it disappeared overnight as if abducted by aliens? Well lets find out.

    As you can see fom the graphs below the majority of our sites dont show significant trends. Only PL20 is showing a significant increase, and while PL10 showed an equally large amount of coral it has shown less of a tendency to increase over time. We will be looking at other influences on coral growth to see if there is any correlation between our hard coral cover and other groups of organisms, such as parrot fish and algae. So stay tuned!

    BehindtheScienceBy Sam Wilson & Andy Ez

    3Pez Maya Magazine 2015

  • 00.01

    0.02

    0.03

    0.04

    0.05

    0.06

    PP10

    SMDR10

    SMDR20

    PY20

    4Pez Maya Magazine 2015

    Now in the case of fish, and yes, we managed to do the same amount of sites as the corals. I dont know what the big commotion is, but anyway ...

    In the case of fish the dominant families did vary in almost all sites, unlike last quarter in which two families; Acanthuridae for adults and Labridae for juveniles, were the dominant groups for all the monitors.

    At site PP10 the Acanthuridae family (surgeon-fish), was most commonly sighted by a conside-rable margin and for juveniles the Pomacentridae (damselfish) were the most abundant.

    The site SMDR 10 was the one with the most sightings reaching 108 fish. The Haemulidae fa-mily (grunts) for the adult and the Labridae family (wrasse) for the juveniles stood out from the rest.

    In SMDR 20 again the Acanthuridae family was the most popular while the Scaridae (parrotfish) was greater for the juveniles.

    And last but not least in PY20, again the Acanthu-ridae family was the most abundant for the adults and the Labridae for the juveniles.

    In the case of these sites it is interesting to see that there is a level of diversity between the dominant families, and that we are not just seeing Labridae and Acanthuridae throughout.

    And now in another note we also have ten years of data for the fish and enough information to make a more complete analysis of our reefs. A small example we can show you SMDR 10 and 20.

    What we can see in these graphs is that there is a small increase (especially for SMDR10) in the last 10 years in the amount of fish spotted. This growth is occurring slowly, but the important thing is that its happening.

    We still have more analysis to conduct on these sites, but we hope that in the coming months we can work with the data to see what our overall reef ecology looks like.

    R = 0.0056

    0

    20

    40

    60

    80

    100

    120

    Total SMDR 20R = 0.207

    0

    20

    40

    60

    80

    100

    120

    140

    160

    180

    Total SMDR 10

    0

    0.01

    0.02

    0.03

    0.04

    0.05

    0.06

    0.07

    0.08

    0.09

    0.1

    Pomacentridae Labridae Scaridae Acanthuriade

    PP10

    SMDR10

    SMDR20

    PY20

    In this graph you can appreciate the abundance of the families of adult fish

    And in this one you can see the numbers of the juvi fish families

  • Slaughtered for their eggs, meat and shells sea turtles suffer from poaching and over exploitation. They also have to face habitat destruction and accidental capture by fis-hing gear. One of their biggest threats cau-sed by humans is pollution: debris can harm or even kill sea turtles through ingestion and entaglement.

    5Pez Maya Magazine 2015

    Andy Ez

    Andy Ez

  • Trippin on Turtles

    Turtles are a frequent sight in Pez Maya. Either from the boat or on a dive, turtles are always a welcome surprise. Luckily for us in Pez Maya, we have three of the seven turtle species that can be found around the world, these are Green, Loggerhead and Hawksbill which nearly all are considered Endangered.

    Only the female returns to land to nest, mostly during the night, and can range from two to nine times during the nesting season (dependant on species), which is between June and September in Mexico. The female turtle crawls to a dry part of the beach and begins to fling away loose sand with her flippers. She then constructs a "body pit" by digging with her flippers and rotating her body. After the body pit is complete, she delecately and expertly digs an egg cavity using her cupped rear flippers as shovels. The average size of a clutch ranges from about fifty to hundred and ninety eggs, depending on the species.

    The incubation will take about 60 days, although the hotter the sand surrounding the eggs the faster the embryos will develop. Surprisingly, the temperature of the nest has an influence on whether there will be more females or males. Cooler nests has a tendency to produce more males, while warmer nests produces a higher ratio of females.

    The ''mother turtle'' is never there to help the hatchlings to emerge from the nest, she returns to the sea as soon as she has finished laying and covering up the nest, they must do it all by themselves. To break open their shells hat-chlings use a temporary sharp egg-tooth, called a "caruncle''. Once emerged from their egg they dig out of the nest as a group, and unfortunately some of them sacrifice themselves so the others climb on top of them to get free - this process can take several days. The little turtles orient themselves to the brightest horizon, and then dash toward the sea. Unfortunately there are many hurdles baby turtles have to overcome to reach adult hood, and some start right out of the nest, for example dehydration and predators like birds and crab.

    Once in the water, they typically swim several miles off shore, where they are relatively safe. One of the most re-markable acts in the animal world is the ability of sea turtles to migrate for hundreds or even thousands of ki-lometers from their feeding ground back to their nes-ting beach where they were born. So we might see our little turtle babys again one day! Although there might be some time to wait, as it can between 3 to 50 years to reach sexual maturity, depending on species.

    We have plenty of turtles nesting on our beaches every year and hope that this will continue. Seeing baby turt-les hatching is a one of the most fascinating things I have ever seen. If you did not have the opportunity to see this wonderful event yet, I hope that you that you will get the chance one day!

    by Lara Kalisch

    6Pez Maya Magazine 2015

    Andy Ez

  • Washed Up: Transforming a Trashed Landscape

    Alejandro Durn has found trash from over 50 different countries. This rubbish has been carried to the shores of Sian Kaan from all over the globe, and must travel over the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef to get here. The Washed Up project events and the opening of the Museum of Garba-ge which were designed to create and promote environmental awareness about rubbish, ultimately trying to encourage a change in the patterns of consumption and waste we have.

    Dawn (2011)All images are Alejandro Durn 2015. All Rights Reserved

    By Rachel Parry

    7Pez Maya Magazine 2015

  • Never has the saying one mans trash is another mans treasure been so rele-vant than at the Museum of Garbage in the Sian Kaan Reserve. The Museum of Garbage, or El Museo de la Basura, is part of multimedia artist Alejandro Durns Washed Up project. Alejandro Durn has been visiting Sian Kaan for over five years and says that when he first arrived he was surprised and disgusted by the amount of rubbish that washed up on the shores in this UNESCO World Heritage site. His project, Washed Up, looks at the issue of plastic pollution making its way across the ocean and onto the shores of Sian Kaan, Mexicos largest federally-protected reserve.

    In May this year, Alejandro and GVI joined forces to organise events leading up to the official opening of the Museum of Garbage at the Xo Kiin retreat lodge. The lodge is right by Punta Allen, the tiny but world-famous fishing town where GVI provide weekly English lessons at kindergarden, primary and secondary le-vels.

    On the 6th of May, after our regular English classes, our volunteers and staff members travelled to the Museum of Garbage for the first event: the pre-opening of the museum for the children of Punta Allen. We then helped to set up various art exhibitions. Some of us washed blue shoes and arranged them in a beautiful spiral, some carefully positioned toothbrushes among the mangroves and others separated washed up rubbish into different categories.

    When the children came, staff and volunteers showed them around the museum with Alejandro as a guide. They started at the International Rubbish station where rubbish from over 50 different countries was displayed along with a map showing all of the countries of origin, by colour.It was wonderful to see all of the students engaged and curious as to what piece of rubbish came from which country. The students spoke about their disappointment that there is so much rubbish in the ocean, and talked about the messages they would like to send to the world to try to stop the pollution.

    The students explored the museum and learnt a lot about recycling and plastics, including which plastics are recyclable and which arent. The installations and art work were displayed amongst the jungle like secret pockets of treasure and the accessibility of the exhibition made the children feel like explorers and helped to keep them interested and engaged. After the tour, the children took part in a quick beach clean. Then, with one last talk from Alejandro, the event came to a close.

    On the 11th of May we returned to Punta Allen to pick up two truck-loads of garbage from the Museum, all carefully sorted into different colours. In Punta Allen, GVI went to the Primary school and Secondary school and took groups of students out to the local park where they made posters with the messages they wanted to send to the world about recycling and ocean pollution. Everybody hel-ped to make a mega art installation on the football field using all the rubbish GVI brought. The children, students, parents, friends and supporters all positioned themselves around the art installation in a circle while Alejandro took photos with his drone camera. The photos were taken from above and showed the community coming together as one to help spread the message: cuida al planeta or look after our planet.

    The Washed Up project was an important opportunity to educate not only the children and people of Punta Allen and the local community, but also ourselves. All staff and volunteers who participated are now more educated ambassadors for the environment, with an increased motivation to change the disposable mindset created by our excessive consumerism of plastics and other resources.

    It has been said that if you want adults to recycle, then all you need to do is teach their children why it's so important. The work that GVI does with the children at Punta Allen has always focussed on educating and creating awareness. Our aim is to improve not just the livelihoods of the children, but subsequently, all creatures of nature. Our Marine Conservation project at Pez Maya can only be useful if we are able to educate people on how to improve their interactions with nature and help to protect and conserve our environment.

    Spill (2010)

    Algae (2013)

    Shoots (2014)

    Jade Wind (2011)

    8Pez Maya Magazine 2015

  • The Hunt

    They are beautiful, dressed with vivid colors of red, white and black. They have elegant veno-mous spines and a developed killing instinct. They are one of the top predators of this area, but the problem is, that they are not supposed to be here.

    Lionfish are a threat to our reefs. This invasive species is eating the native fish without anyone to stop them. Not even sharks seem interested in them. Someone needs to make a stand, and that someone is us, the Pez Maya team.

    By Andy Ez

    9Pez Maya Magazine 2015

    Andy Ez

  • So with that on mind we decided to organize THE HUNT. This event had a triple purpose; the main one, of course, to help our reef by removing some of the Lionfish found in the area. The second was to help our fellow GVI colleagues in Nepal by raising money to buy supplies for the earthquake victims of the May 2015 earthquakes in that area. And, last but not least, this hunt was the launch of our new Lionfish research project at Pez Maya, were we will study, monitor and dissect this species in a more structured program.

    The event had the participation of two teams, The Guar-dians of the Reef and The Aven-gers. On the first day a knowledge test was organized that included questions about the biology, beha-vior and history of this fish. The Avengers took the victory at this first challenge, so they were ahead before the big day!

    The following days consisted of in-tense training through watching vi-deos, receiving lectures, practising using the spear on land, and then in water; and finally finishing off with thorough safety precautions, espe-cially on handling the fish after they have been shot.

    Then came the day for the big hunt and we were all prepared to enter the water and catch as many Lion-fish as possible. The teams were ex-cited and created songs to rally the troops. Our battleground was the diving site famous for the amount of Lionfish sightings, Special K. To make it fair the direction the teams could go in were switched on the two different dives, north or south for 38 minutes to catch as many Lionfish as possible.

    The first dive proved to be most productive with The Guardians of the Reef capturing seven, while The Avengers captured five. The second dive of the day was not as produc-tive as the first but The Guardians of the Reef managed to capture four more while The Avengers captured two more. By the end of the hunting The Guardians of the Reef took the victory with this part of the competition by removing eleven Lionfish from the Sian Kaan reserve. In total an impressive eighteen Lionfish were removed from the reef in one day.

    With the hunting completed for the day, and all the tro-phies had been admired and photographed it was time to move to the next parts of the competition. All fish were measured, filleted, and dissected and the information re-corded. Interesting finds in the stomachs were things like juvenile filefish, and a praying Mantis Shrimp showing what a voracious predator the Lionfish really is. Ability

    games were played of who could assemble the spear the quickest etc, both teams seemed evenly matched over the course of the day, and it seemed as though it was anyones game!

    The final part of the competition for the day was the coo-king challenge, enthusiastically judged by one staff mem-ber who was impervious to bribery. Points were up for grabs for presentation, originality and flavour. The Guar-dians of the Reef were a little more elegant, creating a breaded Lionfish dish served with white wine and dip-ping sauces. A waiter was asked to deliver the plate whi-le the judge was sitting at a table overlooking the ocean

    while listening to classical music. The Avengers were a little more da-ring and created a ceviche full with flavour, strategically placed along the torso of one of the team mem-bers, who wore a simple palm loin-cloth. That act earned them the pri-ze of the best presentation (and a lot of laughter) while Guardians of the Reef won the award for originality and best flavour.

    At the end of the day, owing to their teamwork and hunting prowess, the winning team was The Guardians of the Reef and although that group was a little behind in other challen-ges, the amount of fish they caught and amount of funds raised carried them to victory.

    In total 18 Lionfish (a new record in Pez Maya) were captured and more than US$800 was donated to the GVI Nepal project.

    This event besides being very en-tertaining proved to be highly suc-cessful. We hope to repeat this hunt soon. We will keep you posted.

    10Pez Maya Magazine 2015

    Andy Ez

  • Photographs by Sarah Davies

    Least Tern Time Its April, the sun is out and there is some light squeaking in the air, but where is it coming from? Then you see them, seemingly a hundred or more small, flapping birds. Its Least Tern time! Its around this time of the year that we get a short few months of Least Terns (Sternula antillarum), they only join us from late May to the end of June to nest on our beach.

    Typically these small shorebirds nest at our mangrove mouth estuary, favouring the soft sand and large profile of the beach there, especially as it is adjacent to a rich feeding ground. Now unfortunately, due to the changeable nature of our beach, we have failed to find any nests this year, as it appears the conditions were not favourable this season. This is a shame, as while the Least Tern is listed as Least Concern (hah.. get it?) according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, their populations are in a significant decline.

    As the photos show, these birds do not build elaborate nests high in trees, or hide their eggs in the undergrowth, they simply rely on the speckled pattern of their eggs to camouflage them into the bare sand.

    Their mating rituals involve males flying with a fish in their mouth, followed by 1-4 females. They are monogamous, and while they share the incubation of eggs, females typically spend more time on the nest, around 80% of the incubation time. During this time the male fishes and returns to feed her.

    They dig a small pit into the sand in which to lay their eggs, with incubation lasting around 21-23 days. 1-2 days after hatching, chicks will begin wandering up to 200m from the nest while parents forage, but occasionally as much as 1 kilometre from the nest in times of disturbance.

    The young usually fledge and leave their nests around 3 weeks post hatching, with parents con-tinuing to care for them for up to 8 weeks before they become independent.

    Hopefully next year our beach will be more appealing to our little Least Terns, but for now we wish them well with their nesting along other beaches in the Sian Kan.

    by Sam Wilson

    11Pez Maya Magazine 2015

  • Creatures of Pez MayaMastigodryas melanolomus

    This type of Racer snake can be found in tropical dry forests throughout Central America. They are not ve-nomous and they primarily eat lizards. This racer is known to bite when caught but otherwise avoid interac-tions with people. They love to hang out in the staff and volunteers huts at Pez Maya.

    12Pez Maya Magazine 2015

    Andy Ez

  • We Want You!

    I am often told how lucky I am when I talk to people about the work that I do, and where I live. And honestly, I revel in their replies I do not have the worries other peo-ple have living in the real world. Rent or mortgage pay-ments, long commutes to work, where to dine out this week, what to watch on TV, I dont even need to worry about what is in fashion and what is not. I live at Pez Maya and I manage a marine conservation project on the second largest barrier reef system in the world!

    It has been a long journey getting here, lots of educa-tion, training and in-field experience, but it has all been worth it, believe me. I started off doing a degree in Marine Geography, which was closely followed by working on projects such as this one, ta-king me to all parts of the globe including the Philippi-nes, Kenya, Turks & Caicos Is-lands, Australia, Costa Rica, and now Mexico. There have been a few more degrees, managing projects, and some other jobs thrown in there along the way,

    But at the end of the day I have never looked back. So today I thought I would talk to you about the amazing op-portunity we offer here at Pez Maya to those people who are looking for their first or next step into the world of marine conservation and diving: get-ting in-field experience as a Marine Scholar. This position is mainly offered to ex-Pez Mayan volunteers, but really anyone who is a PADI Divemas-ter with marine underwater re-search experience can apply.

    15Pez Maya Magazine 2015

  • The staff team is made up of seven permanent staff positions: the Base Manager, a Mainte-nance Officer (who is also second in charge), two Lead Dive Instructors, two Science Offi-cers, and a Community Officer. On top of this, we normally offer one or two Marine Scholar positions (as voluntary staff members). These run for a three-month term.

    All staff are considered Field Staff, and have shared duties. They are responsible for a range of tasks, including assisting and/or teaching PADI diving courses (up to Res-cue Diver); training volunteers on coral and/or fish identification and underwater moni-toring techniques; conducting science dives; driving the outboard engine boats; supporting the Base Manager in the day-to-day logistics and smooth running of base through daily du-ties, inventories, shopping, and administra-tive duties; and ensuring that strict health and safety regulations are complied with at all times.

    Sounds like a busy job? It is! But I do feel the Marine Scholar position at Pez Maya is an incredible experience to list on your CV: tea-ching diving, marine conservation and scienti-fic monitoring techniques; managing and lea-ding volunteers; driving boats; working with the community; and at the end of the day it is a first step into GVI - a global organisation that has a lot of equally amazing projects around the world.

    Being a field staff member is an absolutely amazing experience. Yes it is challenging, and yes it is hard work, but we all absolutely love it here. We have a great staff team who are enthusiastic, passionate, and who support each other and enjoy working together. The volunteers add their own flavour each time, which makes the job very varied and interes-ting.

    So what do you think? Feel like you have what it takes to be a Pez Mayan Marine Scholar? Or you might know someone who does? Then read the Marine Scholar Information booklet and com-plete the Application Form. We are waiting to hear from you.

    CheersJodie

    Base Manager at Pez Maya

    13Pez Maya Magazine 2015

  • This quarter on base has seen our first ever En-riched Air (Nitrox) Diver Course for three of our volunteers and even some of our staff. This has been a great opportunity for our volunteers to delve deeper into the world of diving physics and physiology, as well as to learn some new practical skills.

    All recreational divers learn to dive with com-pressed air. This is simply the air that we breathe compressed into a tank 21% oxygen and 79% ni-trogen. Once you are Advanced Open Water certi-fied you are able to join a course to become certi-fied to dive with enriched air. Enriched air diving involves diving with a blend of gases that has hig-her levels of oxygen up to 40%.

    During their Open Water Course, all divers learn that nitrogen is the primary gas concerned with decompression illness (DCI). The longer and dee-per we spend underwater, breathing compres-sed air, the more nitrogen our body takes on. As long as we plan our dives with the Recreational Dive Planner (RDP), or dive with a computer, the amount of nitrogen in our body should stay within acceptable limits and our chances of getting DCI are small. Of course there are always variables and other factors which mean the risk of DCI will never be zero.

    So, what if you want to dive a wreck thats a bit deeper and the RDP doesnt give you enough bottom time to explore the wreckage? Nitrox is often the answer. By increasing oxygen levels in the air you are breathing the nitrogen levels are reduced, meaning you are taking on less nitro-gen throughout the dive. This means you can stay deeper for longer, so long as your air consump-tion allows you to do so. For example the RDP gives a maximum bottom time of 24 minutes at 30 meters when diving with air. However, with nitrox 32% you would have 30 minutes and 36% would give you 35 minutes.

    The course teaches you how to decide which per-centage blend is best for the dive you are plan-ning, how to request a tank, how to analyse a tank to be sure of its contents, and how to plan your dives. It also teaches you the main safety con-cerns of with diving with increased oxygen, while opening up the opportunity to dive at some incre-dible dive sites around the world.

    By Kerry Passingham & Eugene Beery

    14Pez Maya Magazine 2015

  • The Story of

    Empanada first part

    To be Continue...

    Once upon a time, and in a Mangro-ve nearby, there lived a young Lemon Shark who was ambitious, yet shy.

    His name was Empanada, and how he longed to explore. He swam the whole Mangrove, though he wished to know more.

    Every way that he went, new friends he would meet, they waved pincers or fins, whatever would greet.

    They too were born and in the shallows they grew, and yet they all shared in questions about the yonder Big Blue.

    What was there out there? Were there others like him? He yearned for the an-swers, but feared the great swim.

    One day he felt brave, and approached the Wise Crab, he knew many things,he had a gift of the gab.

    Impetuous and eager, questions burst from his lips, Why are we here? And whats with those tips?

    Oh my young friend, The Wise Crab replied, There is so much to teach you, listen up! He cried.

    This place is the Mangroves, its the best place to be, for guppies like you,and old crabs like me.

    Theres an abundance of shade(abundance means lots) to keep us coo-ler and safer, despite all the crocs!

    Empanada shrunk back, afraid and with-drawn, Im terrified of crocodiles,especially at dawn.

    Oh my young shark friend, youve more in common than you think. Youre both top of the food chain, the most domi-nant link.

    So were the most important, right? Nothing else here can best us. In fact itd be foolish if a fish tried to test us!

    Calm yourself, pup, youve a long way to go. If you think youre the best, Ha! Youre as high as youre low.

    Sure you eat the fish, but when the day is done, youll just decompose, then us crabsll have our ton!

    Mildly disheartened, and not at all relie-ved, Empanada listened to the tale the Wise Crab weaved.

    Its such an intricate system, where could I possibly start? Where did I come from? asked Empanada, pure of heart.

    The Wise Crab considered the biological truth, but instead lied through his pincers as the old do to youth.

    Well, your parents wished, and hugged very hard I mean about the Mangrove! Dont leave me scarred.

    The Wise Crab exhaled, and after a brief awkward pause, he continued with the science behind old Mangrove lores.

    So as you well know, you were born here and raised, like so many guppies, to spend early days.

    The tips that you mentioned, theyre Mangrove roots, they absorb the salt water To make tasty fruits?

    Not quite said the Crab, and smiled with a gleam, they transform it for us into water, fresh and clean.

    They remove pollutants, poisons of many forms; and the big and dense branches protect shores from the storms!

    The humans call it an ecosystem, I guess thats what were in, it describes how we work together, hand in hand, fin in fin.

    Empanada nodded, taking in all that he said. The knowledge was swimming, as in water, but in head.

    Wow thats pretty awesome, I had no idea, Mangroves are vital to all I hold dear.

    Much more than that, to the seagrass and reef, but my knowledge ends there, much to my grief.

    One day youll have grown and with a need to be free, youll embrace who you are, youll swim to the sea!

    But what will I find there? What good would it do? Can I ever come back, or do I start all anew?

    Youll one day return, for one reason alone, its a magical time to start a fa-mily of your own.

    A little confused, but with some answers at least, he thanked the Wise Crab, his curiosity increased.

    By Steffanie Ransom

    15Pez Maya Magazine 2015

    By Kerry Passingham & Eugene Beery

  • The Pez

    Science

    Puzzler

    Across

    1. Dont wave a red flag at this (shark)3. Loud, noisy, black bird always around and makes you think of the sound a witch would make (bird)4. Angelina Jolis lips (coral)5. Messy drawing or writing and implement to make things less blunt (fish)6. Beautiful, deadly, but dont belong here. Hear them roar and then shoot (fish)7. You smell the flowers (coral)10. It has a huge head (turtle)14. Dont stick your dick in it (coral)15. Its green fat gives the name to this (turtle)16. Oscar, an experienced fisher likes to watch over the volunteers huts (bird)17. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming (fish)18. Would live in Paris and the heavens (fish)19. Clives a knob (coral)

    Down

    2. Looks like lettuce (coral)4. Alice is looking after her sheep (coral)8. Sits on a throne with a gun (fish)9. Pterodactyl like (bird)11. Would work in a hospital (shark)12. Heals people for a living (fish)

    17Pez Maya Magazine 2015