Puerto Peñasco Celebrates World Oceans Day

By: CEDO Intercultural.

As part of the celebration of World Oceans Day, the Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans (CEDO) in collaboration with Greater Good Charities, Free the Ocean, the Puerto Peñasco City Council through the office of Ecology and Zofemat, as well as the Clean Beaches Committee and Manny ´s Beach Club, engaged the residents in the community of Puerto Peñasco, Sonora in various activities.

In alignment with the theme “The ocean: life and means of subsistence” instituted by the United Nations (UN) in 2021, on Saturday, June 12, the celebration began by exploring the unique tide pools at El Mirador beach, which has an international Blue Flag recognition. During this interesting experience, guided by CEDO experts, the participants were able to get to know the different organisms that inhabit this representative Puerto Peñasco ecosystem, including hermit crabs, anemones, brittle stars, sea urchins, snails, octopuses and more. These are all marine animals that make their home in the rocks and crevices of the tide pools formed when the tide goes out.

Participants learned about the importance of this unique ecosystem and about the actions they can take to conserve it. Simultaneously, participants took part in a Photo Safari where they took pictures of their favorite species to later share on social media, upload them to the NaturaLista platform and contribute to the knowledge of marine biodiversity.

Later, participants cleaned up the rocky reef (where the tide pools are formed) and the beach. This cleanup was done in addition to the International Coastal Cleanup initiative of The Ocean Conservancy, which is organized annually to restore beaches around the world, collect data on the main types of waste found, and gather enough information to propose actions to reduce it.

Participants organized in teams and walked the beach to collect the various types of waste they found and uploaded photos to the Clean Swell App, which then uploads the information to an international free access platform. Lastly, participants classified the waste collected and took recyclable materials to the Municipal Collection Center.

A total of 35 volunteers cleaned 500 m of beach and collected approximately 25 kg of waste including pieces of glass, cigarette butts, bottle caps, straws / stirrers, glass bottles and building materials.

To end a day full of marine adventures, we presented the Tide Pool Brochure and unveiled a mural at Manny’s Beach Club depicting the tide pool ecosystem. Both the mural and the brochure are an initiative of Jessica Potter, a student at Arizona State University (ASU) who received support from the event’s organizers.

Our hope is that after spending a fabulous day in connection with nature, the visitors and residents of this wonderful region will have increased their knowledge and appreciation of our ocean and will be motivated to spread the word about the importance of a healthy ocean, free of litter and with a healthy biodiversity. And may their actions help meet the challenges to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 14: “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources” by 2030.