Coral Geek's survey inverted

Our Short Term Volunteer Ash is currently doing Coral Watches here at Pez Maya. She is telling us about her experience surveying and gives us an insight about Birding!

Oh corals, where for art thou! Why do your Latin names instill such profound images in our minds!!!

As you can imagine life on Pez Maya has been a highly educational experience. We have been thrown into the deep end (literally) in learning and distinguishing the various genes’ and species of corals. From self-study and tutorials where both humorous and crude anecdotes were adopted in hope we may remember them, to our insightful coral spots, all volunteers have had the privilege of broadening their minds. All this knowledge was tested in exams and once passed we were able to begin Coral Watch. Coral Watch is a fairly entertaining scientific process. It mainly involves remaining inverted – butt up, head down – and comparing the colour variation on the corals to a chart without drifting away and most importantly NOT TOUCHING THEM! Whilst we have been conquering our coral friends some of the volunteers (our RIVALS) have been learning about our fellow fishy mates through particularly detailed monitoring processes, but let’s be honest…CORAL RULES! Yet, it has been highly rewarding for all to implement our gained knowledge into practice.

Not only are we delving into the realm of coral (and fish) but we have had the chance to learn about our feathered flying friends around base. From miniature Road Runners (Plover birds) to glorious Pterodactyls (the Magnificent Frigate bird) we have had the opportunity to learn about the unique habitat and behavior of these birds. Most recently, the volunteers and staff undertook a fence building task to create a sort of safe haven (from tramping big footed humans) for the Least Terns that will be beginning their nesting on our sandy shores soon.

As you can see, our working holiday has not only challenged us physically and provided an unique diving experience but allowed us to grasp a novel perspective on the Shan Ka’an biosphere. So see we are still using our brains!!!