http://www.eecc.net/

In order to introduce teachers to the new Field Trip Binder and curriculum, the EECC organized a workshop and field trip to the Punta Banda estuary in Ensenada, Baja California for 24 K-12 teachers from San Diego, Tijuana and Ensenada. Twenty volunteers participated as co-facilitators, and this extraordinary team was comprised of biologists, teachers and graduate students from the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC), as well as members of conservation groups such as Pro Esteros, Pronatura, the Tijuana River Estuary, and the Montessori school. Each participant received a free copy of the Field Trip Binder.

At the workshop, teachers and volunteers broke out into teams and worked side by side doing the pre, during and post field trip activities of the curricula and practiced using the interpretive trail as an educational tool. At the end of the workshop the participants felt well trained and convinced that the binder provided for many educational benefits.

For more information on the EECC and the Field Trip binders, as well as to request a copy of the binder, please contact Kama Dean, Bi-national Coordinator of the EECC, at kama@propeninsula.org. Many thanks go out to everyone who made this project possible including Araceli Fernandez, Miguel Angel Vargas, Karen Levy-Szpiro, Sony, ICF, NWF, the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana, the EECC Steering Committee and all of our volunteers.

The 8th Annual Meeting of the Grupo Tortuguero will be held from January 27-29, 2006, in Loreto, BCS, Mexico. This meeting has grown from a small gathering of 45 Baja California residents who wanted to save sea turtles in 1999, to the region’s premiere grassroots conservation meeting. Over 300 people attended last years meeting! The meeting will highlight members of our monitoring stations from across the peninsula, the Gulf of California and internationally, who will present community reports and update us on the recovery status of sea turtle populations at historical turtle hunting locations. Participants will include scientists, environmental educators, students, community members, and people like you who want to bring turtles back to these waters by preventing the unnecessary killing for consumption or as by-catch in fishing gear.

Additionally, don’t miss your chance to have an eco-adventure and travel to one of the Grupo Tortuguero network communities through a post-meeting trip designed specifically for meeting participants. You can travel with Baja Expeditions to see the Gray whales of San Carlos in Bahia Magdalena, or join Journey Mexico on their trip to Lopez Mateos to experience the Gray whales and sea turtles of Bahia Magdalena. Visit www.bajaexpeditions.com and www.journeymexico.com for more details. Additional information can also be found on the meeting registration site.

Together, we are creating a powerful sea turtle protection community in Mexico and beyond! Please visit our registration site at www.iconferences.org/gt8 or contact Kama Dean at Pro Peninsula to register for the conference.

Original Artwork donated by Judith A. Madox Saylor

On October 8, 2005, a small group of 20 people gathered at the beautiful home of Esther van Beers in Oakland, California. The event was a great success, bringing together long time supporters of Pro Peninsula, with new friends eager to learn more about our important work on the peninsula. We enjoyed authentic Mexican food and drinks, a small silent auction and great conversation. Hearing about our community-based conservation programs inspired many of our new friends to support our work by becoming Pro Peninsula members. Click here to become a member today! Many thanks to Judith A. Maddox Saylor, www.jamsartworks.com; Robert Lee; and Barb Andrews for donating unique pieces to our silent auction, and muchas gracias to Esther van Beers, Ron Snetsinger and Barb Andrews for hosting the event.

"Zapata" may prove to be the first wild caught turtle to swim all the way back to Japan from Baja California waters. Released by the ProCaguama team on 2 September 2005 off Puerto Lopez Mateos, BCS México, Zapata is the first known sub-adult male of over 1100 loggerheads we have hand-captured or recovered stranded along the BCS coast since 1999. Loggerhead turtles, known in Mexico as caguamas, connect the ecosystems and cultures of the Pacific Rim through their migrations; as hatchlings they leave their Japanese nesting beaches to forage across the North Pacific as juveniles and at maturity they return to Japan to reproduce. Some of these Pacific ambassadors gather for years at the coast of Baja California Sur to feed and mature. Off Puerto Lopez Mateos, they forage especially close to shore where artisanal gillnet and longline fishing is intense.

Track his progress at www.seaturtle.org/tracking/zapata

This unfortunate overlap of fishing and foraging results in many loggerheads being caught accidentally in nets and on longlines, contributing more than any other known source to their critically endangered status. ProCaguama, a community-based campaign of the grassroots conservation network Grupo Tortuguero, is empowering fishers and other costeños (coastal citizens) to protect endangered sea turtles and the threatened ecosystems they inhabit through partnerships to eliminate turtle deaths.

Zapata’s trans-Pacific migration reminds us that the oceans are connected and that we need to work together to protect sea turtles and their habitats. ProCaguama is made possible with support from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council.

Track ZAPATA's progress at www.seaturtle.org/tracking/zapata.

Turtle Heart: A revolution for the oceans. Baja Life. Issue 18, 2005. click here. Saving Sea Turtles from the Ground Up: Awakening sea turtle conservation in Northwestern Mexico. Special Edition of Maritime Studies (MAST), Marine Turtles as Flagships. click here. Twine and the Ancient Mariners: Albatrosses, sea turtles, and fishing gear encounters. State of the Wild. 2006. click here. Baja Communities Play a Key Role in Conservation. Mexico Connect. click here. Getting Connected and Protecting Baja through Pro Peninsula. Interview with Chris Pesenti. Destino. October, 2005. click here.

Ocean Revolution News

Wet, Wild and Sustainable -- How we can save the oceans. San Francisco Chronicle. June 8, 2005. click here.

Earth Savers. Ranger Rick. Fall 2005. click here.
Follow the advice of the kids from Davenport, California: Don't litter the beach or oceans—or anywhere. And buy only certain kinds of fish. To find out what kinds those are, go online to http://mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp.

A Revolution for the Ocean. Earth Island Journal. Autumn 2005, Vol. 20, No. 3. click here.

Ocean Revolution: The Movie. High school student Christian Scheider of New York created the Ocean Revolution film, a short documentary sharing the voices and concerns of young ocean revolutionaries. The film has screened at many film festivals, receiving an honorable mention at the Surfrider Ocean Film Fest. Go to: www.oceanrevolution.org.