With the goal of visually highlighting Pro Peninsula’s mission and conservation goals, our organization recently underwent a logo revamp project! Over the past several months, we gathered valuable input from the entire Pro Peninsula staff and board of directors in an effort to develop an expressive and dynamic new logo that captures the essence of our environmental work in the region. Thank you to Pro Peninsula’s “Logo Team”, which consisted of two staff members, Baja Marketing’s Graphic Designer Rene Reyes, and board members Brian Hutchinson, Heather Lane, and Jeffrey Seminoff. This dedicated team worked together for months in order to develop an accurate and cohesive visual representation of Pro Peninsula. Summarizing the staff and board’s commentary, Pro Peninsula eventually selected a logo which portrays the outline of the Baja California Peninsula while incorporating the words “community” and “nature”, two fundamental elements of Pro Peninsula’s work. The new design presents a graceful yet modern transition from the organization’s original logotype, which was designed in 2001. The result of Pro Peninsula’s logo revamp project is the impressive design featured here, which perfectly represents our organizational vision.

Many of our supporters have already shared their input on the new design, like Daniel Durazo who raves, “The orange & blue color scheme matches the desert-coast imagery of the peninsula…congratulations on coming up with a great-looking logo!” We would love to know what our members think of the new design…so please feel free to send your comments to gigi@propeninsula.org! Also be sure to check out the Pro Peninsula store, where soon you will find new t-shirts, bumper stickers, and other promotional items sporting our brand-new logo!

The Laguna San Ignacio Ecosystem Science Program (LSIESP) gray whale research team is now wrapping up the 2009 season at the lagoon. Researchers and graduate students from universities in Ensenada, La Paz, and Mexico City were led by Steven Swartz, Jorge Urban (UABCS), and Alejandro Gomez (UABCS). The team conducted a weekly census of the gray whales in the lagoon, which was coupled with photo-identification data to document the individual whales visiting the lagoon and the number of mother whales with new calves in comparison to previous years. The whale team also tracked the number of “skinny” whales, and will compare this to the number of normal whales in order to measure how the species is adjusting to climate driven changes in their Arctic feeding grounds. The acoustics team from Scripps Institution of Oceanography returned in 2009 under the direction of Aaron Thode and graduate student Melania Guerrera. In February, they deployed acoustic recording devices in the bottom of the lagoon to record natural and manmade sounds. In order to better understand the vocal behavior of the whales, the team recorded whale calls, and will analyze the whales’ calling rates with other lagoon noise over 24 hour periods. In March, the team placed several recording devices on individual whales using suction cups, which recorded the whales’ movements, calls, and acoustic environment.

The team provided educational talks to students at the Ejido Luis Echeverria School, followed by a visit to the LSEISP lab, where students participated in photo-identification matching of gray whales spotted this past winter. Pro Peninsula is helping to grow this component of the program in order to engage and educate students and locals about the importance of marine conservation in Laguna San Ignacio.

In February, the LSIESP researchers held the Third Annual Community Meeting, which brought together representatives from ecotourism companies, fishermen, pangueros, naturalists, and local residents to help make plans for future research and community activities in the lagoon. The meeting reviewed current research on the lagoon and climate change impacts on gray whales and other marine species. This year, Ana Lirisa Hiram (UABCS) began interviewing the leaders of local ecotourism companies to obtain important historical information and to evaluate the organization of the whale-watching industry in Laguna San Ignacio as part of her Master’s degree studies.

GET INVOLVED IN THE RESEARCH!

This May, the LSIESP sea turtle research program will begin its third season under the direction of Volker Koch (UABCS). Volker and his group will use radio tags to monitor the movements and distribution of the sea turtles in Laguna San Ignacio and to assess the current and past habitat conditions for sea turtles in the region. There are still spaces available…so reserve your spot now and become a part of the research team! To participate in the upcoming trip, please contact Pro Peninsula’s Director of Programs, Chris Pesenti, at chris@propeninsula.org.

For more information on the LSIESP or to support the program, please visit www.lsiecosystem.org.

On May 17th, supporters of Pro Peninsula can compete in a 10K race through Mission Gorge to benefit our environmental conservation efforts! The Mission Driven Eco Run is a component of the San Diego Trail Run Series. Join Pro Peninsula as we partner with Sun Strides, a local organization that works to raise funds to establish solar projects in Africa.

The Mission Driven Eco Run is a 10K race, which includes over 6 miles of running on scenic trails in the beautiful Mission Gorge area. Pro Peninsula is seeking a team of at least ten people to represent our organization during the race! Runners will help promote our efforts at environmental conservation while also getting some exercise outdoors. This is a great opportunity to “run for a cause” and a chance to show your support for Pro Peninsula and Sun Strides!

You can join the Pro Peninsula Race Team and receive a free t-shirt for only $35! You can also add a year-long Pro Peninsula membership to your Race Team package for just $55! You can even do your own fundraising in support of Pro Peninsula by clicking here! By joining us as a team member during the Eco Run, you will help to support both the important environmental work of Pro Peninsula and the efforts of Sun Strides to create sustainable solar projects.

The Mission Driven Eco Run will begin at 8:30am on May 17th in the equestrian staging area in the north east portion of San Diego’s Mission Trails Regional Park. If you would like to join the Pro Peninsula Race Team or would like more information about the Eco Run, please contact Pro Peninsula’s Education Coordinator, Frances Kinney, at (619) 574-6643…and start your training today!

The 2008-2009 academic year of Pro Peninsula’s Ocean Connectors environmental education program has now come to a close! The past year was met with unprecedented success—with more student participants then ever before! Ocean Connectors uses migratory marine species to teach elementary students important lessons in coastal conservation, global awareness, and marine science. Last year, Ocean Connectors reached approximately 1,200 elementary students in San Diego, California and La Paz, Baja California Sur. These children were extremely deserving of the opportunity to participate—of our US students, over 80% were eligible for the free or reduced lunch program at their school. Throughout the project, student knowledge of coastal conservation and environmental issues improved by more than 20%, which demonstrates that Ocean Connectors serves as a practical addition to existing classroom science curriculum. The program now fully incorporates the state content standards for learning, which is an increasingly important requirement for environmental education programs throughout the nation.

During the Ocean Connectors project, students perform various activities that help to connect them with nature and local wildlife. Students participate in a binational letter writing exchange, take field trips to the Chula Vista Nature Center and the Marine Turtle Research Program study site, and receive several classroom presentations. Students are inspired by the Ocean Connectors experience, and frequently visit the Ocean Connectors “Kids Page” online to learn even more about coastal conservation.

Pro Peninsula staff members are already gearing up for another exciting year of environmental education! In 2009-2010, Pro Peninsula will offer exciting new activities and adventures to the community, including:

• A sea turtle summer camp, August 3rd – 7th, held in conjunction with the San Diego Kroc Recreation Center. For information about this camp or to sign up, please visit www.kroccenter.org.
• A new 4th grade educational component, focusing on the migration of gray whales from their feeding grounds in Alaska, past San Diego en route to their breeding grounds in Laguna San Ignacio, Mexico.

Pro Peninsula is happy to announce our success as the first-time hosts of The Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival in San Diego! With nearly 300 guests in attendance including 22 nonprofit organizations, Pro Peninsula gained 165 new members as a direct result of the Festival! During the event, Pro Peninsula unveiled our new logo and one-of-a-kind t-shirts! The event was an overall success: new members, exciting prizes, great drinks, enlightening conversations, and inspiring films…all in one extraordinary evening! Pro Peninsula exhibited 14 diverse environmental films, which were incredibly well-received by viewers! Filmmaker Jules Dervaes and his family attended the Festival to introduce their film, Homegrown Revolution…which was a major crowd-pleaser! Jules shared their extraordinary experience of converting a tenth of an acre of land into an urban homestead paradise. The family managed to harvest about 3 tons of organic food in their small backyard, which was incredibly inspiring to our viewers.

One of the event sponsors, Jose Schroeder of Tijuana Duty Free, remarked, “It was an inspiring and motivating success story!” Jeannel King added, “All the films were fascinating, but I was able to connect with Homegrown Revolution the best…it gave me an immediate sense of responsibility; it made me think that I could really do something, starting in my own backyard!”

From all of us at Pro Peninsula…
Thank you to all our national and local sponsors, as well as everyone who attended the Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival. And to our new members…WELCOME! We greatly appreciate your support of Pro Peninsula’s mission to strenthen individual and community efforts to protect the natural environment throughout San Diego and the Baja California peninsula.

For more information on the Festival, please visit the Wild & Scenic website at www.wildandscenicfilmfestival.org.

If you attended the Festival and would like to share your comments, please contact gigi@propenisnula.org.

Pro Peninsula’s Summer Lunada, our annual fundraising event, will be held on July 25th, 2009 at the beautiful La Jolla home of Kenn Baniqued and Andy Rudolph. Don’t miss out on this wonderful event and your chance to support Pro Peninsula’s conservation programs!

We are also looking for volunteers and committee members to assist with Lunada planning and preparations; please contact Kama Dean at kama@propeninsula.org if you are interested in getting involved!

Pro Peninsula extends a heartfelt thanks to Alite Designs for donating office space to Pro Peninsula staff in San Francisco, California. Please check out their wares at www.alitedesigns.com.