Highlights for the week ending August 20th

08.20.2016 Coastal Profile in Piñones Beach:

Our new Habitat Restoration Specialist, biologist Ivangs Rivera, MSc, led twenty (20) volunteers in the latest monthly beach profile in Piñones, as part of our ongoing Citizen Science and Dune Restoration initiatives. Beach profiles consist of measuring the dunes' heights and depressions and their distance from incoming tide, resulting in a complete terrain delineation of the area. These results are then used to track dune migration in the zone.

08.20.2016 Inventory of current and past adaptations to climate change in the Martín Peña Channel Communities

Our Climate Change Community Coordinator, geographer Roberto Morales, led a group of ten (10) community leaders and artists thru the Martín Peña Channel area to evaluate the current situation in the adaptations to climate change of this community. The initiative is part of a New York Community Trust and the SJBE project to work in the climate change community adaptation strategies and create a vulnerability and risks geodatabase.

08.20.2016 Educational booth at the Manatee Conservation Center of Puerto Rico

The AmeriCorps VISTA Environmental Improvement Community Organizer, Rosana Betancourt, participated in an important educational event in the Manatee Conservation Center of Puerto Rico from the Interamerican University, Bayamón Campus. The activity was aimed at teachers of elementary, middle, and high school of Puerto Rico to educate them about the conservation of this endangered species.  Our educational booth provided information about the Trash Free Waters initiative's importance in that conservation task.

08.19.2016. Cigarette butts inventory at Alto del Cabro

As part of our Trash Free Waters initiative, our Restoration Specialist, biologist Ivangs Rivera, led an inventory cigarette butts in Mariana and Wilson Streets in the community of Alto del Cabro. Our AmeriCorps VISTA and staff participated in the event and collected 273 cigarette butts in 200 lines meters. This data serve as a baseline to measure the impact of the installation of ashtrays outside two business of the area.  During the event, they shared information with the community about the impact of trash in the streets and how it affects the quality of water of the lagoon.

08.18.2016 New educational material in the web

We've been releasing all our educational materials and publications through our website, estuario.org. We have implemented two new sections:

Materiales Educativos (educational materials):

http://estuario.org/index.php/recursos/educacion/materiales-educativos

Publicaciones (publications):

http://estuario.org/index.php/nosotros/publicaciones

08. 18.2016 Green Flag for Condado Lagoon

In general, the lagoon did meet the enterococcus measurement standard. The average was 4.50 CFU/100mL, which is below the limit of 35CFU/100mL. Only one station did not meet the requirements (Cll Aguadilla, 63CFU/100mL).

Link to interactive graph:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19yi2BOweCNrhtjqJTaFcLWr4fAvd9KULoK0icZ4wJTk/pubchart?oid=644539262&format=interactive