This past weekend, Wessley Merten and Roger Galloza, representatives of the Surfrider Foundation Rincon chapter helped Vida Marina of UPR Aquadilla and a host of student volunteers build wooden walkways and discuss an action plan for minimizing the impacts 1000s of fans watching the Rip Curl Pro Surfing competition, scheduled to take place at the end of this month at Middles, impose on the sensitive coastal and dune habitat. Check the photos below of the volunteers that are making this happen. The chapter is planning on working with Vida Marina to install all of these walkways by next weekend including some protective fencing to guard sensitive areas in highly trafficked areas. If you would like to help in this effort contact our chapter at salvatrespalmas@surfrider.org.
Dr. Robert Mayer, Director of the Caribbean Center for the Reduction of Aquatic Debris at the Department of Natural Sciences at UPR Aguadilla discusses the work plan with some student volunteers.
Wess Merten cutting 2x4's and 2x6's to be used to build the wooden walkways.
Roger Galloza and Santos Muniz, a doctoral student in the Department of Marine Sciences, take a break from building the walkways to smile for the camera.
This is just the tip of the iceburg of the resources the chapter will be mobilizing with Vida Marina to protect the dunes from potentially catastrophic pedestrian damage.
Posts
