How the Reef Damage Occurred
This past March, Keep Loreto Magical got a call from the independent journalist in La Paz, Rodrigo Rebolledo, informing us that a $200 million dollar yacht had grounded itself inside a pinnacle reef ("Islote" in Spanish) inside the Loreto Bay National Park of Loreto. Here is his article: https://bit.ly/VIXIT_grounds_itself.
VIXIT had sonar, radar and 2 captains on board, yet somehow it was stuck on the reef, potentially leaking fuel/oil and no one in the community knew about it. The location where it happened is a zone prohibited to vessels of more than 12 meters, but the yacht was inside this area, where seven different species of whales typically congregate during Dec-Feb given it has good production of krill.
Community Response
Within hours of learning of the incident, there were panga drivers from Juncalito, divers (thank you Gloria!), diving companies (Blue Nation), marine biologists to study the damage (Dr. Hector Reyes from University of La Paz) and funds from The Ocean Foundation for a remediation study based on the loss of biodiversity and biomass.
As a result of these concerted efforts, the environmental damage was sufficiently documented for the Port Captain and Loreto Bay National Park to confiscate the vessel and sue the owners and insurance company for the costs of reef remediation. Thanks to the action of the authorities and supporting organizations, the remediation of this precious resource was able to proceed successfully.
What follows are some photos from a video being made to tell the story of this incredible community effort to save and restore our coral reefs.
A big thank you also goes to Posada Espiritu del Mar (Posada Sprit of the Sea) https://www.posadaespiritudelmar.com run by Adriana Macias and Steven Richkind who provided accommodations for the 12 visits of the remediation diver team (Group is called Efecto Arena). Gracias!
Thank you to every person and organization that participated in this preservation of our Loreto Bay National Park. It does not matter where you are from. It only matters that you care. Enjoy the whales arriving!