NEW YEAR, NEW PROJECT!

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The week of 16 to 19 January members of Blue World Foundation presented the project entitled “Participatory Solid Waste Management Initiative” with the Community Development Council of El Quetzalito (COCODE). This was the beginning of this project, which focuses on countering the problem of solid waste affecting the distant community of Izabal. 

With a previous survey in their survey mode, young volunteers contributed by re-digging data to know what kind of management is given to solid waste in each of the households in the community. 

With this first phase we obtained essential data to know how and how to deal with the problem of solid waste in the community and the measures to be taken to solve the problem. This project starts its execution phase in February. 

#KnowandLove

CALENDAR 2018

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We present the cover of our calendar of species 2018 that will soon be in our files shared on the website of Blue World Foundation.

 We keep what we love, we love what we know, we know what we have been taught. (Baba Dioum).

The calendar 2018 of Blue World Foundation seeks to disseminate the mission of the same in favor of the preservation of sharks. 

The people who use this calendar will be able to know some of the species that exist in the Caribbean of Guatemala, which are unique and have different biological characteristics, in their reproduction and feeding. In this way we will disseminate the importance of these majestic predators to the health of our oceans, because at this pace, many of these species are about to disappear. 

This calendar was made thanks to the effort of the graphic design student of the Universidad Rafael Landívar, Melisa Ortega. 

We also want to thank the photographers who allowed the use of their photographs, Alan C. Egan, Simon Rogerson, Alex St. Jean, Andy Murch, Eduardo Lopez Negrete and Discovery Communications.

WHY ARE OCEANS SO IMPORTANT?

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Oceans are the soul of the earth and of humanity. They occupy about three quarters of our planet and contain approximately 97% of the planet’s water. Oceans produce more than half of the oxygen by absorbing the carbon found in the atmosphere. 

No matter how far from the shore you live, the health of the oceans affects your life and the life of your family, friends, companions and all the humans who inhabit the Earth. 

The air you breathe, the water you drink, the food you eat, the products that keep you warm, safe, informed and entertaining, all come to you by being transported by the oceans of the world. 

About half of the world’s population lives within the coastal zone, and all ocean productivity-based businesses contribute more than $500 million in the world’s economy. Historically we wanted to adopt the idea that it is impossible to subtract all the renewable resource from the oceans or that it is impossible to fill the oceans of all the global waste, this idea is wrong because today you can notice the consequences of the Human unconsciousness. 

The total number of people using and depending on the ocean and the unsustainable practices that we have adopted have produced overexploitation of marine resources, significantly reducing biodiversity, degrading marine habitats and species in addition to us risking ecosystems from which the survival of humanity depends. 

Environmental awareness is a virtue that is developed and learned. 

Source:

http://www.protectplanetocean.org/collections/introduction/introbox/oceans/introduction-item.html

THE HAWAIIAN LANTERN SHARK

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A new species of shark was discovered about 314-384 meters deep in Sotavento, one of the islands of Hawaii. 

The species named, Etmopterus Lailae has an elusive behavior, making it extremely difficult to observe in a wild state. 

Much of this shark’s biodiversity is still unknown because it is very small and lives in very deep waters. This type of shark is bioluminescent which means it glows in the dark. Given this quality, several scenarios have been proposed: it uses its quality to ensure that it mates with the right species, uses it as camouflage and thus defend itself from its predators or uses it as a lure to attract small fish or other prey. 

It is not the first bioluminescent shark that has been discovered until now, but its characteristics differentiate it from other sharks of its type: its head is oddly shaped and has a large, bulging snout where the nostrils and olfactory organs are located , has distinctive side marks that go back and forth over the belly, has fewer teeth and vertebrae than the average shark.

Although for scientists the bioluminescence of this shark is still a mystery, it is a fact that does not take away the brilliance of this interesting discovery.

Source: 

http://www.nationalgeographic.com.es/naturaleza/actualidad/una-nueva-especie-tiburon-linterna-que-habita-las-profundidades-hawai_11782/3

MEET THE RAYS

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How much do you know about the rays? We show you some basics about them. 

  1. Rays are fish, although they do not resemble friends with fins in your fishbowl at home, the rays belong to a group of Fish called Elasmobranch. 
  1. Around 200 different species of rays have been discovered in total. 
  1. The poison of the streaks was used as an anesthetic. Although painful, streak venom is usually not fatal unless the victims are stung in the chest or abdomen. In ancient Greece, the venom was extracted from striped thorns in order to be used as an anesthetic by dentists. 
  1. The jaws of the rays can crush the shells of the mollusks. Although the jaws of the rays are cartilaginous, you are strong enough to crush the clam shells and other mollusks. The calcified cartilage in its jaws has several layers of thickness, the softer nuclei of the elements of its jaws are supported by hollow and mineralized struts. This makes the jaws of the rays strong and light at the same time. 
  1. Some rays move like waves and others like birds. Most rays swim across the ocean waving their bodies in a wave-like motion. Others depress their sides up and down, giving them the appearance of a bird through their journey into the ocean. 
  1. Electric rays are named for their ability to generate and discharge electric currents strong enough to stun their prey or to defend the potential predators that can stalk you. 
  1. Rays can vary greatly in size. The smallest ray is the short-nosed electric ray that is approximately 10 cm wide and weighs about 400 g. 

The oceanic blanket is the largest ray that reaches up to 7m in wing length and weighs 2,000 kg.

10 FACTS ABOUT SHARKS THAT MAY INTEREST YOU

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  1. Most shark species drown if they stop moving. White sharks, Mako sharks and salmon sharks (to name a few) do not have the muscles they need to pump water through their mouth and onto their gills. As they continue swimming, the water keeps moving on its gills, keeping them alive. 
  1. Sharks’ livers contain a lot of oil. This causes the liver to be a buoyant organ, which helps the sharks to keep the balance in the water. 
  1. Sharks do not follow the same routine of three meals a day as humans, they eat when they find food, no matter what time it is. 
  1. Surfers are more likely to die from drowning than by a shark attack, but it is true that big white sharks can be confused and feel intrigued by the way of a surfboard. Below the surface, a large white shark could confuse the outline of the board with that of a sea turtle, a seal, a walrus, or a sea lion. 
  1. Skeletons of Sharks are made entirely of cartilage, an elastic tissue that is much softer than the bones. When a shark dies, the salt from the ocean water completely dissolves its skeleton, leaving only the shark’s teeth behind. 
  1. The eyes of the sharks are on the sides of their heads, so they have an incredibly wide line of sight covering almost 360 degrees. Its panoramic view of the underwater world is inhibited only by two blind spots, one in front of the snout and the other directly behind the head. 
  1. Between 30% and 80% of the meat of a shark is made of water. A protein network gives the flesh its structure. 
  1. The size of a shark species are defined where they hunt: smaller sharks tend to feed near the bottom of the ocean, and larger sharks hunt in the middle depths and near the surface where they can more easily catch prey Bigger. 
  1. When hunting, the sharks stalk their victims, staying far enough away to remain hidden, but close enough to attack when the opportunity arises. 
  1. Big white sharks are fussy eaters. Their diet requires a lot of fat, and after a bite a big white shark can determine if the food will satisfy their nutritional needs. If not, the shark will leave the rest and swim away.

SHARK MAKO PRIETO (ISURUS PAUCUS)

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With a slightly larger size than the Mako shark, Mako Prieto is an imposing shark with hydrodynamic features, its pectoral fins are long and have a slightly pointed and dark snout. 

Its habitat is still little known to researchers, although there are indications that it is epipelagic (describes of all marine species that live in oceanic areas between the surface and 200m deep). It is classified as viviparous aplacental because the offspring break the eggs inside the mother’s body and feed on the nutrients transmitted by it; before its birth, the offspring of the shark carry out the so-called intrauterine cannibalism or oophagy, which is only the action in which the most developed embryos in the mother’s womb feed on the eggs produced by the maternal ovary while these still are in gestation. 

The International Union for the Preservation of nature has classified Mako-Prieto shark as “Vulnerable” as a precautionary measure, partly because of many aspects that are still unknown to the species. 

Picture: Discovery Communications

CAT SHARK (GINGLYMOSTOMA CIRRATUM)

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This shark receives its common name because of its bulbous head, small snout and a pair of small beards that it has on each side, very similar to the whiskers of a cat. On the dorsal part, this shark may have a gray or brown coloration depending on its maturity, while in the belly area the coloration is pale in all specimens. 

This species is predominantly demersal (it lives in the sandy and rocky bottoms) and is found at depths ranging between 1m and 75mm. 

The diet of the Cat sharks consists of small fish, mollusks (octopus, squid, clams), crustaceans, etc. 

Despite being a species of shark quite common in several places, scientific studies on this species are scarce, which has resulted in a “data deficient” classification by the International Union for the Preservation of nature. 

Picture: Andy Murch

SILKY SHARK (FALCIFORMIS SHARK)

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The silky shark acquires its common name because of the softness of its skin. Other notable features are a moderately long, pointed snout, large eyes, and a regular, non-prominent dorsal fin. It’s a kind of coastal, pelagic habits. As for their diet, this shark feeds mainly on Tuna, Mackerel, Las Lisas and Squid. 

Like other species of sharks, their reproduction is viviparous, which means that the embryos feed through the placenta. As for its classification, the International Union for the Preservation of nature has classified them as “almost threatened” which at the global level implies an indication of instability of the populations of this particular species. 

Picture: Alan C. Egan

GREAT HAMMERHEAD SHARK (SPHYRNA)

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The great hammerhead shark differs from the other species of hammerhead sharks by having an almost straight head with a cleft in the middle and, that the first dorsal fin is very large, characteristic very particular of this species. 

It lives in the warm and tropical coastal regions of most of the world and feeds on fish, crustaceans and cephalopods from their specific regions. The great hammerhead shark is a viviparous species, a reproductive mode in which the embryos, through the placenta, are fed by the mother until the moment of birth. 

Remember that one of the most notable features of hammerhead sharks is to have a vision of 360 ° (peripheral), so the shark can see what happens in all around, taking advantage of this ability to hunt their prey.

Like the other species of hammerhead sharks, the International Union for the Preservation of Nature classifies the great hammerhead shark as “endangered”. 

Picture: Simon Rogerson