María del Carmen Galindo de Santiago1,2, Juliet Brodie3, Erika Vázquez Delfín1, Ana I. Benavides Lahnstein4, Ameyalli Ríos Vázquez1, Jessica Wardlaw4, Lucy Robinson4, Rodolfo Rioja Nieto1,2, Kaysara Khatun5 Arely Paredes Chi2,6
1Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores, Unidad Mérida, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Yucatán, México.
2Facultad de Ciencias, UMDI Sisal, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Yucatán, México.
3Science, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK.
4Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity, Natural History Museum, London, UK.
5Natural Resources Institute, Faculty of Engineering & Science, University of Greenwich.
6CONACYT, Facultad de Ciencias, UMDI Sisal, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Yucatán, México.
The original concept of the Big Seaweed Search (BSS) citizen science project aims for anyone to be able to record a set of seaweeds of interest around the shores of Britain, where species are chosen as indicators of environmental change, including increasing sea surface temperature, ocean acidification and the spread of non-native species. BSS has expanded beyond British shores, driving adaptations of the concept in other parts of the world, such as the Big Seaweed Search Mexico (BSSMx) project. In the Caribbean region, the massive inundations of Sargassum (‘Golden Tides’) have been related to increases in seawater nutrients, changes in ocean currents and wind patterns, as well as maritime traffic and tourism activity in the area. These have impacted not only the coastal ecosystems but also the human communities. The BSSMx focuses on pelagic seaweeds since they are the main component of the beach-cast biomass throughout year, mixing with benthic macrophytes that come from local subtidal populations. The recording of changes, based on data collected by non-scientists, in the species composition of the beach-cast biomass and the relative abundance of the species is the basis of this project. Citizen participation is encouraged through an induction/training workshop and guided surveys to obtain data from the different climatic seasons. This presentation will report on the BSSMx, compare with the original BSS concept, outline initial findings and review training and educational possibilities in a time of global environmental challenges.