Our story

The Youth Club of Nature Photographers Huellas Volcánicas was founded in 2018 with a clear objective: to share the natural and cultural heritage of the bay.

Today, the club consists of young people from San Quintín (aged between 12 and 16) who are interested in the protection of the environment in which they live.

The club has been supported by Climate Science Alliance, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, CRIMBI and the US Forest Service.

What do we do?

We go out to explore the natural places in which we live and we capture unique settings of the San Quintín bay through the lens. We show people our volcanoes, wetlands, animals, and one-of-a-kind plants that live in this site.

What is next?

Thanks to the support of our community and several organizations, our work has been shown in the San Quintín Bay Bird Festival, in Ithaca (New York), Idyllwild (California), and the San Diego Natural History Museum.

We seek to show our photographs to all of Mexico, so more people can know, appreciate, and protect San Quintín.

Why is San Quintin Bay an important site?

• Because it is home for us, and for many important plants and animals. There are at least ten species of endemic plants in San Quintín; that is, plants that only grow in this area.
• The bay is a place of great importance for the more than 25,000 migratory shorebirds it receives during the winter since they rest and feed themselves there.
• 13 extinct volcanoes can be found in the bay: 2 of them submerged in the sea, and the other one is an island.
• Our community depends on the good health of natural resources considering that the site is an important place for the oyster farming, agriculture, and fishing activity.
• The bay is also a place that safeguards the stories and traces of our ancestors of Kiliwa and Cochimi heritage, two native communities that inhabited in the area.

Exhibitions

• In September 2019, the club was part of the collective exhibition RISE during the Youth Climate Challenge.
• In November, photos taken by the club members joined the traveling exhibition “Travesía” that was opened at the 5th Bird Festival in San Quintin.
• Between January and February 2020, the traveling exhibition “Travesía” was shown at the San Diego Natural History Museum during two events: Secret Society of Adultologists: Time Machine and State of Biodiversity.
• On January 30, 2020 the club opened an exhibition at San Quintín.
• The club participated in an educational fair to celebrate 2020 World Wetlands Day for the community.
• The 2020 San Diego Climate Summit featured the work of the club.
• Climate Science Alliance published an article about the club, as part of the series Profiles from the Peninsula.