Biologist and environmentalist Roberto Rojo, co-founder of Cenotes Urbanos, gazes up at an enormous pillar driven through Oppenheimer Cave near Playa del Carmen. Cenotes are home to countless rare and endemic species, and for the Maya, they have long been sacred portals to the underworld, where offerings were placed deep within their waters. Roberto is part of a coalition of activists dedicated to raising awareness of these fragile ecosystems and monitoring the spread of pollution that threatens them. The Tren Maya construction workers tried to reduce the impact of diesel spillage here by placing a circular dam of plastic Coca-Cola bottles wrapped in black fabric around the piles, but it did not work, and the pollution has already seeped into the waters beyond. Although this is the second photograph I’ve shared from this cave, revealing the piles hammered through its ceiling, it is more than a scar, it is a warning of what we risk losing and a stark reminder that, if we fail to act, the damage will outlive us all. This unsettling sight will stay with me forever!
