Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease detected in the Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands Department of Environment has discovered several incidences of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease, the devastating infection that was first discovered on Florida’s coral reefs in 2014 and has since spread across the Caribbean region. Cayman Compass reports: Cayman’s reefs are under attack from the mysterious, but deadly …
CCI-CBF Week: Nature-Based Solutions for our Caribbean Future
The Caribbean Challenge Initiative (CCI) and the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) will be hosting the 2020 instalment of their annual CCI-CBF Week as a virtual event this year, from July 13 to 16, 2020. The theme of the 2020 CCI-CBF week is Nature-Based Solutions for our Caribbean Future, and there …
Research finds that in the Caribbean, overseas territories are more vulnerable to coral bleaching than independent countries
According to a new study, independent Caribbean island countries tend to be less vulnerable to coral bleaching than overseas territories: “We were surprised to find that independent islands have lower social-ecological vulnerability than territories…. Territories — such as the Dutch islands of Sint Maarten and Saba — tend to be …
Stony coral tissue loss disease spreads through the northern Caribbean
In recent weeks both St. Maarten and the US Virgin Islands have reported cases of stony coral tissue loss disease. The first incidence of stony coral tissue loss disease was recorded in 2014 in Miami-Dade county in Florida, and the disease has since spread south through the Florida Keys. Outbreaks …
Government of Antigua and Barbuda signs ocean energy MoU
Media release — Swedish marine energy developer Minesto has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Antigua and Barbuda. Through a feasibility study, facilitated by the United Nations Office for Project Services, the parties will explore the possibilities of supplying the Eastern Caribbean with renewable ocean energy by Minesto’s technology. Minesto …
Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism launches study on sargassum impacts in the Caribbean
The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) has launched a study to document the impacts of the recurring influxes of sargassum seaweed in the Caribbean Sea: Over the past 7 years, massive Sargassum influxes have been having adverse effects on national and regional economies in the Caribbean, with substantial loss of …
Beneath the Waves and shark conservation in The Bahamas
Marine biologist Melissa Cristina Márquez writes about shark conservation organisation Beneath the Waves and the research they are doing in The Bahamas. According to Dr. Austin Gallagher, the organisation’s Chief Scientist, “There are few places worldwide that are as important to sharks than the Bahamas.” In 2018, Beneath the Waves launched one …