PERSPECTIVES: The wonders of marine biodiversity
Vincent Van Gogh’s love for nature was no secret and the olive groves in Saint-Remy, France, were one his favourite places to paint. In a letter to his brother Theo, Van Gogh once wrote, “The murmur of an olive grove has something very intimate, immensely old about it….it’s too beautiful for me to dare paint it.” What Van Gogh captures in his words is the reverence of nature which is often quite difficult to ignore when you are working in natural settings. As a marine biologist, working in the sea allows one the good fortune of seeing many marine species living life in their natural habitat. Marine biologists like Attish...
Coral Reefs, X-MEN of the SEA
The Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) recently partnered with bp Trinidad and Tobago (bpTT) and other government, private sector and community-based organizations to build its capacity in marine ecosystem rehabilitation, particularly coral reefs and seagrass beds, in a rapidly changing climate. This partnership is a significant step towards promoting wildlife conservation, especially in the Caribbean region, which has suffered greatly from the impacts of climate change and human activities. With coral reefs facing unprecedented levels of degradation, the partnership intends to deliver long-term biodiversity conservation and restoration of these ecosystems including avoided loss using a multi-pronged approach: (1) Ocean stewardship; (2) Restoration of Tobago’s...
It’s time to restore degraded wetlands!
As we join the rest of the world to commemorate World Wetlands Day on February 2nd we are reminded that it is time to restore our degraded wetlands. But why should we? According to the Global Wetland Outlook, 2021, wetlands have always provided services to humanity, yet recognition of the scale of these benefits and the consequences of their loss is quite recent. Critical wetland ecosystem services include: carbon sequestration and storage, particularly in peatlands and marine ecosystems; ensuring safe and reliable supplies of drinking and irrigation water; the provision of goods and services connected with food security; and management against water-related disasters such...
Protecting Tobago from Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease
Prepared by: Hannah Lochan, Marine Technician Cruise ship season is here again after a long break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As we welcome visitors to experience our beautiful twin islands, there is one passenger we hope is not on board any cruise ship - the lethal pathogen that causes Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD)! This pathogen can be transported via ballast water in ships and is extremely virulent causing its own underwater coral epidemic having already decimated coral reefs in the region. Potential spread of SCTLD When a ship is preparing for a voyage, it often takes in saltwater into large holding tanks in its...
When Nutrients Become Pollution
Growing up in a Caribbean household one will often hear the phrase ‘too much of a good thing, is a bad thing.’ Children have also been encouraged to eat things that may taste particularly bad, with the promise that it is good for them. As we gets older, we find ourselves examining nutrition labels and slowly we come to the realisation that our parents were right! So now when one hears the word ‘nutrient’, surely, you may be tempted to think, we can’t have too much of it, not so? The term Nutrient typically refers to a substance or ingredient that promotes growth, provides energy,...
Tobago’s reefs are on their third consecutive year of coral bleaching
Trinidad and Tobago continue to be under Bleaching Alert Level Two for the period of October 23 for up to four weeks. Tobago’s reefs are now experiencing coral bleaching for the third consecutive year. The IMA Team has been observing pale and partially bleached corals in Charlotteville, northeast Tobago. We have also received reports of coral bleaching on many reefs in southwest Tobago, including Buccoo Reef, Store Bay Reef, Flying Reef and Mt Irvine Reef. Bleaching is occurring across many species – brain corals, mountainous star corals, staghorn corals, fire corals and even the soft corals. Staghorn Bleaching in Buccoo, Tobago What is coral bleaching? Corals form...
Blue Carbon is no reason to feel blue
Have you ever described yourself or someone else as “feeling blue”? In that case you are using a phrase coined from a custom among many old deepwater sailing ships. If the ship lost the captain or any of the officers during its voyage, she would fly blue flags and have a blue band painted along her entire hull when returning to homeport. I would like to think that this is true because it perfectly fits my narrative but given that the internet source was quite dubious it probably isn’t. Another source indicated that the use of the colour blue to mean sadness goes all the...
What does an oasis and a coral reef have in common?
No, this is not the start of a bad joke or a riddle (although the obvious answer is probably water) but have you ever wondered how oases occur in the desert? How can these areas flush with trees and shrubs, teeming with life occur in the barren arid desert environments? If you haven’t, then take a moment to ponder, try it. It is probably not what you think. While there are many different factors that give rise to the creation of desert oases, one of them might be very surprising. It begins with organisms not visible to the naked eye. Microbes in Israel’s Negev desert...
Acid Oceans
“Sometimes our strengths lie beneath the surface … Far beneath, in some cases” (The Ocean, 2016). Well not exactly a quote by the ocean itself. I am intentionally being a bit cryptic, because these words make more sense in the context of the movie they were taken from, Moana. Moana is the Maori word for ocean. The Maori being the native peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand. The belief system of the Maori holds nature in very high regard. The kinship between humans and the environment in Maori culture is expressed through kaitiakitanga, a way in which the environment is respected and managed, something that...
The Marine Resilience Initiative, Tobago (Pilot Project)
Tobago waters are rich in marine biodiversity, home to unique and interconnected ecosystems, such as the Buccoo coral reef - Bon Accord Lagoon Complex made up of seagrass and mangroves. Most of Tobago’s Caribbean coast is fringed by coral reefs extending to the northeast Tobago, UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve. For over ten years, the Institute of Marine Affairs has been monitoring the health of coral reefs and seagrasses around Tobago. Unfortunately, we have observed several disturbance events have affected Tobago’s marine ecosystems resulting in significant mortality / dieback of critical coral reefs and seagrass beds. Coral reef monitoring conducted by IMA has...