Danger at the Beach: Five Facts to Know about Rip Currents!
The Institute of Marine Affairs is urging the public to exercise caution at the beach, especially over the long Easter weekend. During the month of April, beaches in Trinidad and Tobago experience heightened wave energy associated with the Northern Hemisphere winter, which increases the likelihood of strong nearshore currents that pose a threat to beachgoers. The month of April is also a preferred time for families with children and friends to visit the beach as children get a vacation break from school. Rip currents are powerful flows of water moving seawards that can easily drag unsuspecting bathers out to sea, these dangerous currents are often...
Beach Material
Beach material may come from the erosion of rocks near the beach, or be brought to the beach by rivers. Some beach sediments consist of calcium carbonate formed from the remains of corals, shells and algae. Carbonate sands are white and may be found close to coral reef sites or seagrass meadows. Such beaches are common in Tobago. In Trinidad, the most common mineral in beach sediment is quartz. The dark colour of these sediments is due to the presence of certain iron-based minerals and rock fragments. Grain size (Figure 2) of beach sediment is noted throughout the guide because in addition to having implications for...
Turtle nesting season begins: No driving, bonfires, NGO warns
he start of the annual turtle nesting season in Trinidad and Tobago has begun, and the public is being warned to respect and avoid turtle nesting sites Read more ...
Strange as fiction
Is it possible that a fungus could infect humans and over-run the world, like the cordyceps in the current hit TV series The Last of Us? Read more ...
The BBNJ Agreement – a win for the Ocean and Multilateralism
By Dr. Kahlil Hassanali, Senior Research Officer, Institute of Marine Affairs “The ship has reached the shore.” This was how Her Excellency Rena Lee, Ambassador of Singapore and President of the Intergovernmental Conference relating to an international legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (The BBNJ Agreement), announced that delegations had finally agreed on a treaty text. After nearly twenty years of talks on the matter, five years in an Intergovernmental Conference setting, two weeks into the resumed fifth session of that Conference, and thirty-eight hours over the scheduled deadline during which time delegates bunkered...
Recognising the Importance of Our Seagrass Meadows
March 1, 2023 marks the first-ever United Nations recognised World Seagrass Day. The day is being commemorated to raise public awareness on the importance of seagrass meadows and to recognise the importance of seagrasses to the health and well-being of the planet, as well as to the people, communities, flora and fauna that rely on them. Seagrasses are marine flowering plants that grow in the intertidal and subtidal zones along shallow tropical and temperate coasts. They are very productive, faunally rich and ecologically important marine resources that provide nursery habitats for several commercially important species such as conch, fish and lobster and a major food source...
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...