Friday, March 2, 2012

Check Out Our New Website:www.bahamasseaturtleresearch.org

We have launched a website to share our mission, newsletters and experiences in the Bahamas. We hope you enjoy the albums and information about the Bahamas National Trust and our research.
Check us out: WWW.bahamasseaturtleresearch.org

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

NEWSLETTER





10 July 2011


GOOD NEWS


5 July 2011: the Bahamian government announced that all commercial shark fishing of the country’s territorial waters is prohibited.  

This is a major advance in Bahamian fisheries policy and regulations. The new regulations are the result of a major campaign by the Bahamas National Trust in partnership with the Pew Environmental Group and the result of a commitment by government to the natural resources of the Bahamas. 
                         ___________________________________


The last day before we left Crooked Island was one of the best. I hired Michael Carroll, a Landrail Point bonefish guide, to take me into the flats of Acklins and Crooked Island. We revisited the flat south of Lovely Bay where we had worked with Clarence Williams, and then Michael took me to Thompson Creek and Old Woman south of Crooked Island. The good news was no fibropapillomas and plenty of large turtles. It was clear the Acklins fishermen have been staying out of these flats.

 Just east of Old Woman three turtles ran off from in front of the boat, and we had to make a choice. Michael took after one, but I hollered at him to go after another that I thought was a hawksbill.  

“How can you tell?” 

“It looks like a hawksbill, and it’s behaving like one.” 

We caught the turtle after Michael had done some fancy driving over a rocky bar, and I showed Michael the difference between the green and hawksbill. When we got back to Landrail later that afternoon, Michael showed a picture of himself and the hawksbill to his 10 year old daughter, Melena, who said, “Beautiful hawksbill!”  When her father asked her how she knew, she said because the people from FOXY LADY had told her about turtles at Cabbage Hill Primary. So Melena, Michael, and I – three generations – had all learned more about sea turtles.



Captain Michael Carroll

As usual, when we can see the end of the season, time gets short. We ran up to Rum Cay, had a wonderful supper at Ruby Baine’s restaurant in Rum Cay with Marcus and Jenny Mitchell and family, and then headed on to Conception. 

Every time we go to Conception we feel the thrill, the gift of being there. Tropic birds fly overhead to greet you in the anchorage, laughing gulls gather on the speed boat, and in the crystal water you can always see fish – barracuda and box fish around the boat, southern sting rays and their symbiotic bar jacks crossing the bottom, schools of bait fish, lemon sharks, and the occasional bottle nosed dolphin. At sunset the odds of a green flash are excellent. 

And that is only a selection of what you see in the anchorage. Then you go up the creek, onto the land, circumnavigate the island, and you know there are not enough days in a life-time to see it all. So Barbara and I listened carefully to the weather, checked the tides, made a plan, and hoped we could stay until we ran out of fuel and water.



American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus), Conception Island

Barbara and I did work in Conception until we had tagged over 50 turtles and had run out of gas. On one survey pass in the deep hole (about 50 yards) Barbara counted 20 green turtles. Our work was enhanced by the two days we spent with Don and Denise Bermant who helped us tag turtles and added moral support. 

Then we steamed north to Cat Island to meet Barbara’s sister-in-law, Karen Buxton, and her son, Marty, who were with us for a week tagging in Cat Island. For the first time we tagged turtles in Musgrave Creek and Little Creek in New Bight. Mark Keasler had reported seeing an occasional turtle in these creeks, but we tagged four green turtles in Musgrave Creek and 5 in Little Creek. These creeks are part of the same mangrove system that includes Fernandez Creek and would get our vote as a potential national park and marine reserve. 


Spotted Sea Hare Taking a Ride on a Horse Conch, Fernandez Bay

The rest of the season was frenetic but wonderful. Barbara left in early June, and two days later Alex Henderson and a friend arrived from the National Trust. Because of a nagging problem with the outboard wiring harness, we tagged turtles in Cat Island for only two days before we had to run back toward Spanish Wells so Ron Pinder could fix the wiring. On the way we stopped in Cape Eleuthera to visit the Island School and made a run in the speed boat in wretched weather up to Starved Creek where the boys caught 10 really healthy green turtles in sloppy conditions. The boys flew out of Rock Sound the next afternoon on the same plane that carried two more interns, Whitney Knowles and Venetheria Gray. That afternoon the ladies tagged three more green turtles in Starved Creek before it was too dark. In Starved Creek we also saw about a dozen mature nurse sharks aggregating for their annual reproductive activity in the shallow water.




Whitney and Venetheria

In Spanish Wells we tagged turtles north of Royal Island, in Corrie Sound, and in the Sounds on the eastern side of North Eleuthera before the girls took the ferry back to Nassau and I ran, “me-one,” back down to Cat Island to meet my grandson, Findlay Mulligan, and our family friends, Chris and Henry Lee.


The weather was excellent so we were able to get back to Conception where, among other excitement, the boys spent 15 minutes swimming with a bottlenose dolphin just outside the creek. We also went out to South Rocks to snorkel near the shore and see hundreds of sooty terns nesting on the cay.



Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncates) in Conception  

When Findlay and the Lees departed, Terran Moss (12 year old son of Junior and Cindy Moss) came on board for the delivery to Spanish Wells to lay the boat up for the summer. We had plenty of work, but Terran and I did get another day in the Sounds with Jean-Ann Wilson, Cord Higgs, and Rachel Ricks and her son, Storm. For many years the Harbour Island fishermen devastated the turtle stocks in the Sounds. They ate the meat and sold the shells to the ladies in the tourist market. Now, after the turtle ban, it appears the men are leaving the turtles alone and the population is growing in number and average size. 


Cat Island and Spanish Wells Students Work Together

SEASON SUMMARY: 

·        Captured 412 turtles 

·        Confirmed fibropapillomas on the west side of Andros and at the entrance to Turtle Sound in Crooked Island 

·        Tagged turtles in several new creeks in Andros, Barra Terre, Little Exuma, and Crooked Island - Acklins 

·        Observed increased turtle populations in New Bight Cat Island, Starved Creek in South Eleuthera, the Sounds in North Eleuthera, and the flats north of Stella Maris Long Island 

We want to thank two anonymous donors who made significant contributions to our work. The donations compensated for increases in the price of fuel, and they financed the Bahamas National Trust intern cruises. We also purchased an LCD projector that we used in all our school presentations.

LANDRAIL POINT

24 April 2011

Photos by Jennifer Herrick



Foxy Lady and Bird Rock Light
The anchorage off the beach between Bird Rock and Landrail Point is one of our favorites, especially since there is a healthy green turtle habitat off Jesse Phillip’s house 200 yards away. 

Barbara and I celebrated Easter with our Seventh Day Adventist friends in Landrail on Saturday and had lunch with Willie Gibson and her family after the service. If Willie Gibson mentions a meal you just say, “Yes, please.” Willie is a great cook, and her smile lights up the darkest of days. 

Sunday morning we picked up “Captain” Leo Gibson, Nigel Sands, and Tommy Moss in Landrail, and Jennifer Herrick joined us to take pictures. Leo is now fifteen, but he earned the family rank of Captain several years ago when he announced his intention to become a professional mariner and began driving his father’s boats. 

So we took off for the turtle grass pasture in front of Jesse Phillip’s pink house where we tag turtles every year. Barbara and Tommy took turns as lookout, and Leo was the lead diver followed by Nigel. When the turtles slowed down I got in and Barbara steered. 

Tagging and recapturing turtles is usually our main purpose, but we are also studying the escape behavior of sea turtles and their possible ability to camouflage themselves as protection from predators. The turtles off the pink house are almost all dark brown with beautiful markings, and the escape behavior of the larger turtles is predictable - swim west into deeper water.
 


Tommy Spots the Turtle and Leo is Ready to Dive 

Our strategy is to spot the turtles right near the beach in shallow water and try to keep the boat between the turtles and the deep water so we can see them more easily and tire them out before they go deep and are harder to dive up. Green sea turtles have not survived for millions of years, however, by making it easy for the opposition.



The Chase is On

We got lucky with the first turtle that stayed in shallow water, and Leo dove it up easily – a recapture from last year.



Leo with a Green Turtle Recapture
The second turtle was a different deal. The turtle was larger and headed for the deep, and we ran wide open to keep up. Barbara began to have real trouble seeing the turtle, but it slowed down, and Leo went in to tow behind the boat. Finally the turtle slowed way down, and I went over. The turtle lay on the bottom, but neither Leo nor I could get down to forty feet. Slowly the turtle began to move, and I knew we could get it when it came up to blow. That took another half an hour while the turtle swam out to the wall which starts at 70’. Leo caught it when it finally came up for air. 

The next chase started out the same. After a short time in the shallows, the turtle swam under the boat and headed offshore. Leo went over and we towed him fast until the turtle slowed. Again I went in and the turtle lay down in fifty feet. Within twenty feet of the green turtle was a hawksbill resting and looking up at us. Nigel and Tommy were now in the water, and I told them to watch the hawksbill while Barbara hovered nearby watching all of us. After a few minutes the hawksbill started to move away, so we had to make a choice. We want more DNA samples from hawksbill, so we abandoned the green, and we all took off after the hawksbill which swam slowly out to the wall. 

I lost sight of the hawksbill, but Leo has younger eyes and kept swimming and pointing down. We followed that turtle back into forty feet and back out to the wall twice before it headed for the surface. Hawksbill do not head for the surface with the same sense of mission as green turtles. That turtle toyed with us, coming close, diving down, coming up, and then finally jetting away out of reach, blowing and diving back to the bottom and back out to the wall. 

The same drill again, and the boys all followed him. Then the turtle finally started to ease inshore, and I thought Leo might be able to dive him up, but the turtle never lay down long enough. I yelled at Barbara that we would keep at it, and she just laughed. I don’t know how many minutes went by, but the turtle headed back for the surface and started his toying routine again. I made a shallow dive, and he did a one-eighty and took off toward Leo. Big mistake for the turtle. Leo swam for his life and just caught the hawksbill as it hit the surface. 


Hawksbill Salute




That capture took an hour and a half. Everyone was tired, and Jennifer had gotten some great shots but had to go ashore to tend her baby. We ran out to Foxy Lady for peanut butter and jelly and back in to anchor off the beach. Then we worked up the turtles, and the boys paid close attention to the data and our lectures on the biology. It is always useful to show the differences between the hawksbill and the greens and try to understand how the physiology of each species suits its way of life. And we had all just witnessed differences in escape behavior.



Captain Leo, Tommy Moss, and Nigel Sands

And so ended a fantastic day. We had caught only three turtles, but all were healthy, and one was a hawksbill. The joy of the day was spending so much time in the water with the boys and watching the turtles swimming in their environment.


Friday, September 30, 2011

The Foxes and the Cartwrights

Clarence Town, Long Island
9 April 2011
Photos by Wendy Edler

The Fox boys, Dylan and Alexander from Salt Pond, arrived at 0900 and off we went in the speed boat to tag a few turtles at Lochabar Beach before the Cartwrights arrived. Roger Cartwright had said he would be down by 1100 with his son Tyler and a couple of friends in his Boston Whaler.

I gave the Foxes the usual options, “You can jump the turtles, swim after them, or use the dip net.” Dylan and Alexander had gone with me before so they knew the drill. Alexander decided he would jump as we chased the first turtle. Right off it was obvious the boys had good eyes. They saw everything, and passing turtles didn’t distract them from the target. Alexander jumped twice and caught the first turtle.


Dylan tried next, but had a trouble with his timing, so he picked up the net and almost immediately got the knack. When we headed into the dock to pick up Wendy Edler the boys had put six green turtles in the boat. Wendy was coming along to take photos. The Cartwrights were late, so we headed back to Lochabar to keep working until they arrived.

The Boys Catch a Green Turtle in the Dip Net

We put one more green turtle in the boat and were chasing another, when we saw a loaded Whaler headed our way.


The Cartwrights Arrive
Roger stood by while we caught our turtle then came alongside to get a plan. There was a high neap tide, so if we were quick we could catch a few in the small hole before we got trapped by the ebb. Tyler and “Dutch Boy” (Earl Knowles) hopped into our boat and we motored carefully up the creek and across the flats into the hole. We caught all the turtles we chased, and both boats had four turtles before the tide started dropping and we had to leave.

Tyler Dives on a Green Turtle
With perfect weather and plenty of talent we headed for the main channel to catch the larger turtles. There is a wonderful habitat in 10-15’ at the end of the channel into Clarence Town where it turns toward the Flying Fish Marina and the government dock. There are pastures of turtle grass and escape routes to deeper water. Over the years we have worked in this habitat, but you need good weather, and Barbara and I cannot catch many alone.


To lighten the boats we put all our turtles ashore on Strachan Cay. We agreed to catch only one turtle in the Strachan beach habitat on our way out to the channel. Tyler got one.


Roger and Dutch Boy and the young spotters made it look easy in the main channel. In our boat we towed Dutch Boy, and he easily caught the first big one. Then Tyler and Dylan started joining him. It was wonderful to see Dutch Boy hold back to give the boys a chance before he helped them. (Later Roger told me that Dutch Boy has no children but plays uncle to a whole gang of kids in Mangrove Bush and finances the Optimus sailing program.) He’s the kind of man you are proud to know.


Dutch Boy Towing



Green Turtle Blows
Dutch Boy brings a Green to the Boat
Soon each boat had three greens, and it was definitely time to start the science. When we had all the turtles line up on the beach at Strachan Cay, Roger went out to the channel and caught one more. That gave us 24 green turtles to measure, weigh, tag, and photograph. Everyone had a job, and even the youngest boys stayed with the program.


Weighing a Green Turtle

 It took a full two hours to work up all the turtles. We processed the Lochabar and 2nd Hole turtles first, because they had been in the boats the longest. When they were done, Roger ran them back to their habitats while we finished the rest.


The Team
Wendy took the team picture with the final turtle, and the science was finished – 24 total green turtles from four distinct habitats within Clarence Town harbour. We had 5 recaptures from Lochabar Beach, 5 recaptures from 2nd Hole, and 1 from Strachan Cay. All the turtles from the Main Channel were new, but Roger and Dutch Boy saw a couple with tags while they were towing. It was all proof of the extraordinary site fidelity of green turtles, even in an area where only a hundred yards would take the turtles into a different habitat.

As we motored back toward the marina, Dylan and Alexander counted 30 turtles in the hundred yards between the red buoy and the marina bulkhead. Three years ago we had made the same survey and had been excited to see 12 turtles.

That evening some of us assembled at the Cartwright’s for crab and dough and plenty of talk about politics, families, and Long Island; but the thread running through all the talk was pride in the community and the environment.

Hopefully the Bahamas National Trust will soon establish a branch in Long Island that can work toward creating a couple of national parks on the island. I would recommend that all of Clarence Town Harbour be protected. The park would allow for bonefishing, selected dredging, expansion of the marina, and work on the government dock but would protect the beaches and cays and the wildlife.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Newsletter 20 March 2011


Caribbean Reef Shark: photo by Stuart Cove

Why is the proposed ban on the commercial harvest of sharks so important for the Bahamas? What pressures make the situation so urgent?

The following announcement from the Bahamas National trust explains the problem and proposes a realistic solution.


Bahamas Shark Campaign

• The demand for shark fins, meat, and other products has depleted numerous shark populations. 30% of shark and ray species are now threatened or near threatened with extinction.

• The growing demand for the Asian delicacy, shark fin soup, has led to the killing of up to 73 million sharks a year. Most fishermen remove the fins and discard the carcass while still alive.

• Slow growth, late maturation and production of few offspring, make sharks vulnerable to overfishing and slow to recover from decline.

• Because of a ban on longline fishing gear in the 1990s, The Bahamas has relatively healthy and diverse shark populations.

• As apex predators sharks are important to maintaining a healthy balance in marine ecosystems.

• Divers and film crews visit The Bahamas, known as “the Shark Diving Capital of the World,” to see sharks in the wild, and they contribute tens of millions of dollars to the Bahamian economy every year.

• The objective of the campaign is to amend the Fisheries Resources (Jurisdiction and Conservation) Act (Chapter 244) to include shark specific protections as follows:

o Prohibit the commercial fishing of sharks throughout the entirety of The Bahamas exclusive fishery zone;

o Prohibit the import and export of shark products in The Bahamas;

o Prohibit the sale of shark products within The Bahamas;

o Allow recreational catch and release of sharks;

o Allow the incidental, artisanal catch of sharks by citizens of The Bahamas, assuming the subsequent shark or shark products are not sold.



Chinese companies are now applying for permits to fish for or purchase shark products in the Bahamas. A small fishery has already developed in Andros. The Chinese have broken ground on the new Baha Mar hotel project on Cable Beach in Nassau, and the Bahamian government has issued 8,000 work permits for Chinese workers who will work on the project. That is at least 8,000 reasons to act before the market for shark fin soup explodes.


The Bahamas National Trust in cooperation with the Pew Environmental Group, the Nature Conservancy, BREEF, and others is proposing the new shark regulations to Government and is trying to educate the Bahamian population on the reasons for the legislation. Those interested should go to www.bnt.bs for more information. Our readers may also want to read about the Shark Conservation Act signed by President Obama on January 4th to control shark finning.


OUR TRIP:

Emerald and Foxy Lady ran down together from Black Point to Lee Stocking Island to stay for a week and tag turtles in the Brigantines and Barra Terre. We saw southern sting rays mating on the sandy bottom a few hundred yards south of the anchorage and tagged green and hawksbill turtles in the Brigantines and Barra Terre with the Rosens, Allen, and Tori Redinger from the Perry Institute.

Tori Redinger with her First Turtle

Rescue of the Connie Ann

18 February 2011

I still leave the VHF on channel 16 at night in the out-islands. At 0430 Barbara and I were woken by a Mayday, and the boat in trouble sounded close.

Like any sailor moored comfortably in a good lee, I rolled over and prayed someone else would respond to the emergency. No such luck. Barbara and I forced ourselves out of the rack to answer the call. The skipper of the Connie Ann said he was unable to start his engine and gave us his position. His boat was a 27’ Bahamian commercial fishing boat being delivered from Grand Bahama to Exuma. When I plotted his position I knew why he and his crew were not happy campers. He was drifting at about 1 knot and was a mile from the rocks on the windward side of Lee Stocking. It was any mariner’s nightmare – drifting onto a lee shore in strong winds and breaking waves.

I called BASRA, the Bahamas Defense Force, and Marcus Mitchell only to learn that they could not help, and we were on our own.

At 0615 I picked up Eric Mueller at the Institute and Allan White from Emerald and ran our 20’ Spanish Wells speed boat out Adderly Cut in 6-9’ seas. The wind was 18-22 knots, and the seas outside were 6-8’ and starting to break. Towing in the seas was going to be questionable, but in less than half an hour Connie Ann would be too close to the rocks for us to pick up the tow.

Connie Ann threw us the end of their anchor rode, and Allan got a bowline around our bridle and we started to tow NW up the coast and a little further offshore, but as we approached Adderly Cay I could see it would be too dangerous to tow Connie Ann down wind through the cut.

I asked Erich if there was another way into the lee at a better angle. He suggested the north side of Adderly where he knew there was enough water with the high tide. We towed north of Adderly, and luckily the angle of the seas was not bad and the wind had subsided a bit. Within 20 minutes we were in the lee and heading into Lee Stocking.

So the boys on the Connie Ann got lucky. We had left our radio on; Erich Mueller had local knowledge; and the seas were just small enough for us tow. If any of that had been different the Connie Ann would have struck the rocks on the ocean side of Lee Stocking Island and three fishermen might have drowned.


                 F/V Connie Ann inside Adderly Cay


The wind was forecast to stay up all day. We knew our friends, Tony and Eusie Zane, had arrived in Georgetown, so Barbara and I hooked a ride with Catherine Booker and had a wonderful day with Tony and Eusie and their friend, Pem Hutchinson, who has had a house in George Town forever.

Saturday morning the Rosens departed for Staniel Cay, and we ran the 60 miles south and east on the bank to Long Island, so we could leave the boat in the Stella Maris marina while we flew out to Nassau to meet up with Shelley Cant and Kerrilynn Miller at the Bahamas National Trust and travel to Spanish Wells to promote the shark campaign and have people sign the petition that will be submitted to Government to prove that Bahamians are informed and in favor of the new shark legislation.

Taking a fisheries campaign to Spanish Wells may sound like going into the lion’s den to sell vegetables, but in reality Spanish Wells people are smart, reasonable citizens. Rachel Ricks helped us at the school Book Fair, and we spent the rest of our time giving presentations to the primary students and walking the streets promoting the ban.


Rachel Ricks, 1st Grade Teacher in Spanish Wells

Outside the Gap restaurant we met “A1 Broadshad”, a pilot and fishing guide. I introduced Shelley, and she stepped right up and proposed the ban. During the conversation Shelley mentioned that her grandfather was Dr. Cant.

“Dr. Cant!” said A1 showing Shelley his right palm, “See this scar? I cut myself with a knife from there to there and was bleeding like a pig. Dr. Cant stitched me up. That was forty years ago.”

Shelley had instant credibility, and A1 signed the petition as did several other fishermen who listened carefully while Shelley explained the need. Shelley left Spanish Wells with 70 signatures.

Back in Stella Maris, Barbara and I tagged 14 green turtles on the bonefish flat north of the marina with CC Schneider, a young girl from another boat in the marina. Last year we caught 8 in the same flat. The population is growing.

On our way back from Long Island to the Exumas Barbara and I stopped at Rocky Point on the south side of Barra Terre. For us Rocky Point provides a near perfect anchorage in easterly winds. The holding is excellent in a good lee within 50 yards of the cays. There is seldom another boat, and we are only a mile and half from the turtle grounds.

The mangroves creeks on the south side of Barra Terre, Exuma, and Little Exuma rival those of Andros. The creek system in Barra Terre opens onto seven miles of the coast and consists of hundreds of acres of flats and a maze of mangrove waterways that provide an amazing habitat for wildlife. We had one of our best days ever, working alone in a remote area tagging large hawksbill and greens and marveling at the egrets, herons, puppy blacktip sharks, large nurse and lemon sharks, bonefish, and gray snapper. It was a privilege to be there and it hurt to leave.

In Samson Cay we met our friends, Taz and Sue Stafford, who were staying ashore on the cay. We enjoyed ourselves like tourists – laughing, snorkeling, having supper with the Rosens, and eating the big hamburgers at Compass Cay. But we also made another trip to the Exuma Park with students from Black Point. The Staffords and Roberta McKenzie, the school Principal, went with Allan in the Rosen’s boat. Four years as principal in Black Point and Roberta had never been to the Park.


Black Point Students in the Park

Most of the week I had been sick, so late on Saturday I put myself on antibiotics. Monday morning Barbara insisted that I call my doctor, Bob Carrellas, and go to the clinic in Black Point. The nurse “sounded me” and by chance Bob called back right after she had had a good listen. Together they determined that I was taking the right antibiotics and would live, resting and drinking orange juice.

When we left Black Point we ran in the lee of Bitter Guana Cay and flew by what I thought was a huge turtle. I made a hard left turn back into our wake.

“Barbara, you want to catch this thing?”

“You’re the one who has to catch it.”

So, like a kid out of sight of his mother, I suited up and went overboard. The turtle didn’t swim fast, but it sure wanted to head for the bottom. Just before I ran out of air, I managed to pull its head up and reach the surface.

Then the Staffords helped us struggle the 200 pound dinosaur into the boat and hold it down for 15 minutes while we tagged it and took skin samples for DNA analysis. When we got it back overboard I was wiped out, but I felt justified. The lab needs DNA samples from loggerheads, and the Staffords got to see a big turtle.



Loggerhead Sea Turtle

March 11th, Barbara and I departed again for Long Island to meet Shelley for more campaigning. The wind was almost due north, and we had an extra day, so we anchored south of Little Exuma and turtled off the Ferry Settlement and in McPhee’s Creek. With the help of a couple of local boys, Kenyadah and Kenton Dames, we tagged five turtles in Ferry Creek. Then we moved on to McPhee’s which we had never seen. The creek is drop-dead beautiful with white sand beaches, coral, grass, and no humans. We saw three greens in the late afternoon and tagged one.

The schedule in Long Island included presentations in every school and a public meeting at the Community Center in Clarence Town.

Three days later we had made presentations in five schools and Shelley Cant and Nikara Pratt from the Trust had met with 50 people at the public meeting at the Community Center in Clarence Town.

A Cartwright has the Answer

The crowd included the head of Local Government, fishermen, teachers, business men and women, and 12 students from NGM Majors High School. It was an exciting evening with plenty of passion and hard questions. Most people signed the shark petition and 20 signed up as members of the Trust. The BNT now has over 4500 Bahamian signatures on the petition.

We are now moored at the Flying Fish Marina in Clarence Town. Tuesday we fly home for a week and then return to tag all the turtles in Clarence Town harbour before we sail for Crooked Island and Acklins.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

NEWSLETTER 15 February 2011

NEWSLETTER


15 FEBRUARY 2011



                                   Grammy-Bee's First Green Turtle in 2011

The Christmas blizzard forced us to change our plans. We missed the Love Boat, so we flew directly to Miami to visit Ali Ingersoll, a St. George’s alumna and resident of Cat Island who is undergoing extensive therapy for a broken neck. Ali’s condition is improving with her spirit and hard work and the support of her family.

Two days later we celebrated New Year’s Eve with Diana Claridge and her family in Spanish Wells. Diana is a world famous marine mammal specialist who lives and works in Sandy Point, Abaco.

January 4th we took the Fast Ferry to Nassau to attend the Bahamas National Trust public meeting about the proposed shark ban. With support from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the BNT has initiated a campaign to ban commercial shark fishing throughout the Bahamas. Many years ago the BNT pushed hard for legislation that banned the use of longlines to protect large pelagic fish and sharks. As a result of that ban and the exclusion of foreign fishing fleets, the shark population in the Bahamas is one of the healthiest in the world.

Pierre Cousteau and a representative of the Pew Trust joined Eric Carey and members of the BNT staff to announce the BNT campaign and explain the reasons for banning a commercial shark fishery in the Bahamas. They played to a packed house of believers. The questions from the children were the hit of the evening - questions like, “If mangroves are so important for fish why are people allowed to fill in the mangroves to build houses?” It was a great evening.

The next afternoon I had lunch with Eric and Charlene Carey and Portia Sweeting. There was a lot of serious talk about sharks, taking grouper off the restaurant menus in the closed season, educational outreach, volunteer programs, and the parks; but there was also plenty of laughter and good natured teasing about growing up on the wrong out-island. I always feel there is a fresh breeze blowing through the Trust. Barbara and I always leave Nassau fired up and ready to go.

After two weeks of boat maintenance and the installation of a new outboard on the speed boat, we headed south from Spanish Wells. Sib Reppert anchored alongside us in Norman’s Cay, and we had supper together at McDuff’s. Sib’s daughter, Victoria, works at the US Embassy in Tunisia, and her mother, Chris, was visiting her when the revolution started. Sib was in touch with them every day on Skype, and the stories he told us went way beyond the information published in the press. It seemed impossible, but Victoria and Chris felt safe in Tunis, slept at home to the sound of gun fire, and worked at the embassy every day.

The next day we were anchored inside Fowl Cay getting ready to visit the local schools and meet David and June Rosen to cruise in company to Andros. We gave a presentation on sea turtles at the Black Point Primary School before Shacara Lightbourne arrived from the BNT to award badges to the members of the Discovery Club. It was a lively celebration. The next day Barbara and I caught two small green turtles in Dotham Creek and carried them to the school so the students could help tag them. Hands on education can really spice up a day at school.



                                      Proud Keeper of the Turtle Scale


At the Staniel Cay All-Age School we talked about shark biology and the shark ban. Kids are always fascinated by sharks, and enthusiasm was high. When we mentioned the danger of a black market for shark fins among the Chinese workers at Baha Mar in Nassau, one boy leapt up, “And I’ll have to watch out for my dog.”


                                              Staniel Cay Enthusiasm

The trip to Andros was very successful but too short. We moored in Lisbon Creek, Mangrove Cay, and we met some wonderful people. We turtled in the western creeks with bonefish guides, Marvin Miller and “Shine” Greene and tagged greens, hawksbill, and loggerheads. The Rosens came with us when they could, but their mate, Allan, came every day and proved invaluable. I have never seen so many large juvenile hawksbill in one area, and subadult loggerheads are reasonably common just off the western coast.


                          Marvin and Allan with Green Turtle from Kit Sound

We gave presentations in the Mangrove Cay High School and Burnt Rock Primary. Androsians are fishermen, and their children know a lot about marine wildlife. The high school and primary students asked excellent questions.


                                    Mangrove Cay High School Students

The weather was dry, and we had a good easterly breeze, so the famous Andros insects did not bother us. The problem operating in Andros is distance. The men there think nothing of running up to 40 miles and back to the bonefish flats. We didn’t mind the runs to the west side and even down to Thatch Cay, but the gas consumption put a hurt on the wallet.

Back from Andros we refueled in Samson Cay and moved down to Black Point to take members of the Discovery Club to the Exuma Park. David and June Rosen donated their family’s 32’ Regulator and Allan’s time for a day, so we could carry 11 students and two teachers in the two boats. Mrs. McKenzie, the principal, and Juanita Monroe had the students all organized, and throughout the trip the students were very well behaved despite their excitement.


                                  Captain Allan, Students, and Mrs. Clarke

We ran the boats up to the southern anchorage in Wardrick Wells and then around to the headquarters where Andrew Kris, the head warden, met us at the beach. Andrew was fantastic with the students. He took them on a long tour of the cay showing the kids the various ecosystems and explaining things along the way. Two Defense Force officers went on the tour.

                                       Exuma Park Warden Andrew Kriz

After lunch we took the boats out to snorkel on one of the small heads near Emerald Rock. Since the park is protected, the small heads are covered with fish – not just grunts and snappers but also large grouper, Margaret fish, and crawfish. The kids were amazed.

The Exuma Land and Sea Park is one of the world’s great parks and the Caribbean region’s first marine reserve. It is beautifully managed and usually full of yachts and visiting scientists. When Barbara asked Andrew about visiting students groups, he could count on one hand the number of groups that had been to the park, and most were from the United States. “We need to get more Bahamian students here, and that’s why what you are doing today is so important.” That made us feel good, but it was also a challenge to make these visits more frequent and sustainable.

Next week we will fly to Nassau and take the Fast Ferry to Spanish Wells with Shelley Cant from the BNT to help promote the shark ban.




Wednesday, December 1, 2010

NEWS 30 November 2010

                                                 
ANDROS ISLAND




                                        


There are good reasons why so few people go to the west coast of Andros. Red Bays is in the far NW corner, but south of that there are no settlements or fuel or supplies until you reach Cuba. Charlie Bethell and Cindy run the Flamingo Cay Club up inside Wide Opening, and they are good people to know; but Charlie has to fly in all his supplies and cannot offer much to passing boats. There are no safe harbours on the west coast, though a four foot draft can be carried into a few of the creeks where there is all around protection with plenty of current and a zillion bugs.

There are, however, some excellent reasons to spend time on this uninhabited coast – fish, turtles, birds, and solitude. Androsians claim the finest bonefishing in the Bahamas, and the fish are found over so many miles of creeks and flats that it would take a lifetime to fish all the habitats. There are significant populations of sea turtles, and the birds, including flamingos, are magnificent. If you want to be alone, fish, and savor the wild life the west coast of Andros could be your place.

October 18th Trueranda Cox and Ortam Rolle arrived in Spanish Wells on the Fast Ferry from Nassau. Both girls are members of the Young Bahamian Marine Scientists (YBMS). Trueranda works for BREEF and is a BESS scholarship student, and Ortam is working for YBMS. Both plan to attend college next year.

On October 20th, after the usual hustle to get underway we left Spanish Wells for Chub Cay where we took on fuel at the Berry Island Club and then spent the night at anchor. The next day we ran 100 miles from Chub Cay to anchor inside Williams Island and go turtling on the west side of Billy Island.

Our mission was to check the major habitats identified by Karen Bjorndal and Alan Bolten in their excellent 2006 and 2007 surveys of the west side of Andros. We wanted to survey the habitats for numbers of turtles, species composition, and infection from fibropapillomatosis; and we wanted to tag and release as many turtles as possible and collect skin samples for DNA analysis. The DNA will allow us to determine (with a very high probability) where the turtles were born.

Strong easterly winds forced us to work only on the west side of Billy Island, but we had good light. The dominating characteristic of this part of Andros is mud – knee deep in most places. The flats around Billy are all this kind of soft mud which is stirred up by the wind, bonefish, turtles, and the outboard. We probably chased 4 turtles for every one we finally caught, because we would lose sight of the turtles in the muddy water.

In three days we caught 12 turtles, six of which were infected with fibropapillomas – one as badly as I have ever seen. The turtle had a lot of difficulty swimming with all the drag.

                                 First Green Turtle


We have positively identified three islands in the Bahamas where we find green turtles infected with fibropapillomatosis – Andros, Grand Bahama, and Crooked Island. All of the turtles are in relatively shallow water. We still do not know how this herpes type virus is transmitted or why it is found in some habitats and not others. Shallow water and muddy bottom seem to be common characteristics in the Bahamas, but we need to learn a lot more. The best we can do in the field is continually document the presence of the infection and interview local fishermen to learn what they know about the appearance of the infection and the locations where they find it.


                                 Getting Underway


Anyone who knows Andros would ask how we managed with the bugs. The answer is that we anchored far enough offshore to miss the mosquitoes, but the doctor flies nailed us while we were turtling. For every turtle we tagged, we each killed twenty flies – mostly after they had drawn blood. I had to laugh watching the girls standing in the bow hopping around, trying to hold on to the bow line, watch the turtle, point with the net, and swat flies at the same time. I was back aft trying to keep my eye on the turtles, drive the boat, and kill flies. I was in too much pain to laugh at myself. Finally we found an insect repellent cream that helped a little.

Charlie Bethell’s Flamingo Cay Club is a special place. We anchored as close as we could at low tide - 2 miles off Wide Opening in a good lee despite the distance offshore. Right away, we hopped in the speed boat and ran up the channel. Just as we approached the mangrove creek to the club, a friend of Charlie’s arrived in his float plane, so we let him pass and followed him up the creek which was barely wide enough for the floats, and the wing tips often brushed the mangroves on either side – quite an act. The east wind was keeping the tide from rising, so we couldn’t get FOXY LADY into the channel the next morning and had to stay offshore. We did, however, spend a wonderful afternoon and evening at Flamingo Cay. It was a real treat for the girls to spend a few hours socializing with someone other than myself.


                                 Big Loggerhead Creek


We hoped to tag some loggerhead turtles which are abundant in a couple of the creeks. We saw plenty of loggerheads blow, but the water was so muddy there was no chance to catch them. The only way to catch any turtles was to chase them down in the shallower water where the creeks meet the flats. At the head of Great Loggerhead Creek we caught one green turtle (infected with fibropapillomas).

Charlie Bethell was able to sell us some gas, so we could run 30 miles south of Wide Opening to work in Miller Creek where we counted 8 turtles blowing as we ran the two miles up to the flats. Near a rocky bar in the shallow water we found a beautiful 100 pound loggerhead which Trueranda went overboard to capture. We would have spent more time in Miller Creek, but thick clouds developed overhead and made it impossible to find the turtles.



                                 Trueranda and Loggerhead

After our day in Miller Creek, it was time to head back to Chub Cay and meet up with GERONIMO, the sailing school vessel owned by St. George’s School. They also tag turtles.

It was a twelve hour run to Chub Cay, but the weather was beautiful, and we arrived in time to fill up with diesel and contact GERONIMO whose crew had caught 4 turtles in the creek that afternoon. We made arrangements to meet them outside the creek the next morning.

The day with the GERONIMO crew was one of those magical days when everything comes together. The early morning looked iffy. We saw a few turtles but the tide was low, and there were clouds. In only an hour, though, we had caught a few turtles, and we just kept at it as the tide rose and the sky cleared. We used two boats and rotated crews with the four or five people on the beach. Our best turtle was the one we chased out of the creek into deep water. Meredith, the GERONIMO 1st Mate, swam almost the whole mile and finally caught the turtle. But all of the kids got in the water at some time during the chase. It was a group effort, and our girls did well.



         Meredith and the Foxy Ladies after a Long Chase

We ended the day with 17 green turtles, proving the population in the creek has increased dramatically.



     Captain Mike and Students Chasing More Turtles

That night I took the girls up to the Berry Island Club for an excellent supper of grouper, cracked conch, peas and rice, and salad after a 30 minute ride dodging potholes in an ATV – an out-island adventure meal.

The next morning I committed us to a day off for rest and shelling. We went up to the sand bore west of the cay for shells and then dove in the channel on the west side of Chub for biscuits and urchins. The girls got a pretty good selection, especially of the oblong delicate biscuits. Then back to hot dogs and packaged potatoes for supper. That was the best we could do at the commissary.



                                 Cleaning Shells in Chub Cay

The run back to Spanish Wells was exhausting in 20-25 knot southerly winds. The girls did a good job getting off the dock and letting the tow ropes out to full length when we cleared the marina before they sat down and slept. The seas were really cranky and rough, so I ran down to Nassau to get a lee. The water was reasonable north of New Providence and the rest of the way to Spanish Wells, and the girls came alive and ate some lunch. We made it to Muddy Hole by 1800 just as it started to pour rain.

We were back in the land of restaurants and stores and had cracked conch and grouper from Norma’s Take-Away while we watched “Grey’s Anatomy” to which the girls had become devoted.

The next morning we went to visit the Spanish Wells All-Age School. True met a former teacher who asked her to talk to her students about the BESS scholarship program in the afternoon. Interestingly, when I asked the 11th grade how many hoped to go to college, all but one raised their hands. When I asked the 10th grade the same question it was just the opposite – only one girl raised her hand. That is a better average than in previous years.

The next afternoon the girls were on the Fast Ferry back to Nassau. They had been on board FOXY LADY for three weeks. Despite the long runs down and back to Andros, the muddy water, doctor flies, and the strong easterlies, we had had a good trip. We confirmed a lot of the work done previously by Bjorndal and Bolten, collected DNA samples from the captured turtles, and gained an excellent contact in Charlie Bethell who is a force in marine conservation in Andros.