St. Kitts Reef Ecology Watchgroup

Report from Ft. Lauderdale

2008-07-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

The ICRS ended yesterday and today was day one of the 2 day ICRI conference. For the ICRS, St. Kitts Reef Ecology Watch Group was a co-presenter on 4 posters and one mini-symposium.

It's been a very exciting week for me. Here are some stats:

80 countries were represented
3300 attendees
1032 oral presentations
1600 posters
155K (US$) awarded in scholarships/stipends

As you can see, this is THE coral reef conference, so it's a good thing we're here.

I thought the proceedings might by dreary, full of doomsday reports about the state of the world's reefs, but that was only partly true. There is hope for our ocean's health if we make some important changes.

Blogger isn't letting me upload the jpgs of the posters right now - but I'll try again later.

Scholarship News!

2008-03-22T13:38:00.000-07:00

St. Kitts Reef Ecology Watch Group was awarded a scholarship to attend the ICRS and ICRI conferences in Ft. Lauderdale in July.

This is excellent news, as it means we'll definitely be able to present data from the island to the coral reef community.

New Developments... Pun Intended

2008-03-02T13:43:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, after our last beach & reef clean, the developers came in and did a deep cleaning of the mangrove area around the salt pond, removing much plant life and trees. I initially felt bad that I had organized volunteers to clean this beach and reef; had I known that the developers would move so quickly, I would have picked another beach. However, if we made life better that day for one crab, one fish, one turtle, one bird, then we did our job.

The peninsula's development has begun, and it's going to be rapid. At this time, I'm suspending our beach cleans until we see what happens with the developers. I call on all of you to monitor the changes in the reefs that development brings. We are stewards of this earth, and we are all responsible for what happens.

Let's turn our attention now to outreach and education. That's where our efforts and energies are most needed.

Wow! What a success!

2008-02-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

Right before 2, when people were just starting to show up, I was watching the big storm cloud travel over Nevis and right towards Majors Bay, but luck was on our side, and I think we had under 3 minutes of rain total. The day turned out beautifully - perfect for cleaning a beach!

Over 50 folks of all ages turned out Saturday, February 2, to join St. Kitts Reef Ecology Watch Group in its 4th beach clean. Like all the beaches on the peninsula, Majors Bay offers breathtaking views, but it is pretty polluted with garbage left behind by humans.

A lack of dumpsters and trash receptacles certainly contributes to the problem, but encouraging people to pack out their trash when they leave for the day is an important part of the solution.

At about 3:30pm, everyone was slowing down, tired from bending over in the hot sun, when suddenly, someone screamed!

"I need 10 people at the end of the beach! NOW! It looks like a dumpsite!" Ten people grabbed bags and made their way across the stretch of sand to the east end, a place where cars can drive around the salt pond and have big parties under the shade of the manchaneels.

But there was garbage everywhere, in every direction. The group was distressed. "Why did people leave this here?" Certainly, a well-placed trash can might have helped, but we can't think that a trash can is a solution for all littering.

If no trash can exists, then people should take their trash with them, and dispose of it at home.

The group cleaned and cleaned until every bag was full, but there was still trash on the ground. We've decided to go back to Majors Bay in March and continue our work there.

Meanwhile, snorkelers had just come out of the water and were heard grumbling on the beach. "Unbelievable!" one said, astounded at the amount of garbage in the water. They pulled out tarps, plastic bags, ripped nets, broken tackle, bottles, corrugated tin, shreds of tires- you name it! Like the folks at the east end, the snorkelers were disheartened: they couldn't get all the trash out. The water was too deep, and with each held breath, they only had enough time to get one or two pieces of garbage. Bigger pieces were harder to get and took more energy. "We need tanks," someone suggested, so that's the plan for next month: we want to get some scuba divers in the water to finish cleaning the bay.

Why is it so important that we get the trash off the beach and out of the water?

That's a great question. Here's what happens to trash left on the beach: it becomes part of the system. Plastics don't break down into organic compounds. Instead, they break up into tiny bits, and animals eat them. And sometimes, other animals eat those animals. And sometimes, humans eat those animals! The plastic won't go away. Tiny bits found on the beach become microscopic bits that marine life eat. So that plastic bottle that you walked by last year and didn't pick up because you weren't the one to leave it there? You maybe ate part of it for dinner the last time you had some local fish. Scientists are still unaware of the full effects of these microscopic pieces of plastic, but I have a hunch whatever they turn up isn't going to be good news!

Also, turtles nest on these beaches, and all of this trash left around endangers the turtles and makes it more difficult for them to lay their eggs. And it makes it really tricky for the freshly-hatched babies to find their way back to sea when they've got huge tires and broken beach chairs and plastic bags to navigate around or get stuck in.

Sometimes people think that the ocean will wash the trash away and we don't have to worry about it anymore. Wrong! It's still there, under the waves. It gets caught in the reefs, killing them. When the reefs die, the fish go away.

Other people think, "Well, it wasn't me who littered, so why should I pick it up?" That's another good question. The best answer I can come up with is that while that piece of paper blowing along the ground or that plastic grocery bag you see floating in the water isn't yours, the Earth is yours. It belongs to all of us.

If a hurricane blew a tree branch into your home, you'd remove it because it's your home, and you don't want to live with a tree branch on your table! Try to think of garbage that way: you need to remove any trash you see because you don't want your planet to be a mess.

It's as simple as that!

One of the most wonderful things about this beach clean was the presence of so many wee ones!
A whole lot of kiddos from the Children's Home arrived as well, ready to help out! They participated in an Un-Treasure Hunt, where they had to find something broken, something recyclable, something biodegradable, etc., in order to win the coveted titles of King and Queen of Trash! And of course candy, hot dogs, and soda were all part of the fun, too! Here are some pictures from the big day!

www.flickr.com

gogoshire's Majors Bay Flickr Badge photoset

I'd like to thank everyone who participated in this special day, and I hope that everyone can make it back for Majors Bay Part 2 next month!

February 2 Beach Clean!

2008-01-27T08:21:00.000-08:00

All ages welcome! We'll be having a Scavenger Hunt for the kids and a BBQ fundraiser after we clean! Join us!

Small Islands Voice Clean-Up Troupe

2007-11-20T20:46:00.000-08:00

Looking for a fun way to participate in Carnival this year?

Join the Small Islands Voice Carnival Clean-Up Troupe!

The Clean-Up Troupe follows the Carnival parade and picks up trash along the way, encouraging others to keep our streets clean!

Here are some pictures from last year's event:

www.flickr.com

gogoshire's SIV Clean Up Troupe 2007 photoset

Not only does the Clean-Up Troupe do something good, they have a good time, too!

If you're interested in participating in the Clean-Up Troupe, email Kate Orchard at brimstonehill@sisterisles.kn for details on what you can do!

The Critters of Banana Bay Say, "Thanks A Bunch!"

2007-11-13T12:43:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, November 10, 55 participants came together to clean up Banana Bay - the beach, the reef, and the surrounding area.

This was the 3rd beach/reef clean for St. Kitts Reef Ecology Watch Group, and I think it's safe to say that we've got a base. There are almost 20 people that have participated in each of the cleans. How cool is that?

It's very cool.

What made this beach clean extra cool was that more parents brought their kids. Teaching the youngsters to take care of the planet is an important lesson, and it can't be taught too early.

Way to go parents!

We collected about 100 bags of garbage - not too shabby. The reef cleaners were maybe a bit discouraged at the huge amount of plastics found in the water; it was impossible to get all of it out of the water. However, we reminded each other that we can't save the world, and taking out what we can is leaving the reef in a better state than it was in last week.

Much of the garbage we found was left behind by people using the beach, so we put up a super cool sign asking people to please take their trash home with them when they leave so that the beach will stay nice and clean.

All in all, come sunset, the group was pretty satisfied with our accomplishments. All the beach cleaners signed the sign in hopes that those who come upon it will appreciate the efforts and pack out their trash.

Light one candle. That's all we can do.

www.flickr.com

November 10 @ 2pm

2007-11-05T12:48:00.000-08:00

November 10 Beach Clean - Banana Bay

2007-11-05T05:09:00.000-08:00

Cockleshell Beach won the poll fair and square; however, we had a look around, and someone else has cleaned the beach already. It looks great!

The 1st runner up was BANANA BAY, so that's where we're headed!

We walked around yesterday, and here's what we found.
Turtles nest on this beach.

this isn't a trash can!

Garbage, garbage everywhere

There is garbage in the water, too, so we need some snorkelers to fish it out. Much of the garbage that we saw here was not washed up on shore; it was dumped by people in the area. There's good news and bad news with that information.

First the bad news:
We who live on St. Kitts are litterbugs :( We live in a beautiful place but we're throwing our trash on the ground.

Now the good news:
This is a smaller problem than what Turtle Beach faces, which is trash washed in by currents. We can tackle the litter problem on St. Kitts by educating our children in their schools. We can post signs. We can find ways to combat this problem on our beaches. Local change is easier than global change, and while it's just a drop in the bucket towards global change, lots and lots of drops is how every bucket gets filled!

For those of you who don't know where Banana Bay is, head towards Cockleshell, and they'll be a marked turn off on the right side of the road. Follow the signs to the event.

Thanks a Thousand!

2007-10-08T13:01:00.000-07:00

About one hundred volunteers showed up at Turtle Beach on October 6, and they cleaned ONE THOUSAND pounds of trash off the beach and reef.

That's what I call a success!

It was pretty cool, actually. I figured if we were lucky, about 50-60 people would show, so when the cars kept arriving, one after the other, I was jumping up and down with excitement. To see all these people giving up their Saturdays to work together for a common cause was amazing. Phantasmagorical is the word my dad would use!

After the clean, we had a great BBQ at the Cramer's house. People feasted on veggie kebabs, falafel pitas, bbq chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, fruit skewers, and homemade tollhouse cookies. And their was lots of ice cold beer, too!

We gave prizes to the best youth teams, so the 2 hard-working teams that went home with iTunes gift certificates (the most environmentally friendly prize we could think of that teens would like) were Christopher and Alexander King and Jake Getz and Nikki Isles.

So many people came together to make the day a success. I'd like to thank St. Kitts Foundation for their sponsorship of the event, and the Cramer family for hosting the BBQ! Thanks also go to Silver Reef, St. Christopher Club, Newfound Group, and Turtle Tours. A special thanks to Jay Farier from the St. Kitts Department of Environment and Planning who arrived with a scale, giving us the final tally of 1033 pounds! With everyone working together, we're doing great things.

www.flickr.com

gogoshire's Turtle Beach Clean Badge photoset

Turtle Beach Reef&Beach Clean, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2pm

2007-10-02T16:39:00.001-07:00

Garbage, Garbage, Everywhere!

2007-10-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend, St. Kitts Reef Ecology Watch Group is tackling the beach and reef at Turtle Beach. We went down last weekend to check it out, and it was awful! Here are some pictures so you can see what we're dealing with!

Where does all of this trash come from? It's the shoe that your friend on the boat lost, it's the bottle cap of your water bottle that you dropped, it's the grapefruit rinds from that cruise ship's breakfast buffet, it's that styrofoam food container that blew away.... Who knows? It comes from all over and from so many different places.

Can we keep up with the trash? Honestly, no. Change has to come from a different place. We'll clean this beach Saturday, but the tides will bring in more garbage next week. Our job has no end in sight.

Should we despair? Just throw up our hands and give up? No! Because cleaning the beaches raises our own awareness. With each piece of trash we pick up, we are participating with the health of our planet, and that's a really neat thing. With each bottle cap and chunk of styrofoam, we think about the materials we use in our daily lives and where they end up. That's big time stuff!

Also, cleaning the beaches makes the area nicer for the critters that live there, whether they be reef fish or turtles or water birds or mongoose. Those critters can get really sick when they ingest this junk, and for those of us that eat meat, this stuff you see on the beach becomes part of the food chain. Gross!

So what we're doing might seem like an exercise in futility, but it's an exercise we have to do!

Frigate Beach Bar Crawl Fundraiser Postponed

2007-09-25T05:38:00.000-07:00

Due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts, we have had to postpone the Sept. 28 Frigate Beach Bar Crawl fundraiser in order to allow greater attendance.

For those that are still interested, and especially those that have already RSVPd, we'll inform you of the new date as soon as possible.

The October 6 Beach Clean is still on schedule at 2pm, Saturday, October 6, at Turtle Beach.

Frigate Beach Bar Crawl Fundraiser!

2007-09-20T17:46:00.000-07:00

Kickoff Event a Success

2007-09-12T12:55:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to all the volunteers who turned out on Sunday, September 9, to help with the AFTER DEAN BEACH & REEF CLEAN on South Friar's Beach. We collected a bunch of garbage from the beach, the mangrove, and the reef, and we had a good time doing it.

The prizes for collecting the most trash went to Sarah Atkins for surf and Pat Fussey for turf!

The debris collected included plastic cups, plastic bags, bottles, spent fireworks, wire, discarded clothing, cans, bullets(!), fishing lures, Styrofoam, scrap metal, lawn chairs, light bulbs, rope, and other debris that people leave behind.

While cleaning the beaches and the reefs of St. Kitts will leave us with more beautiful places to enjoy, the more serious benefit is a healthier marine and avian population. As our island relies heavily on tourism and fisheries, these are big benefits.

Thanks again to everyone who joined us, and we hope to see everyone back (with friends) for the upcoming events.

Check out more pictures from the event! (Special thanks to E. Cornelia and R. Stimmelmayr for pics)

www.flickr.com

September 9 Beach & Reef Clean Up

2007-08-27T12:58:00.000-07:00