Caribbean REEF MAgazine - Issue 2

www.caribbeanreefmag.com Issue # 2 July - Sept 2010

Dive FestTobago’s 1sTUnDerwaTer Carnival

DiscoverMoray EelsTurtle

Conservation inGUATEMALA

T H E V I L L A S AT S TO N E H AV E N

P.O. Box 1079, Bon Accord, Black Rock, Tobago, West Indies.

Tel.: +1 (868)-639-0361 Fax: +1 (868)-639-0102Email : [email protected]

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“If you are looking for comfort, leisure and serenity, be sure to stay at the Vil-las at Stonehaven, Tobago. As a ‘Small Luxury Hotel of the WorldTM’, the Villas at Stonehaven are by no means petite in their service to anyone who loves to ex-perience such pleasures. Ideal for group stays, each villa is equipped with a cheer-ful resident housekeeper, allowing a very relaxed atmosphere. Each spacious villa has its own infin-ity pool overlooking the Caribbean Sea, and you can even expect to awaken each morning to the delightful sounds of sing-ing birds and humming birds hovering amongst the trees. Caribbean REEF Magazine’s editorial team can surely attest to the luxury of the Villas at Stonehaven while on assignment for Tobago’s Underwater Carnival.”

~Ife Smenkh-Ka-Ra, Managing Editor

Caribbean REEF Magazine

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F e at u r e s

http://www.caribbeanreefmag.com

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PublisherCaribbean Footprints

publishing Co. ltd.

Publication Design & Layout iFe smenkh-ka-ra

Copy Editor Cheryl ng Foon

Contributing Writersraynard burnside arielle aberdeen

laura-marie hands

alana babb

Phone1 (868) 732.5615

Skypecaribbean.reef.magazine

[email protected]

s e c t i o n s

Marine Life ExploredDive

Hot Spot

Reef Awareness

ConservationCorner

Wreck Dives

Submitting article ideas, reviews, event postings and other comments , write to: [email protected]. Publisher > Entire contents ©2010 Caribbean Footprints Publishing Co. Ltd. ISSN 2079-6935. Published by Caribbean Footprints Publishing Co. Ltd. P.O Box 3393, Maraval, Trini-dad, W.I. Phone : 1-868-732-5615. Reproduction in whole or in part without CFPCL permission is prohibited. CFPCL neither endorses nor assumes responsibility of trademark or any content pub-

lished.


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Laura Hands is a 24-year old Marine Biologist from Liv-erpool, UK. She began diving in 2006 and has dived across the world from Indonesia to Madagascar to Tobago in the Caribbean, where she has worked with different conserva-tion groups. She has also been involved with many Sea Turtle conservation groups both in the Caribbean and Latin America. She is currently employed at an aquatics centre in the UK but regularly returns to the Caribbean to visit friends and catch up on some diving.

Arielle Aberdeen is a 20 year old Advanced Open Water diver and Trinbagonian resident, fairly new to the world of diving. She is cur-rently stuck on land as she completes her law degree. She is in a love affair with diving, the ocean and yoga while dreaming about combin-ing all three. She is eagerly awaiting semester break when she can get her fins back into the water.

c o n t r i B u t o r s Raynard Burnside is a free-diver from Rum Cay, Baha-mas, which has a population of 57. As a young boy grow-ing up, he explored the underwater sea world through many recreational sports and aquatic activities, such as non-competitive free-diving, water polo, free-diving photography, water volleyball, non-competitive spear fishing, underwater hunting other than spearfishing and snorkeling. He studied agribusiness management in his undergraduate work at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. He holds an advance Masters de-gree in Tropical Animal Science and Production. After completing his studies, he took up temporary residence in Trinidad and Tobago where he continues to be in-volved in his underwater adventures and is now a free-lance writer for Caribbean REEF magazine.


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We’re into our 2nd issue already! Here’s what we have in store for you.

Our dive adventures took us into the first ever Tobago Underwater Carnival where we metmany dive and reef lovers from around the Caribbean, US and UK. Carib-bean REEF Mag’s team undertook some wonderful dives which extended from Ar-nos Vale around Buccoo Reef to Stingray Alley on the south side of Tobago.

The oil spill hasn’t left our region un-scathed, so we share with you a poem by Alana Babb which highlights the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

We’re in a moray eel mood for our marine life pages. So enjoy this sea creature from the comfort of your iPad screen maybe?

Our conservation corner allows us to trav-el to Guatemala to experience turtle con-servation efforts by volunteers of ARCAS. Amazing conservation efforts are being made throughout the region and we’re excited to bring them to you.

Happy Diving :^)Ife Smenkh-Ka-RaPublisher and Managing Editor

Message from the Editor Ife Smenkh-ka-Ra

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Tobago Underwater Carnival

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When it comes to dive festivals, few have tempted the Caribbean dive lovers. For this issue, our correspondent, Raynard Burnside takes us into Tobago’s very first Dive Fest.

By RaynaRd BuRnside

Our editor, Ife about to roll for a dive at Stingray Alley, Tobago!

Raynard, relaxing before getting wet



Tobago Underwater Carnival D

IVE

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When it comes to dive festivals, few have tempted the Caribbean dive lovers. For this issue, our correspondent, Raynard Burnside takes us into Tobago’s very first Dive Fest.

F or me, Tobago Under-water Carnival was fun, sea and adventure! As a non-diver and snorkeller, the experience was definitely thrilling. I arrived in Tobago on Friday evening, and checked in at the elegant and exotic Villas at Stone-Haven; from there, I went up to Extra Divers Tobago where I registered for the dive festival with Master Scuba Diver Markus Baumgartner who operates in Crown Point. I had the option of taking the shuttle or driving my rental car to the eastern side of the island to attend the opening party. Our destination- Speyside, was a beautiful and scenic view, a hour and half drive to the opening party that was held at Blue Waters Inn. I

took many photos, capturing Tobago’s diverse fauna, flora and spectacular bays along the way. When I arrived, I felt the ex-citement in the air. I was curi-ous as to what to expect from my first Dive Festival. Local, regional and international div-ers and non-divers were in at-tendance. There were opening remarks from the Association of Tobago Dive Operators (ATDO) and Tobago Department of Tourism representatives. SCU-BAPRO®, one of the sponsors, gave a presentation on their latest dive gear, and show-cased their latest camera, the SeaLife® DC 1200 Underwater camera which I got the oppor-tunity to test underwater. I was given a one-on-one demonstra-tion of SeaLife® DC 1200 under-water camera by Fraser Purdon

By RaynaRd BuRnside

Our editor, Ife about to roll for a dive at Stingray Alley, Tobago!

Raynard, relaxing before getting wet



DIVE HOT SPOT // Tobago Underwater Carnival

(Caribbean Territory Respre-sentative), which proved to be very easy and enjoy-able to use. My network skills with other attendees were effective, as I was able to meet various individuals who shared breath-taking under-water world stories that cap-tured my interest more and more. The opening night was not quite over, with expres-sion of the islands’ Trinbago-nian steel pan sounds being played in the background, drinks and finger foods being

served; I was then presented with a gift bag, filled with an array of resourceful and use-ful materials and gadgets. On Saturday and Sunday mornings the weather was clear, the sea was calm and I eagerly awaited some un-derwater adventure. Our

boat captain, George of Ex-

tra Divers Tobago, was very

friendly and had lots of sea stories, filled with adventure, mystery and suspense. Our first dive and snorkel site was Arnos Vale Bay. As I plunged

into the warm water, I immediately encoun-tered various corals, schools of fish and oth-er aquatic life forms. I photo-graphed lots of underwater sea life forms; some of which I was able to identify were Lettuce Coral, Brain Coral, Fire Coral, Sea Fan, Feather Duster Worm, French Grunt, Yellowtail Par-rotfish, Trumpetfish and Squirrelfish, because of the marine sea life chart in my gift bag. I


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into the warm water, I immediately encoun-tered various corals, schools of fish and oth-er aquatic life forms. I photo-graphed lots of underwater sea life forms; some of which I was able to identify were Lettuce Coral, Brain Coral, Fire Coral, Sea Fan, Feather Duster Worm, French Grunt, Yellowtail Par-rotfish, Trumpetfish and Squirrelfish, because of the marine sea life chart in my gift bag. I

was able to chat with some of the locals who were also on the snorkelling expedition, as

they gave me a brief history of the Bay. On Saturday evening, Linda and Lynn Laymon of Dive Training Magazine gave infor-mative and practical dem-onstrations on underwater

photography. Some key areas covered were teamwork between the model and photogra-

Discover diving for kids at Rex Turtle Beach Hotel, Tobago

Kids even got to test out SCUBAPRO® gear!

Kids in their ScubaDoRags by CoCo Cheznaynay

“I learnt a lot about sea turtles, espe-cially how to identify

them”



pher, trusting the photographer, re-specting the model and good com-munication. I was enlightened and ready to put those attributes into p r a c t i c e . On Sunday e v e n i n g , M i c h e l l e Cazabon-Mannette, a Turtle Conserva-tion Offi-cer for Tur-tle Village Trust fea-tured “Bi-ology and Conserva-tion of Tur-tles”. Her presenta-tion was very interactive, allowing us to participate in the discussion. I learnt a lot about sea turtles, espe-cially how to identify them in Trinidad and Tobago; only five (5) species are found in lo-cal waters , all are en-dangered and there are only seven to eight species in the world! Of the two (2) most common

sea turtles (Hawksbill and Green), I’m now able to distinguish between the two, all thanks to Mrs. Cazabon-Mannette’s interactive turtle iden-

t i f i ca t ion session. For the r e m a i n -ing week-d a y s , there was c o n t i n u -ous scuba diving and snorkelling t h r o u g h -out the s o u t h e r n side of the island,

boat captain George of Extra Divers Tobago not-ed that Stingray Alley, Buccoo Chan-nel and Mount Irvine Wall are great

scuba diving sites. There was the Discover div-ing for school kids held at the Rex Beach Hotel swimming pool; families brought along their kids

who also participated in the under-water fashion show in the swimming


long spined squirrellfish, photo by : beverly speed

“Everyone was fascinated by the marine life he cap-

tured”



pool. The underwater fashion wear was provided by CoCo Cheznay-nay® (she-nay-nay) Suuz Martines who added her array of watery chimera of b e a u t i f u l colored Scu-baDoRag™. The kids m o d e l l e d their attire and they too had the opportunity to test SCU-BAPRO® kids sno rke l l i ng gear during the try-dive sessions. I was given the oppor-tunity to test my photog-raphy skills with Seal-ife® underwater cam-eras and apply Lynn and Linda Lay-mon’s practical demonstrations and Fraser Purdon’s one-on-one use of the SeaLife® DC 1200 underwater camera that they gave earlier in the

week; I took several shots of the kids displaying their underwater fashion gear while other attendees joined in the fun.

The turtle w a t c h i n g e x p e r i e n c e took place in the evening on Grafton Beach; be-fore watch-ing the tur-tles nest, the Save Our Sea Turtles (SOS) conservation group in To-bago core member vol-unteers and staff gave a talk on the o r g a n i z a -tion’s mission, scale and

scope of their activities and on-going research projects. We were also briefed on turtle-friendly tips and encounter guidelines. After the talk, we proceeded to the turtles’ nesting area on the beach, where a


trumpetfish, photo by : michael ludwig



gigantic leatherback turtle was lay-ing its eggs. At the time, it measured 97 cm in carapace length. I count-ed up to 77 eggs as it continued lay-ing more. It was breathtaking to see such a huge sea animal on shore laying several eggs. The closing reception of Tobago’s Underwater Carnival was held at the Pigeon Point Heritage Park with remarks from Tobago’s Secretary of Tourism and Planning, Assemblyman

Oswald Williams, highlighting the

success of Tobago’s first-ever Dive

Fest. President of ATDO, Alvin Doug-las, spoke and shared his experience of the dive fest. Ty Sawyer showed a magnificent presentation on his un-derwater photography photos. Ev-eryone was fascinated by the marine life he captured. The evening closed off with a local steel drum pannist starting the partying with a variety of calypso and Caribbean music, with

Laying of eggs by Leatherback turtle © Ife360 Photography

Try dive of Scubapro © Raynard Burnside

Liz Sloper, Avion Hercules of Tobago Board of Tour-ism, Ife Smenkh-ka-Ra, Managing Editor of Caribbean REEF Mag, Ray Sloper of Seltab Executive Tours© Raynard Burnside

Raynard testing Scubapro ‘s equipment © Ife360



an all-inclusive open beach BBQ and bar drinks. As I networked, everyone shared how they all look forward to Tobago un-derwater dive festival 2011!!!


Liz Sloper, Avion Hercules of Tobago Board of Tour-ism, Ife Smenkh-ka-Ra, Managing Editor of Caribbean REEF Mag, Ray Sloper of Seltab Executive Tours© Raynard Burnside

Fraser Purdon of Scubapro © Raynard Burnside


T u r t l e C o n s e r v a t i o n i n G u a t e m a l a C

ON

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T u r t l e C o n s e r v a t i o n i n G u a t e m a l a

By LauRa Hands




CONSERVATION CORNER // Turtle Conservation in Guatemala

F or this issue I would like to discuss the work being done by ARCAS-ASOCIACIÓN DE RESCATE YCONSERVACIÓN DE VIDA SILVESTRE (trans-lated Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Associa-tion) in Guatemala. ARCAS is a non-profit Gua-temalan (Non-Governmental Organisation) NGO that was formed in 1989 by a group of concerned locals wanting to do something to protect their environment and conserve their ever declining wildlife populations. It was originally set up to build a rescue centre to care for and rehabilitate wild animals that were being confiscated on the black market by the Guatemalan government. Since its establishment, ARCAS has grown and

has branched out into many different aspects of conservation including education and the marine turtle conservation site. The turtle hatchery is situated in Parque Ha-waii on the Pacific coast, a 3-hectare protect-ed area on the beach 7km east from the town of Monterrico and 2km west from the village of Hawaii. The park consists of a large comfort-

Green sea turtle with sunburst,

By Idreamphotos




has branched out into many different aspects of conservation including education and the marine turtle conservation site. The turtle hatchery is situated in Parque Ha-waii on the Pacific coast, a 3-hectare protect-ed area on the beach 7km east from the town of Monterrico and 2km west from the village of Hawaii. The park consists of a large comfort-

able rancho with volunteer quarters, a sepa-rate volunteer house, kitchen, bathrooms and a library/office. There are plenty of exhibits inside the rancho to educate both the tourists and local people about the threats to the lo-cal environment. There is also crocodile and iguana captive breeding on-site behind the main rancho building. A mere one hundred

Hawksbill turtle,

By Greg Amptman



A hatchling heading out to sea

New Olive Ridley hatchling ready for release

A little bit of Laura’s stay in Guatemala volunteering with ARCAS



Bag of turtle eggs ready for their new nest Laura digging a

new nest site

Hawaii beach where collection happens

A little bit of Laura’s stay in Guatemala volunteering with ARCAS



metres away on the beach is the turtle hatchery, turtle hospital and educational tanks containing baby turtles.The Parque Hawaii site was established in 1993 to help improve turtle population numbers after a swift decline. Despite their endangered status, virtually all turtle nests in Guatemala are raided of their eggs. The local people believe that turtle eggs have aphrodisiac qualities so c o n s i d -er them a deli-c a c y . A R C A S runs the m o s t produc-tive of the 21 h a t c h -eries in G u a -t e m a l a with an average of 40,000 Olive Ridley and Leatherback sea turtle eggs rescued every year. This accounts for about 50% of all turtle eggs collected in Guatemala.Turtle eggs are collected by volunteers walking in small teams along the beach for anything up to 16km every night (personal choice dependent upon fit-

ness) during nesting season. The best situation occurs when the turtle is ob-served nesting and eggs can be collect-ed easily without causing stress to the animal and with minimum damage to the eggs. It can be quite exhilarating racing poachers to the turtle and claiming it as your own. The sight of a female turtle laying its eggs is one of the most memo-rable moments of my life, especially on

the oc-cas ions where I was able to place my hand u n d e r -n e a t h her to c a t c h the eggs ( a n d w a r m m u c u s ) as she laid. In-

credible! When local egg collectors/poachers get to the turtle first, they are expected to give a 10% donation of all collected eggs to ensure the continua-tion of the population. All eggs are then reburied in the secure hatchery and around 50 days later the hatchlings re-appear and are released into the sea




with the help of the volunteers.Community education is a major part of the work at Parque HawaiI. ARCAS ensures that economic, social and ed-ucational needs of the community are also met. They realise that for some people the collection and sale of these eggs is a major part of their income so without it they would suffer to survive.

Therefore as part of the programme, they offer egg collectors the chance to sell their eggs to the hatchery therefore enabling the survival of the turtle eggs along with providing the local commu-nity with a source of income.

I would highly recommend this conser-vation trip as it was so rewarding. To feel like you have saved hundreds of baby turtles gives you an incredible sense of achievement and a feeling that you are truly helping to save the envi-ronment. The staff and locals are ex-tremely friendly and it is an extremely beautiful place to stay in.

Although ARCAS is a conservation group it is indirectly associated with diving and reefs, I feel it is important to include sea turtles in this magazine as they are an extremely important aspect of life on the coral reef and spend the


hawksbill turtle cruising above coral reef © mark doherty


26

majority of their lives there. So whether you are a diver or not you can still fully enjoy the good work of helping out a ma-rine animal. If you would like to become involved in this programme please visit www.arcasguatemala.com for more infor-mation.


“I would highly rec-ommend this conser-vation trip as it was

so rewarding”


Leatherback turtle at dawn covering nest© Ife360 Photography

Hatchling heading out to sea© Ife360 Photography




A hatchling heading out to sea.© Ife360 Photography





Oil...SpilledIt started as a leak and turned into a spill

From the Gulf of Mexico it flowed until It gushed into parts of America

As well as Panama City in Florida Resulting in a lack of warm tropical breeze For life on earth, save our Caribbean seas

This greasy substance is adversely affecting

the rich biodiversity Of our Caribbean countries

Pelicans and birds are under threat Sea turtles are quite upset

The contaminated water will spread disease For life on earth, save our Caribbean seas

The fishes can’t survive in this polluted water Soon their marine life will be over The chocolate-brown blanket of oil

Has caused much pain and toil This flow of oil must cease

For life on earth, save our Caribbean seas

By ALANA BABB

REEF AWARENESS // Lion of the Sea

Oil covered peli-cans found off the Louisiana coast and affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill © heeavenmelee

Oil being burned in an attempt to ‘kill’ the oil spill © Kris Krug



One of 10 heavily oiled Kemp’s Rid-ley turtles recov-ered© NOAA, National Ocean Service

Mark Dodd, wildlife biolo-gist from Georgia’s Depart-ment of Natural Resources, surveying oiled sargas-sum in the Gulf of Mexico. © Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Oil being burned in an attempt to ‘kill’ the oil spill © Kris Krug



MORAY EELSBy ARIELLE ABERDEEN

A brightly coloured and spotted Golden Tail Mo-ray Eel eyes us from the

coral reef. By Debrorah Coles



MA

RIN

E L

IFE

EX

PL

OR

EDAs you swim near a

rock crevice, you suddenly notice this snake-like head, with small beady eyes and a mouth which opens and closes menacingly, peeping through a rock crevice, eyes glued to you. Congratula-tions! You have just seen our marine creature of this issue, the Moray Eel, which be-longs to the family of Mu-r a e n i d a e . These mys-terious crea-tures are the snakes of the ocean. There are over 200 species, with the Green Moray Eels (Gym-nothorax funebris) and the Spotted Moray Eels (Gym-nothorax moringa) being the most visible in the Carib-bean, especially while div-ing in Tobago. Moray eels are thick, elongated crea-

tures averaging around 3 m in length, with individu-als growing up to be larger. Their dorsal fins extend from the back of their heads and are joined with their caudal and anal fins, with no pec-toral and pelvic fins. They have a narrow head, small beady eyes, a strong jaw, and a full set of sharp teeth. These physical characteris-tics give them their anacon-da-like appearance. They

are nocturnal, consume fish-es and crusta-ceans and like warm waters; they are found mainly in the tropics, near reefs and make

rock crevices and small caves their homes. Despite their menacing and intimidating appearance and aura, these are rela-tively shy and harmless crea-tures. By that I mean they won’t attack divers, unless provoked or we invade their habitats. So proceed with

“Despite their men-acing and intimi-dating appearance, these are relatively shy and harmless

creatures”



caution when swimming near any open-ings. If bitten, seek medical attention im-mediately since their bites can become infected. They can usually be observed safely from a distance, usually peeking through the opening of their dwellings, and rarely come out fully. But have no fear as threateningly opening and closing of their mouths, revealing their sharp teeth, is a harmless movement to aid in respiration. The Green Moray Eel which averages around 2.5 m in length and can be found

up to 30 m in depth, have a green-yellow-ish appearance. I have encountered two of these magnificent creatures, while div-ing in Tobago: in Man-Of –War Bay, Char-lotteville and the other, a local legend called Tyson, in Pirate’s Bay. Tyson’s name-sake is fitting - he is huge! My dive buddy and I were pleasantly surprised when we stumbled across his path, for his reputa-tion made us curious to see him up close. This 8-foot giant is known to be generally harmless towards divers. However, on that

MARINE LIFE EXPLORED // Moray Eels

Single spotted moray eel with open mouth emerg-

ing from coral reef of caribbean island of Bo-

naire, Dutch AntillesBy Debra James




up to 30 m in depth, have a green-yellow-ish appearance. I have encountered two of these magnificent creatures, while div-ing in Tobago: in Man-Of –War Bay, Char-lotteville and the other, a local legend called Tyson, in Pirate’s Bay. Tyson’s name-sake is fitting - he is huge! My dive buddy and I were pleasantly surprised when we stumbled across his path, for his reputa-tion made us curious to see him up close. This 8-foot giant is known to be generally harmless towards divers. However, on that

A pair of moray eels search for food among a pile of clay

pots in the cargo hold of a sunken ship

By Centrill

Single spotted moray eel with open mouth emerg-

ing from coral reef of caribbean island of Bo-

naire, Dutch AntillesBy Debra James




dive, when we accidently encoun-tered him, a staring match erupt-ed between us for a full minute, as he kept charging towards us, be-fore finally making a threatening circle around us and disappearing back into his home. Needless to say, some fear was instilled with-

in me but it was a good reminder that while moray eels don’t attack divers unless provoked, caution is needed whenever you encounter them and they are best observed at a comfortable distance between both parties.

Spotted moray eel By John Anderson




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Caribbean REEF MAgazine - Issue 2