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International Year of the Reef - A Week in ReefView
Art Doing its Part for Coastal Awareness -
May 7, 2008 - 2:57:55 PM
"Wait!
Don’t throw those doors out!
I have a future for them!”
These are the words I imagine Mr. Walter Gobin, Art Head-of-Department at Jack Hayward High School, may have said regarding the imminent dumping of some old doors.
What kind of future would he have with some old doors you might ask?
A future in art. Yes art - a mural in fact. The mural seen in the photos presented are being created by various senior high art students of Jack Hayward. The murals depict marine life in an effort to foster awareness of the magnificent marine environment The Bahamas is known for, yet many may take for granted, or perhaps may never even have the opportunity to enjoy...
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International Year of the Reef - A Week in ReefView
The Bahamas signs Proclamation for International Year of the Reef -
May 5, 2008 - 11:39:52 AM
The signing of this proclamation by our Commander-In-Chief, The Right Honourable Hubert Alexander Ingraham, officially symbolizes The Bahamas’ awareness as a nation of the value of coral reefs, their fragility, and the need to further conservation efforts on their behalf. In this proclamation our Prime Minister gives his blessings for the National IYOR2008 Planning Committee to utilize this global awareness campaign to further our coral reef conservation efforts for The Bahamas, contributing to status of coral reefs worldwide.
Learn more about the International Year of the Reef by clicking on the logo on the left column of TheBahamasWeekly.com.
Click [Read more...] to see the proclamation...
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International Year of the Reef - A Week in ReefView
Pollution – A Threat to our Coral Reefs -
Apr 30, 2008 - 12:36:14 PM
Let us stop, think and ask ourselves a few questions. When you hear the words pollution and coral reefs, what image comes to mind? Do you think of a vast oil spill over the surface of the ocean? Do you picture the image of a 6-pack bottle ring floating around the neck of a turtle? Or are you unable to relate the two words at all? Up until recently, the seas have been the dumping grounds for many pollutants. It was once believed that dilution was the solution to pollution. We thought the ocean had the power to not only dilute, but also absorb and vanish away any pollutant which entered it.
However we have learned that our waste, even in small amounts can have a large affect on the quality of our coral reefs and our way of life. The year 2008 is considered the International Year of the Reef. During this time let us reflect on how important these vast colonies of animals are to our own local economy...
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International Year of the Reef - A Week in ReefView
Physical Impacts to Reefs Caused by Tourism-related Activities -
Apr 22, 2008 - 11:09:39 AM
Coral reefs are diverse and productive ecosystems
that play a vital role in supporting our marine life by providing breeding, feeding and nursery areas for various types of marine animals
. Additionally, reefs act as a protective barrier for our coast against intense waves and storms. Apart from their ecological importance, reefs contribute significantly to our economy by providing employment opportunities in recreational and tourism-related activities. Reefs also provide sources of food such as
Nassau grouper, Queen conch and Spiny lobster which generate millions of dollars annually in The Bahamas. Despite the importance of our reefs, many persons still do not understand how their actions have contributed to coral reef degradation which ultimately has caused and will continue to cause a significant decline in Bahamian fish populations....
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International Year of the Reef - A Week in ReefView
April is Coastal Awareness Month -
Apr 15, 2008 - 9:49:19 AM
In 2005, the Ministry of Tourism declared April Coastal Awareness Month.
Now in its 4th year, there are 5 key threats that continue to be relevant to our coastal environment.
Those 5 key threats are climate change, habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, and over-fishing.
As 2008 has once again been declared by the ICRI (www.icriforum.org) as International Year of the Reef (www.iyor.org) – 10 years after International Year of the Reef 1997 – special emphasis is being put on our coral reef ecosystems.
In light of this I will discuss how these key threats affect coral reef ecosystems.
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International Year of the Reef - A Week in ReefView
Black band disease -
Apr 9, 2008 - 9:03:03 AM
Black Band Disease has been a bane to coral reefs. It is a recent disease, but soon after it was first recorded, it was found to devastate coral over a wide area. Brain Coral is particularly susceptible, although many other species of stony coral can be afflicted.
The disease first presents as a fuzzy black spot that starts to enlarge. As it grows across the coral it leaves behind stark, dead white stone. The line of the Black Band can consume coral as fast as an inch a day. It is heartbreaking to see it infect old large coral colonies, some of which may be a thousand or more years old, and turn the living coral into dead rock in a week or two. If these coral heads were redwood trees, in full public\ view, the public would raise an outcry to save these heritage individuals. Most of the coral die a very private death, out of sight of all but a few
scuba divers...
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International Year of the Reef - A Week in ReefView
A NEW column on Coastal Awareness - Week in Reefview -
Apr 2, 2008 - 11:35:41 AM
Week In Reefview
will be a TheBahamasWeekly.com featured column throughout this International Year of the Reef (2008), as well as weekly article on how some of the key threats impact the coral reef ecosystem, and possible solutions to address these issues.
Articles will be submitted by representatives of our various partners in both N.C.A.M. & I.Y.O.R. 2008 including the Bahamas Environment, Science & Technology (BEST), The Nature Conservancy, BREEF, Department of Marine Resources, Grand Bahama Dive Association, COB-MESI, and other independent authors with knowledge of coral reefs.
Click [Read more...] to learn further on how The Bahamas has become involved in this global project...
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International Year of the Reef - A Week in ReefView
A Week in ReefView - Short Shelled Snails -
Apr 2, 2008 - 9:31:59 AM
This Week's Reefview - Short Shelled Snails are small snails that eat coral. They have thick shells that are very hard to break. The shells get covered and grown over by different kinds of algae that grow around the reef. This covering camouflages the snails so they are almost impossible to see, and until recently were virtually unknown on the reef.
These snails are a favorite food of large spiny lobsters. Lobsters, commonly called crawfish in the Bahamas, have to be two pounds or larger in order to have the strength to crack the snails and eat them.
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