Science and Nature

(CNS): With the country’s attention firmly focused on the political storms, the impending arrival of the Atlantic Hurricane Season on 1 June has taken a back seat for many people. However, local officials are urging everyone to begin their preparations during the forthcoming holiday weekend. Monday 20 May is the National Day of Preparedness, with this year’s theme focusing on things people need to survive a major storm. The theme "Get your preparedness kit together!" urges residents to consider what they need and get stocked up before the season starts.

(CNS): Botanist, orchid enthusiast and retired long-serving Chief Fire Officer was honoured last week at the Queen Elizabeth Botanic Park in a ceremony that saw the Visitors' Centre renamed for him. A large granite sign now proclaims the Kirkland Nixon Visitors' Centre which was unveiled by his wife. The renaming of the Visitors' Centre was proposed by Tourism Attraction Board's CEO Gilbert Connolly last year in "recognition of Nixon's connection and contribution to the park. Nixon served as the first chairman of the steering committee created in 1994 to establish the Botanic Park and as Chairman of the Tourism Attraction Board since 2002.

(CNS): As the local marine environment waits on politicians to make a decision about conserving its future, news from the science community suggests that Cayman and other Caribbean reef systems can be saved from collapse with fishing and pollution controls.  Work undertaken by researchers with the Future of Reefs in a Changing Environment (FORCE) found that it is possible to maintain reefs but it requires countries to take the management of their reefs seriously and global action to address climate change. The Department of the Environment has undertaken extensive consultation about the pressing need to enhance Cayman’s marine parks and control local fishing but the urgency for action has not yet attracted the political commitment needed.

(CNS): The relatively uncommon but beautiful phenomenon of a solar halo was visible in the sky over Grand Cayman on Wednesday lunchtime when a perfect rainbow circle appeared around the sun. According to scientists, the prism effect of these sun rainbows are caused when the light from the sun is seen through high, thin cirrus clouds that are made of ice crystals. Although not necessarily rare, they are not an everyday sight and are incredible things to see when they do appear.

(CNS): Ocean Frontiers in Grand Cayman has unveiled an underwater webcam that is streaming live video from a shallow reef on the island’s remote East End to the rest of the world. The dive resort said that the ‘ocean-cam’ is part of a monitoring project that has just been launched in partnership with Teens4Oceans, a non-profit organisation that encourages young people to get involved in the stewardship of the ocean through research, technology and education. With this new equipment teenagers from across the world will be watching what is happening on Cayman’s reefs. The ocean-cam was installed by Steve Broadbelt, owner of Ocean Frontiers, with the help of 16-year-old Parker Lindsay.

(CNS): The CCMI has will be awarding with 85 local students with scholarships this year to attend programmes run by the marine institute based in Little Cayman. These include fifty Ocean Literacy and eleven Young Environmentalist Leadership Course full scholarships as well as ten Sea Camp scholarships this year. Officials from the CCMI said it provides a variety of education programmes to train a new generation of leaders, researchers, policymakers and resource managers about the marine. Courses are offered at the Little Cayman Research Centre to provide unique opportunities for hands-on experience in a pristine marine ecosystem and interaction with resident educators and scientists.

(CNS):  Nearly 600 lionfish were culled in the Foster’s Food Fair Earth Month Lionfish Tournament over 24-hour period this weekend. Eight culling teams, which were sponsored by restaurants across the islands and 48 people took part in the marathon attack on the fish throughout Cayman waters. Tukka in East End was the winning restaurant as their team, the Teal Tigers, brought in 198 lionfish. 75% of the catch from the teams went to the restaurants while the remaining 25% was delivered to Foster’s Food Fair for sale in the seafood section. In total 587 fish were caught weighing a collective 438lbs.

(CNS): The new Doppler Weather Radar, which was officially opened on Thursday morning, will be named after the former chief officer in the ministry responsible for weather, Kearney Gomez. The radar in high rock East End was formally commissioned on Thursday and is scheduled to become operational ahead of the 2013 Atlantic Hurricane Season once the final testing is completed. This radar will fill a gap in the existing regional network, allowing for a more complete early warning system across the Caribbean. The radar was funded with a €4.16 million grant from the European Union.

(CNS): Members of the Marine Conservation Board (MCB) have said that the recent change to the marine conservation law piggy-backed onto an amendment to protect stingrays is a retrograde step for conservation. The decision to undermine the board’s ability to act swiftly to protect the marine resources which don’t follow the timetable of politicians will “reduce the capacity to manage and preserve” those resources with a detrimental impact. While politicians found time to try and undermine the board’s efforts, the members said it was “truly unfortunate” that proposed amendments that would have given long term protection for the Nassau grouper “were not deemed worthy of consideration by the Legislative Assembly".

(CNS): Concerns are running high about Cayman’s environment and its lack of protection according to a survey recently conducted by the National Trust among its membership. Of the 155 respondents surveyed in March, 99% said they felt it is important to preserve the history and environment of the Cayman Islands, while only a meager 3% of respondents said they felt that Cayman’s environment is adequately protected by current legislation. 97% of respondents said they believe the Cayman Islands needs more legislation to protect its environment, and 86% said they believe the Cayman Islands needs a law to protect places of historic importance.

(BBC): Puerto Rico has introduced a new law protecting a swathe of the island's coast that has become a major nesting site for the world's largest turtle, the leatherback. The Northeast Ecological Corridor comprises 5.4 sq miles of the island's coast.The law ends a 15-year battle which pitted developers against green activists and several celebrities. Developers had been looking to build hotels, golf courses and luxury homes in the area, arguing that this would boost the local economy and create jobs. But the area - boasting lush vegetation and pristine beaches - is now likely to become a centre for eco-tourism. Last August thousands of leatherback eggs and hatchlings were crushed by bulldozers moving waterlogged sand from key nesting areas.

(CNS): Following a statement by animal activist group, the WSPA, Monday, expressing its disapproval of a report commissioned by the Cayman Turtle Farm regarding the various welfare concerns at the facility the management said Tuesday it believes the findings are valid and based on the expert opinion of qualified scientists. The CTF said the report was independent and followed an intensive inspection of the facility in the wake of concerns raised by the animal welfare charity last year. The CTF said it has asked the WSPA to accept the report as a basis for dialogue but it has refused and the farm’s managing director said this was preventing the two parties from moving forward.

(CNS): Hopes of a possible working relationship between the World Society for Protection of Animals and the Cayman Turtle Farm have been dashed after the charity said Monday that talks between the parties have broken down as the farm refuses to recognise the animal welfare problems caused by its intensive farming operation. Having spearheaded a major international campaign to persuade the Turtle Farm to begin moving away from farming to a facility committed purely to conservation, the animal activists said that the CTF management wants the charity to renounce the findings of its year-long investigation and accept the farm's recent inspection report as “authoritative”.

(CNS): The Cayman Islands has come at the bottom of the rankings for environmental protection in the first ever analysis of environmental laws across all of the UK’s 14 Overseas Territories. The Cayman Islands was found to be significantly lacking in its environmental protection legislation. The report assessed the priority policy areas of biodiversity protection and development planning against criteria of environmental governance, and while Gibraltar was ranked top, Cayman was shamefully ranked at the very bottom of the table as a result of the persistent lack of political will to enact laws to protect the country’s natural resources.

(CNS): Despite the dwindling political support for the proposal by the Dart Group to relocate Grand Cayman’s landfill to Bodden Town the firm has published the Environmental Statement in relation to the project for public comment. The details of the EAB, which was conducted by Cardno ENTRIX who were paid by Dart, are now public and the department of environment officials are asking for comment on the findings. The draft statement is the written report of the EIA process and provides a technical based evaluation of potential environmental impacts from the controversial proposed waste-management project. The EIA claims however, not to have identified any significant environmental impacts that cannot be addressed.