All posts tagged: facts about sharks

Dive Into Shark School with Jessica Harvey

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Sharks are fascinating creatures.  Over the years, sharks have often been misunderstood and this helped create a negative perception of sharks.  Gradually, that perception is beginning to shift and sharks are being seen in a more positive light.  If anything, we should be more afraid of not seeing sharks.  Our marine environment has a delicate balance, and everything is interconnected.  Sharks play a vital role in maintaining the health of our oceans, keeping marine ecosystems in balance and our coral reefs in check.  Seeing a healthy population of sharks is typically a positive indicator of a healthy coral reef.   The Cayman Islands is a designated shark sanctuary.  Sharks and rays are a protected species under Cayman’s National Conservation Law.  Here in the Cayman Islands, there are eight species of sharks commonly found in our waters including: Great Hammerhead, Nurse shark, Lemon shark, Caribbean Reef shark, Blacktip, Tiger shark, Oceanic Whitetip and Silky shark. Amongst the variety of shark species found in the Cayman Islands, some species of sharks reside in Cayman waters all year …

Tipping Point

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My brief take on the global impact of the human-shark relationship. written by Marique Cloete “Your life is inextricably linked to that of a shark whether you choose to accept it as your truth or not.” I recently got a puppy. You may ask what this has to do with Sharks. Not much unless you count the fact that he will soon be donning a shark fin life-vest when we patrol the ocean. A recent incident with puppy however got me onto the subject of my article. The two of us were hunting for coconuts in my garden and at one point I hooked a coconut and pulled it down. I shouted “move!” but Puppy being a puppy and not yet fluent in the English language did not artfully step aside as I expected and nearly got in the way of a crashing coconut. “More humans are killed each year by falling coconuts than by Sharks.” Sound familiar? This little urban legend gained momentum after a publication by a shark expert in 2002 cited “human …

Why Shark Week?

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  Eco Chic Cayman is proud to team up with Shark Conservation Cayman for our second annual “Shark Week.” Last year our collaboration aimed to accompany Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” with real information that is relevant to Cayman and our community. We shared interesting facts about our local sharks and conservation efforts and Cayman loved it. That being said, we are excited to share all new content to celebrate “Shark Week” in Cayman this year. Shark Conservation Cayman’s mission is “To better understand Cayman’s shark populations and to raise awareness of the importance of sharks to healthy reefs and the marine environment”. The research and conservation efforts are supported by the White Tip Conservation Fund from the Cayman Islands Brewery. Read more about the collaboration, between the Cayman Islands Department of Environment and Marine Conservation International, and their work on their brand new website. Each day of the following week, July 22-28, we will feature a new collaborative blog post sharing interesting shark facts, debunked myths about sharks, the latest in local shark conservation initiatives …

Sharks of the Cayman Islands

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The Cayman Islands are known for being a popular diving destination in the Caribbean with over 365 dive sites. Some of the main attractions of dive sites in the Cayman Islands include wreck diving at famous shipwrecks such as, the Kittiwake, the Balboa, the Oro Verde as well as our biodiverse reefs. In order to help maintain our status as a diving destination hotspot, the Cayman Islands for over 30 years, has been protecting its marine life and reefs with Marine Parks. In 2015, the Cayman Islands increased their ocean conservation as the National Conservation Law effectively put protection measures in place for sharks and rays. Sharks are an apex predator, at the top of the marine food chain, as a result they regulate the species at lower down the chain levels, helping to keep marine ecosystems such as reefs balanced. Sharks therefore are a considerable asset to our islands reefs and other marine ecosystems. Additionally, sharks are beneficial to ecotourism as many visiting snorkelers and divers are keen to see large charismatic marine life, …