All posts tagged: marine protected areas

Cayman Islands Coral Watch Programme

Published by

On 23rd September 2017, the Cayman Islands Department of Environment (DOE) documented the first reports of a new coral bleaching event in the Cayman Islands.  Scientists have been investigating how widespread and intense the bleaching is across all three islands: Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman.  A particularly striking find was on Andes Reef, north coast of Grand Cayman, where there were sightings of coral bleaching happening up to depths of 50 meters.  This year’s coral bleaching event has been meticulously monitored and documented by the DOE and they continue to gather data, photos, videos and conduct surveys to fully assess the impact.  As the DOE documents this stress response, they are paying close attention to 3 particular factors: 1.       Which locations of coral reefs are affected by the bleaching 2.       What species of coral are affected and which are remaining healthy 3.       What depths are bleached corals found For instance, some coral reefs on the west side of the island in shallow depths currently …

A Call to Action: Help Shark Conservation. Adopt a Shark.

Published by

As custodians of our stunning coral reefs and charismatic marine life, for over 30 years the Cayman Islands Department of Environment (DOE) has been protecting our island’s precious marine environment by establishing marine parks. Since 2015, the DOE increased marine protection by designating Cayman’s waters as a sharks and rays sanctuary, under the National Conservation Law. In part of DOE’s shark conservation efforts, shark research is an ongoing project to gather data about Cayman’s shark populations and monitor their behavior and patterns. Additionally, CayBrew’s Whitetip Fund supports DOE’s shark project with a focus on tagging sharks to improve shark research and conservation efforts in the Cayman Islands. The shark project utilizes four methods as a means to comprehensively gather pertinent data about Cayman’s sharks. The methods used are: tagging with an acoustic transmitter, BRUV (baited remote underwater video) surveys, photo identification of individual sharks and shark sighting logging. To read more about this ongoing project click here Sharks are of significant value to our coral reefs and other marine environments. According to a report by …