All posts tagged: protecting 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 …

Shark Conservation Cayman in a Nutshell

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Who are we? Shark Conservation Cayman is a collaboration between the Department of Environment and Marine Conservation International, supported by the White Tip Conservation Fund from the Cayman Islands Brewery.  Together with a network of volunteers, the team is working towards a better understanding of our local shark populations. Shark Conservation Cayman and fellow collaborators work in Cayman to study and monitor our local sharks and improve conservation management in the Cayman Islands. So how do we do that? In order to protect sharks we need to study and understand their behaviour and life characteristics and use what we’ve learnt to raise awareness in local communities around the importance of sharks to healthy reefs and our Cayman marine environment. Since sharks are highly mobile animals with the whole ocean to roam in, studying them is no easy feat. In Cayman we use multiple, complementary methods one of which is “Acoustic Telemetry”. This means we tag a shark with an acoustic tag. Then, by utilizing a network of receivers located around the three Islands, we pick up …

Meet Our Local Sharks & The People Protecting Them

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The Caribbean is famous for being a paradise, rich in colour, biodiverse coral reefs and an abundance of marine life including sharks.  A healthy population of sharks is an indicator of a healthy reef ecosystem and is valuable not only for our marine environment but also for the tourism industry and our economy.  The Cayman Islands is one of the most popular diving destinations in the world and people travel from all over to experience our world renowned underwater world but also for the opportunity to see a shark(s) on their dive.  A survey in 2011 showed that sharks are worth more alive than dead in Cayman. The economic value of an alive shark was estimated to be about US$54 million per year.  So not only do sharks help keep the balance in the marine environment but also add to our islands economy.  The survey also showed that even if tourists don’t want to see sharks while swimming, they do want to know that there is a healthy shark population in Cayman as it is …

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 …

Swimming with sharks…

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No I have never swam with sharks, though there are times I think it would be really awesome to be able to say that I have, as sharks are an amazing animal.  Last night I watched an incredible documentary called “Sharkwater” by Rob Stewart.  If you love sharks then I highly recommend that you watch it.  The cinematography was absolutely stunning!  The documentary captured so many fantastic scenic shots of sharks and other wildlife which inhabit the ocean.  One of my favorite scenes was watching one of the divers holding a shark and stroking the shark like you would  a dog.  The shark was completely docile.  It was just amazing to watch.  Another scene showed a school of hammerhead sharks, just awesome to see them swimming peacefully in the ocean. Sadly, sharks are being hunted resulting in the population of sharks being reduced by 90%.  During the time it took to watch the documentary over 15,000 sharks were estimated to have been killed, it just goes to show how rapidly the population of sharks are …