Have you ever been caught in the rain? Splashed around in a pond? Dug a hole
in the sand on a beach and struck water? All of these things are signs of the
water cycle. The water cycle is the recycling of water from the earth, into the
atmosphere and back to earth again. One starting point is with the world’s
bodies of water. The heat energy from the sun evaporates this water into the
atmosphere. As the water vapor rises, it cools and condenses to form clouds.
When conditions are right, water droplets form, and these fall to the ground as
rain, snow, or some other form of precipitation. Once the water hits the ground,
it either flows downhill to a body of water, or it soaks into the ground where it
becomes part of the groundwater. The water can then evaporate back into the
atmosphere from the bodies of water, beginning the cycle again.
As the water goes through this cycle, it can mix with pollution and contaminate
drinking water, lakes, rivers and oceans. Some pollution affecting South Caicos
reefs may come from septic tanks, the local landfill, and wastes from the fish
processing plant. Sewage generated on South Caicos is disposed of directly
into the ocean, potentially causing algae blooms on the coral reefs due to the
excess nutrients. Islanders should be aware of the potential reef damage that
could occur from this method of sewage disposal if tourism on South Caicos
increases.
Most of the pollution here on South Caicos Island, in spite of the remoteness of
the island, is in the form of solid waste such as plastics, glass, and old fish nets.
The trash is not from islanders. Most of it has foreign labels and may come
form cruise ships or other ocean vessels.Corals and turtles may be the hardest
hit by solid waste pollution. Many of the plastic bags that enter the reef system
become entangled in the corals and suffocate them. Small bits of plastic may be
mistaken by turtles for food. Once eaten the plastic can cause serious health
problems or death to the turtle. It is sad to see such beautiful reefs and beaches
with trash on them but co-operative efforts between the school and islanders
are being looked at to clean up these areas.
Research Update: Manta Tow Directed Research
Research Team: Tim Schwab, Pete Scholze, Cindy Seegers,
Heather Ludemann, Brian Dean, Kara Dwyer
Currently, South Caicos is facing difficulties in establishing a proper stock
assessment of the Queen Conch. Population size is determined using data
derived only from the fishing plants. This means that a large portion of the
conch which are taken are not being accounted for, resulting in an inaccurate
estimate of the stock’s health. This could eventually lead to the termination of
the fishery because of a lack of healthy and sustainable harvest. Therefore, it is
important to find an alternate way to establish the size of the conch population
across the entire Caicos bank.
Over the last two months we have tested the manta tow as a viable option to
assess the conch population. The technique involves towing one or two
snorkelers behind a boat, on a manta board (sort of like a boogie board with
holes in it to hold on to). The board allows the snorkelers to alter their depth if
they would like a closer look at something. Presently, they are being towed
over a 200-meter transect which has a predetermined number and density of
knocked conch (conch shells that have had the live animal removed). These are
set up prior to the tows, and the snorkelers are not informed of the quantity.
Then, the snorkelers are towed along the transect and they are supposed to try
and count the number of conch they see. This is being done to see if there is a
certain amount of consistency among the results.
After this week, we will be going along known conching grounds to try and
determine the accuracy of this technique in the field. Hopefully, if it proves
reliable we will present the technique to the Department of Environment and
Coastal Resources, who will use this as a new means of assessing the conch
stock.
