In summer 2018 I went on a conservation trip to the island of Dominica to investigate how the island's wildlife was recovering since the devastating tropical hurricane Maria September 2017.
The hurricane was the worst disaster to ever affect the island of Dominica and Puerto Rico, classified as a category 5 hurricane, it decimated the island, destroying roughly 90% of all buildings.
The island of Dominica was harshly affected by the hurricane and we went to find out more on how it was fairing. After the effects of Hurricane David in 1979 Dominica was in a similar state of wildlife depletion, however slowly the island healed and managed to repair. Our aim for the two weeks was to investigate if the island could rehabilitate itself after its second natural disaster.
The first week was spent in the rainforest collecting scientific data on the populations of different species to see how they had been effected by Maria. We looked at how the hurricane had affected the competition between a native and invasive species of anole, and observed the bird population at different height up the mountains.
The second week was spent at a marine environment where we recorded the health of the coral using the Coral Watch chart which had been distributed globally to collect data on how coral populations are being affected by problems such as pollution and changes in the ecosystem.
In our survey we investigated the health of boulder coral and we used quadrats and transects to see the composition of the sea floor at varying distances from the shore.
While conducting our surveys we saw a huge range of amazing species in the water ranging from the common long spine sea urchin to the invasive and poisonous lion fish. We were able to use fish and invertebrate identification charts to determine the exact species we were looking at.
While snorkelling we noticed a huge amount of fire coral, hydrozoans, fire worm and scorpion fish. Following my trip I decided to research into whether or not poisonous species are more commonly found in temperate climates. I found that alot of poisonous marine species such as stone fish, blue ringed octopus and box jellyfish do reside in warm waters and while I am not entirely sure why, one reason could be due to the fact that coral reefs usually grow in warm waters and naturally they are a source of a hugely biodiverse habitat which most likely provides alot of prey to these poisonous creatures.
On the last day of our trip we teamed up with a local scuba diver who campaigns and works alongside Project AWARE to help clean up beaches on Dominica.
Project AWARE is an organisation that has been working in partnership with PADI divers to promote ocean conservation and respond to the threats our ocean faces.
On our beach clean up we went to Purple Turtle beach which, following a public party the previous night, was littered in plastic, glass and cardboard. We began collecting the rubbish on the shore and in the water. Single use objects such as plastic cutlery were reused to make jewellery while the other bottles, cups and straws were gathered up and sent to the recycling plant. When we entered the water, to collect rubbish that had been dropped or thrown in the sea, we discovered alot of large debris that were a result from the hurricane. Large pieces of wooden boards had been scattered around the shores by the powerful winds and storms. We also discovered a huge amount of plastic bags buried half under the sand which were hard to remove as it would rip every time you pulled it. In the two/three hours we spent on the beach 3 of us managed to pull out 7 mesh bags of plastic and glass rubbish but we had barely scratched the surface of the amount of litter on the beach.
This experience not only exposed me to the reality of plastic pollution but also inspired me to get involved in tackling it alongside Project AWARE and other conservation organisations. This trip was life changing, I really enjoyed being on the forefront of conservation and I will most definitely continue to look to similar opportunities.
Recently, wildlife biologist Liz Bonnin made a BBC documentary showing in great detail how plastic affects our oceans. Even having seen it first hand in Dominica I was astounded by this documentary and would definitely recommend it to everyone, whether you want to be involved directly in the cause or not.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0bmbn47/drowning-in-plastic?suggid=b0bmbn47
If you would like to find out more or get involved with helping our oceans, here are some interesting links:
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