Day 2-3: Into Rougher Waters

I’ve never been seasick until now. Fortunately, I managed to keep my lunch down, which is better then some of my other shipmates. We’ve spent the last two days mapping on the Atlantic side of St Kitts where the waves are significantly larger. As you can guess, it’s a bad combination to have to stare at a computer screen while being tossed around at sea.

I’m told that the indigenous Arawak communities that once lived on St Kitts principally resided on the Atlantic side because of the abundance of fish resources. As we have made our way along the northeastern coast of the island, we’ve been surprised at how few fish there are when we drop the camera. What we’ve seen in the videos on this side is mostly sand and rubble and the reefs appear in poor condition. Towards the northern end of the island, we find a lot of gill nets and fish pots that fishers have recently placed which they check periodically. The locals tell us this area is where the sharks hang out, as they try to snag an easy meal from the nets. Sadly, many of them end of getting caught themselves.

Besides the stingray we spotted on one of our video drops, one of the big events happened on the third day when we got the video cable caught on the boat prop. Luckily the engine was in neutral so no damage was done to the cable. The conditions were very difficult with the large waves and the swift currents. It is important to get the camera on the bottom of the ocean as quickly as possible, in order to synchronize the video with the GPS reading of the boat’s location.  After collecting the video on one of the drops, we tried to pull the camera up but the cable was stuck. At first we thought it was stuck on the rudder, but later realized it was the prop. Fortunately Gwilym had brought his snorkel gear and was able to dive in and free the cable. It took a few dives under the boat, but we were all greatly relieved when he finally brought the camera and cable up to the surface. Now we try and position boat before each camera drop so the camera will not drift under the boat. One of our other fears is getting the camera snagged on a coral head.  Hopefully that won’t happen, especially in the deeper waters. 

Sunrise over St Kitts as fishers head out to sea.

Discussing our sampling strategy and equipment set up before leaving the harbor.

Local conch fishers give us a friendly wave.

Claxton from the coast guard takes his turn dropping the camera.

John directs the boat's direction while deciding on video sample locations

Gwilym rescues the camera cable from the boat prop.

The Carib Indians called the island Liamuiga, meaning fertile land. The dormant volcano in the distance is called Mount Liamuiga. Rising to 3,800ft, it is shrouded with clouds most of the time. 

Some of the fish pots and nets we saw as we cruised near the coast.

Overfishing contributes to harvesting less and less fish these days.

Fishers pass the remnants of an old sugarcane plantation.

The life blood of St Kitts tourism industry, cruise ships can park up to two at a time.