Day 2: Basseterre to the Narrows

Clear skies and light winds are a welcome sight for our first day on the water. Now if only the technology Gods will cooperate. Captain Julius meets us at the Coast Guard Station, assigned to take the helm for our maiden underwater mapping voyage. We are fortunate to have Gwilym Rowlands with us this week to train the team in the finer aspects of underwater video mapping. Gwilym is a PhD student and works with Dr. Sam Purkis at Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center. They have pioneered the science of underwater video mapping and have the knowledge to interpret the benthic classes and apply it to satellite imagery, creating very detailed and comprehensive benthic habitat maps for a variety of places around the world.

After discussing a sample strategy, we decide to head south, towards Nag’s head, the southern peninsula of St. Kitts. This area is part of an ancient volcano caldera and home to one of the largest salt ponds in the Caribbean. Developers have recently begun a massive project called Christophe Harbor in this vicinity. The project is huge given the size of this small island state - 2500 acres or 6% of the total land area of the island, impacting a quarter of the island’s coastline. The large salt pond is a major stop over for migratory birds and the developers plan to dredge it and turn it into a 300 berth marina. If they choose to do this the right way, it could be a great model project for the Caribbean or it could end up being an ecological disaster.

The process of collecting underwater video samples is fairly straight forward. First we look at the satellite image on the laptop to get a reference of where we are in relation to the features we are trying to map. The high resolution satellite images we are looking at, have been enhanced so we can see underwater features more easily, such as sand, seagrass, and various reef structures. The GPS shows our current position on the image and makes it easier to calculate and call off bearing directions to Captain Julius. Once we decide on a direction, we make a series of strategic video drops along the transect. These stops are based on our interpretation of the variety of features we see on the satellite imagery. Once we reach a drop point, we stop the boat and lower the camera into the water. Someone looking at the live video feed yells out to the drop person when to stop lowering the camera, just a few feet of the ocean floor. The high-definition video does an amazing job of recording what’s at the bottom without having to send a diver down. Plus, we have a permanent record of the conditions at each site that can be used for future comparisons.  As we zigzag along the coastline, it’s a fine balance between getting as many sample video points as possible, while covering as much of the ocean shelf as we can. The more samples we obtain, the more accurate our final map will be. The key is to get a representative sample of all the underwater features, while covering the entire 260 sq km in ten days.

After seven hours on the boat, we end up collecting our final samples in the Narrows, the shallow area between the islands of St Kitts and Nevis. Having collected a total of 76 points, we are ready to head back to the harbor. Tomorrow we will start in the rough waters of the Atlantic side. The captain reminds me to bring my Dramamine.

Ralph takes his turn lowering and raising the video camera from the side of the boat.

The waters are very busy with a lot of activities going on within a very narrow shelf - all the more reasons for developing a marine zoning plan focused on building a sustainable future for all marine interests.

A view of the laptop screen showing our current GPS location on top of the satellite imagery. We use this to guide and select our sample points.

Coastal development is expanding all around the island.

Goats grazing the hills, making the land more susceptible to erosion and runoff into the ocean, harming the reef systems.

Ralph ponders the future of his country and the fish stocks he helps to manage, as we head back to the harbor.

Total video sample points collected on Day 1.

Arriving back to the harbor.