New Iguana Conservation Facility Opens on San Salvador

The new facility was created to protect the endangered Sal Salvador Iguana. Four females and two lucky males are currently residing in the exhibition and breeding pen. The main goal of the program is to raise juvenile iguanas to a size large enough where they can fare well upon release to the wild, thereby supplementing the natural population which is around 500 right now.

An important step forward has been taken in the protection of the endangered San Salvador iguana. The new San Salvador Iguana Conservation Centre, located at the Gerace Research Centre on San Salvador Island in the southern Bahamas, was opened on May 9^th.  The Centre will breed and raise the local iguanas until they are large enough to be safely released in selected areas around the island.  At present, only about 500 of these iguanas cling to a precarious existence on tiny offshore cays and small islets in the inland lake.

In attendance at the opening were representatives from the Island’s Administrator, local conservation organization San Salvador Living Jewels, the Bahamas National Trust, William K. Hayes, Ph.D, of Loma Linda University who partnered with San Salvador Living Jewels and Tom Rothfus of the Gerace Research Center to get the project funded, and project sponsor Seacology.  A representative from the other project sponsor, FCIB FirstCaribbean Bank, was unable to attend but sent remarks.

Seacology, a nonprofit organization based in California, decided to fund the project as it fell in line with their mission of saving endangered species, habitats and cultures of islands throughout the world. Already their efforts have resulted in more than 1.6 million acres of critical habitat being preserved around the world. This is their first project in The Bahamas, but a second in Abaco is already underway. Executive Director Duane Silverstein, who attended the opening says, “It has been said that the sin for which future generations will least forgive us is extinction of species.  Seacology is proud to do its part to keep the San Salvador iguana from vanishing from the face of the earth.”

Their partner in the funding, FCIB FirstCaribbean, saw their support of this project as “further tangible evidence of its commitment to its communities, a promise made back in 2002 when the Bank was formed,” says Marketing Manager Andrea Myers-Tanguay.  The Bank also donates to Junkanoo Groups in The Bahamas and was a major sponsor of the recent Carifta Swimming Championships held in Nassau.

The main iguana exhibition and breeding pen is now complete and ready for visitors, along with an information kiosk. Four females and two lucky males are currently residing in the exhibition and breeding pen. Professor of Biology Dr. William Hayes was, “absolutely amazed at how well adjusted the animals are. They nonchalantly explore their new home, watch us humans with curiosity, and eagerly consume the food provided.” He explains how those animals were chosen for the project, “We selected animals from a single location on Green Cay so that they would be familiar with each other and adjust well socially. They should thrive in their new home as ambassadors for their kind. The females have ovulated, and if not pregnant already, they soon should become so. The main goal of the program is to raise juvenile iguanas to a size large enough where they can fare well upon release to the wild, thereby supplementing the natural population. We foresee this population increasing substantially in the years to come as the result of this new facility, thereby ensuring their survival for future generations of humans to enjoy.”

Of further interest to funders FCIB FirstCaribbean and Seacology was the partnership the project created between science and local conservation. San Salvador Living Jewels is working with the Bahamas National to submit a proposal for a new National Park focusing protecting iguana and sea bird nesting habitat as well as an extensive tidal creek area, which acts as a nursery for a number of important species. Lindsey McCoy, Bahamas field representative for Seacology says, “It is the hope of all of us working together on this project that it will lead to the declaration of a much needed new national park on and around San Salvador.”

A new paper was recently published by a team of Grouper experts led by Yvonne Sadovy de Mitcheson that discusses the threat that grouper species face world wide. You can read a synopsis of the paper here. While the Authors found that the Caribbean and Western Sub-tropical Atlantic were home to the highest percentage of Endangered or Threatened grouper species, the Bahamas was held up as an example of management that has lessened the threat to Nassau grouper. As discussed previously on this blog, Nassau grouper reproduce at large spawning aggregations where  they are often fished to the brink of extinction. Over the past several years the Bahamian Government has helped protect Nassau grouper from fishing on their spawning aggregations by closing the fishery each year by decree during the spawning season. Here’s hoping the Bahamas can continue to be a leader in the conservation of this economically and ecologically important fish.

Bahamian students age 16 or older have the opportunity to join the Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation (BMMRO) in Sandy Point, Abaco for an internship opportunity this summer. BMMRO’s mission is to promote conservation of marine mammals and their habitats through scientific research and educational outreach.

Follow this link for more details and an application form: http://www.bahamaswhales.org/getinvolved/index.html

Get an update on BMMRO’s recent efforts in tracking manatees in The Berry Islands: http://www.bmmro.blogspot.com/

Another research time from UC Davis is arriving this weekend, this one focused
on the importance of seaweed in coastal food webs.  Here is a post about the
work from a couple of months ago.  Looking forward to hearing updates
on their research.  Some cool pictures of the research here.

I am a lot of things, but one of them surely isn’t a boat salvage expert.  Nevertheless,
I have been asked to provide some advice on what to do with the  boat (48′,
I think named the Sea Mint) abandoned in late March
on the rocks in Winding Bay.  Here are my thoughts….

Read the rest of this entry »

Summer 2012 newsletter now can be uploaded from their website.

The Nature Conservancy’s Caribbean Program report here.

The world famous lizard researchers are back on Abaco.  Follow their research updates
here  and here.

Cassiopea resting in a seagrass bed

Jellyfish populations may be on the rise in certain regions of the world, in part due to several human disturbances including the input of human-derived nutrients (i.e., sewage and wastewater). Here in the Bahamas, the ubiquitous but frequently overlooked jellyfish, Cassiopea spp. (also known as the upside-down jellyfish), have been shown to be more abundant and larger in human-impacted environments. Read the rest of this entry »

Story here.