Wind and waves

December 6

 Our original plan for today was to snorkel in the morning and meet with local fishermen in the afternoon. The last two days have been windy, and the ocean side of the reef has had impressive waves, but yesterday the stalwart boat captain was able to take us out to snorkel on sections of the reef. Today, however, the wind was fierce with overcast skies and periodic heavy rain.  The combination of wind and waves can reduce visibility in the water quite a lot, making snorkeling less productive. More importantly, it introduced safety hazards. As the captain said, getting off the boat into the water isn’t difficult, but trying to climb back in can be a real problem on a heaving sea! 

While all conservation efforts have some effect on the nearby communities, it is particularly true for coastal communities and their fishermen.  The policies are designed to ensure that their catch species will be sustained for future generations, but there are consequences to the current generation. This afternoon we were to meet with local fishermen to understand how the conservation policies (protected zones, size limits on catch, prohibited fishing methods like long lines) affected them. Unfortunately another consequence of the poor weather was that these local fishermen headed back to shore. 

For all of those reasons, today was a quiet day on shore, getting to know more about WCS global conservation programs and getting to know our fellow travelers better. 

The Wildlife Conservation Society has been in existence since 1895, initially as the New York Zoological Society.  They have had a time in conservation from the beginning, when Theodore Roosevelt brought bison to the Bronx Zoo to save them from extinction. WCS has the world’s largest network of urban wildlife parks, and for those of us that live in the NYC area or who have watched “The Zoo”, that is what we think when we hear “WCS”. 

WCS has the largest on-the-ground global field team of any conservation NGO. They currently operate in 57 countries and have a role in maintaining over 600 protected areas (both marine and terrestrial) around the world. As noted yesterday, they work in partnership with governments, private entities and local communities, driving policy based on deep field research. 

We were particularly fascinated by the work WCS is doing in Congo, in an area with few people and good concentrations of western lowland gorillas, chimpanzees and other species. The infrastructure for eco-tourism doesn’t exist yet. WCS works with local communities and local mining interests to enable the local economy while reducing damage to the environment or the animals within it. Tough, strategic work far from the public eye. 

The wind quieted down in the late afternoon and we were able to do a little birding. After dinner several of us went out on the eastern docks to look for fish in the lagoon—- several enormous tarpons, a scorpion fish and an eagle ray all put in appearances.  Of course the wind picked up again to make photography a challenge!

Pictured: an iguana from Middle Caye yesterday, yellow-throated warbler, scorpionfish, eagle ray, and a glimpse of todays weather.