Read on for program highlights, research results, all-star alumni, sustainable living ideas, and more.
At the beginning of November, researchers at the Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) encountered a pod of three orcas (Orcinus orca) or “killer whales” while surveying beaked whales in the Exuma…
Article and photos by Tamara Dorfer
By Natascha Wosnick Since moving to The Bahamas, I’ve been struck by the number of Bahamians who either dislike or fear sharks—a sentiment that tourists and many expatriates here are…
Dr. Nick Higgs, CEI Director, attended the 29th Assembly of the International Seabed Assembly (ISA) in Jamaica to discuss deep sea protection.
Our Aquaculture Manager, Mia Avril, just returned from a trip to the Grand Bahama Queen Conch Mariculture Centre, which is located at the Blue Action Lab, based at Coral Vita…
The Island School’s Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) is thrilled to introduce a crawfish aquaculture program designed to restock wild populations and pioneer the rearing of crawfish to marketable size. This…
When a student attends The Island School, whether a Deep Creek Middle School Student, a young learner at the Elementary Learning Center, or a Semester student, they are beginning a…
By Natalia Hurtado (Perry Institute for Marine Science & Cape Eleuthera Institute at The Island School) Embrace the Season: Are You a Fan of Summer? For both Bahamians and visitors,…
By Natascha Wosnick, Shark Researcher – Cape Eleuthera Institute at The Island School Among the Bahamas’ remarkable inhabitants, the nurse shark, scientifically known as Ginglymostoma cirratum, holds a special place.…
Scientists from The Island School’s Cape Eleuthera Institute are working to set up a new nursery facility for growing crawfish in South Eleuthera, and they want members of the community…
By Natalia Hurtado (The Island School & Perry Institute for Marine Science) If you’ve ever been diving, snorkeling or spear fishing on a coral reef, you probably noticed corals that…
BAHAMIAN SPINY LOBSTER FISHERY Have you ever eaten a lobster tail at a restaurant like Red Lobster? If so, most likely, you have eaten a Caribbean spiny lobster tail. These…
Students in The Island School Semester participate in a research class, assisting our professional Research Staff with ongoing projects and data collection for a term. Each research class published a…
Reader about how Emilie Geissinger a S08 Semester alumna and 2015 research intern is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. These days she’s traded tropical waters for colder temperatures, and she has The Island School to thank for that!
My name is Dylan Harding, and I am 17 years old and currently a senior in public high school In New York City. For the spring semester of my junior…
Ground-breaking research on the stone crab fishery in The Bahamas has identified an alternative method for claw removal that increases the chances of stone crab survival by nearly 30% once…
By Bronwyn Esterhuizen, Research Scientist On the north coast of the southwestern peninsula in Eleuthera, it’s hard to tell where land ends and sea begins. Mangroves and creek systems extend…
Every summer once the water temperature increases, several reef creatures know it is the time of the year to produce offspring by releasing their reproductive cells or gametes into the water column.
Earlier this month, South Eleuthera experienced a large amount of rain in a short period of time. We’re grateful to break the dry season and begin to receive more rain,…
Stone crabs are found throughout the Caribbean and tropical western Atlantic and are the target of a claw only fishery. Some of the largest stone crab claws come out of…
Fall 2021 Semester students in the permaculture research class commenced their project with the question, ‘What is the most vulnerable portion of our campus landscape to climate impacts and how…
At first glance, this coastal area appears to be nothing more than a mismanaged dumpsite that has been taken over by an invasive species known as Australian Pine (Casuarina equisetifolia). However, one of our interns has been conducting research in the area and found that there is more native diversity here than initially meets the eye. By understanding what plant species are persisting in this stressful environment, we can prioritize our restoration efforts to facilitate the growth of native coastal vegetation that protects our coastlines. The restoration of native plant biodiversity can be a tool to increase coastal resilience and protect coastal communities like ours, to adapt to a changing climate.
“We all have something to learn from each other. While learning more about the ecology of these animals is crucial for their conservation, really understanding the importance of the fishery in the community context is equally as important. Events like Crab Fest are a great way to better grasp the significance of these animals from the stakeholder perspective.”
Research scientists from the Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) at The Island School recovered an underwater sea glider from the Atlantic Ocean. The sea glider is a torpedo-shaped autonomous drone that measures upper ocean characteristics, such as temperature and salinity levels. This data is to improve forecasting for tropical storms and hurricanes in the North Atlantic Ocean.
In urbanized areas and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like The Bahamas, our communities are vulnerable to low or declining agriculture due to soil fertility and management practices, access to capital, and climate change. These factors contribute to local food insecurity and systems of food deserts. Nevertheless, mushroom cultivation provides a direct solution as they can be cultivated on readily available organic waste substrates such as cardboard and paper, spent coffee grounds, and wood chips.
The ultimate goal of this project is to take observational data of the upper ocean to improve hurricane forecasting in the North Atlantic Ocean. There are many partners throughout the Caribbean and North America working in collaboration with NOAA and the University of Miami on this regional project. The glider deployment with CEI is the first done in The Bahamas. This is really important work because The Bahamas is one of the most hurricane prone countries in the North Atlantic due to its location and proximity to Florida. This nation has historically been affected by the four different hurricane types, which develop in different areas in the North Atlantic basin.