Montserrat Ridge to Reef Project Rory Graham March 2016
CONTENTS 1. Latest news 2. Story of the Month 3. Educational & Community Projects 4. Survey Update 5. Scholarship News 6. Creature of the month
PROJECT AIM The Montserrat Ridge to Reef Conservation Project (MRRCP) is a collaborative project to support the sustainable use of Montserrat s natural resources. The programme encompasses scientific surveys of coral reefs and other marine resources, as well as terrestrial species and habitats focussed primarily in the Centre Hills. The MRRCP provides training and conservation education opportunities for local Montserratians, as part of an integrated programme to develop local capacity and ensure the long-term protection and sustainable use of natural resources throughout the country. Coral Cay Conservation (CCC) is working at the invitation of and in partnership with the Government of Montserrat and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Coral Cay Conservation provides the resources to help sustain livelihoods and alleviate poverty through the protection, restoration and management of coral reefs and tropical forests.
LATEST NEWS A Month of Change for CCC This month we have said good bye to Susan our Project Scientist for the last year after a total of 18 months on the island and her experience will be missed on site and I am sure around the island as a whole. March has also seen the arrival of our first marine volunteers of the year, Ed and Shannon. They have been dive trained and have just passed our skills development program (SDP). This means they can start to undertake in-water surveys on the coral reefs around Montserrat in the coming weeks. This month also saw the return of Herptile surveys as we had enough people trained up on site. This has enabled us to go and survey Herptiles along Foxes Trail; an important site for Underwood s Spectacled Tegu. This is important as very little is known about this species and only recently recorded on Montserrat, the other sites we survey don t support them, so if you are on Foxes trail keep your eyes peeled! Underwood s Spectacled Tegu Finally, how could we go through the month of March without getting into the Irish spirit. The staff and volunteers went to the St Patricks Parade on the 17 th of March, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. For everyone involved it was a once in a lifetime experience and we will share it around the world, getting more people to appreciate just how special and unique Montserrat is. St Patrick s Festival in Salem Pictures: Rory Graham
STORY OF THE MONTH We are back in the water With the change of season, Coral Cay is finally back in the water. This month we have trained two volunteers to PADI Advanced Open Water, put them through the marine SDP and starting this week, they will be surveying in the water. Along with training, the team has managed to fit in a few recreational dives to show all the new faces (myself included) Lime Kiln Bay and our permanent transect that the volunteers will start their surveying on later in the week. Sea Anemone on Lime Kiln Picture: Rory Graham Lime Kiln has become our house reef partly due to the location in relation to the Taj and because of the shallow waters it can act as a good starting point for new divers. It is also where we place our data logger that records water temperature and light intensity. This data can be used in conjunction with the survey data we collect to determine possible links between the ecological status of the coral reef, its cover and accompanying physical data. Everyone enjoys a recreational dive for a change and appreciates being on the reef, exploring all the nooks and crannies for life, as you can see we were successful with Anemones and Spiny Lobsters. Spiny Lobster under its ledge on Lime Kiln Picture: Rory Graham Shannon enjoying her first recreational dive on Lime Kiln Picture: Rory Graham
EDUCATIONAL & COMMUNITY PROJECTS Godzilla and Crustaceans at the Library in Brades Our library sessions during March were both successes, the first being about crustaceans and the second focusing on all the endemic species found on the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean. The first session was run by our SO Tom and went down extremely well as he explained the differences between true crabs and porcelain crabs amid other things. Following this, the children s imagination was apparent during a craft session resulting in the construction of some amazing crustaceans. By playing a game, the children could collect various parts for their crustacean creations that ended with crabs with 8 eyes and 15 legs, ready to take over whatever reef they saw, not something I would want to mess with! Tom should be proud of all the work he put in, making all the individual crab parts and creating the game, ensuring a brilliant experience for the children. The second of March s library workshop was run by Peta and it was the perfect opportunity to show the marine volunteers what we do at the library. Peta s presentation was on many endemic species that can be found on Montserrat, ranging from the national bird (the Montserrat Oriole) to the Leeward Racer. Peta and the kids with all the endemic species Picture: Rory Graham The following craft session was a make your own endemic species out of play-dough. The entire CCC team was involved in making the play dough and it worked out well. An eclectic array of play-dough models were produced from volcanos to coral and even Godzilla! The library session was also the perfect time to show how the science team would fit in at Hogwarts. Marissa, our terrestrial volunteer is under the impression every British person must fit into the Harry Potter world somehow, and well, looking at the picture, it s hard to argue. As ever, thanks to the staff at Brades Public Library for helping us run these sessions, ZJB radio for getting the word out and the kids themselves for turning up, along with the associated parents and guardians who are quite willing to lend a hand! The magical science team (no SO s were scarred in the making of this picture) Picture: Marissa DeSandoli
SURVEY UPDATE Survey background: The only comprehensive survey of Montserrat s coral reefs and other marine resources to date was carried out prior to the eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano. CCC will be conducting enhanced Reef Check surveys around the island to provide an overview of the current status of the coral reefs of Montserrat and map marine habitats. Terrestrial survey work will build on research carried out during the Centre Hills Project (2005-2008) and focus on three main areas: 1) mapping invasive plant species; 2) surveys of resident and migrant birds; 3) reptile and amphibian surveys. If you would like more information on our surveying please contact our Project Scientist. Marine Surveys The new volunteers are currently undertaking SDP training and hopefully by the start of April we should be ready to start surveying again, we will keep you posted on the progress we make and where we are going. Terrestrial Surveys All throughout March, daily terrestrial surveys have been taking place. Our terrestrial volunteer Marissa has a specific knack for spotting Antillean Crested Hummingbirds along with Tarantulas during the day time, which is rare as they tend to stay in their burrow during the day. Towards the end of March there was much excitement on site as we had seen the first Royal Tern of the year, a bird which has been likened to Danny DeVito due to its intriguing hair-like marking. And just recently the whole team saw two of them down at Isles Bay. The Antillean Crested Hummingbird (Orthorhyncus cristatus) Picture: Charles Sharp At the request of the Department of the Environment, we have started Herptiles surveys on Foxes Trail to determine if sightings of Underwood s Spectacled Tegu were true. Just going up Foxes trail to the proposed site Susan and myself saw at least 7. So when we undertook the first survey more were recorded, confirming their presence on this part of the island. These small reptiles are poorly understood and any data we can gather on them is useful in understanding the species as a whole and hopefully aid in their future conservation. Scientific reports from all of CCC s sites around the world are available on our website at http://www.coralcay.org/science-research/scientific-reports
SCHOLARSHIP NEWS Each month CCC offers Montserratian nationals who display an ambition to study and protect the vital natural ecosystems of Montserrat an opportunity to take part in one of our Conservation Scholarships. The programmes last for one month and involve training the student in SCUBA diving or jungle skills. They then take part in an intensive Skills Development Programme giving them the knowledge and expertise to conduct ecological surveys. We are currently working with the team from Island Divers to get them through our marine scholarship programme as they were eager to learn more about the sea and the bounty of life found within. We also have some perspective terrestrial and marine scholars hopefully starting in April, so watch this space! The 'Coral Cay Conservation Scholarship Awards' are available to any suitable Montserratian national wishing to make an active contribution towards the protection and sustainable use of their natural resources. COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT WORKSHOPS: A one-day course in which participants are trained in snorkeling, identification of reef invertebrates, major fish and coral groups; as well as learning about coral reef ecology, threats to the marine environment and potential management options through a series of lectures and case studies. REEF CONSERVATION SCUBA AWARD: An intensive four-week course in which participants are certified to PADI Advanced Open Water level, trained in the identification of over 300 marine life forms and in the methods for scientific surveying of coral reef ecosystems. TERRESTRIAL CONSERVATION AWARD: An intensive four week course in which participants receive training in tropical forest skills, tropical forest ecology and biology, forest ecosystems and forest species identification including birds, reptiles, amphibians and invasive plant species, as well as terrestrial survey techniques. If you would like to apply for the CCC Marine Conservation Scholarship programme or learn more about it, please visit: http://www.coralcay.org/volunteer/scholarship-opportunities
CREATURE OF THE MONTH Great Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) These roaming predators can reach 6ft long and can be seen all year round on the reefs of Montserrat. In just 2 weeks of diving our two marine volunteers Ed and Shannon have seen 4 of these on different occasions. They have a characteristic under bite and the teeth are usually visible. These fish are very curious and will approach divers, this however is peaceful and they usually just want to have a good look at you as there has never been any reports of unprovoked attacks. Like most things if you leave them alone, you will be fine so keep a look out for these incredible fish. Great Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) Picture: Tom Weigall