Wild Tobago

Syam Nath leads the Trinidad and Tobago Cetacean Sighting Network (TTCSN) in the growing body of research on Cetaceans (whales, dolphins) in the Caribbean. With a background in bio-acoustics – he studied in Spain and France – he hopes to understand their language. He encourages sightings to be reported to info@ttcsn.org   Marine enthusiasts across the region have been astonished by recent sightings of orcas, also known as killer whales, in the warm Caribbean waters. These sightings challenge traditional beliefs about the habitat preferences of these iconic marine mammals, raising questions about their regional presence.   Eyewitness accounts from various Caribbean islands have documented the presence of orcas, a significant shift from their historically colder water habitats. This phenomenon has led to inquiries regarding their migratory patterns and environmental factors contributing to their presence.   Orcas sighted off St Vincent and the Gr...

  Dr Anjani Ganase, coral reef ecologist, heads to Antarctica on an expedition to look at some of the effects of climate change. She is sailing on the ship Island Sky in a contingent of about 100 women scientists on a quest called Homeward Bound. It is the journey of a lifetime, over 6800 miles (10,960 km) from Trinidad to the Antarctic Circle; in search of collaboration and out-of-the-box thinking about adaptation and resilience.   By the time you are reading this, the Island Sky has left Puerto Madryn on the east coast of Patagonia Argentina and is steaming into the southern Atlantic. A sudden storm kept the boat in port for a day. Our course takes us to the Falkland Islands before heading to the Antarctic Peninsula. It is summer in the southern hemisphere; in the Antarctic Circle, expected daytime temperatures are zero Celsius and nights at -2C to -4C.     Why Antarctica? It’s the other end of the earth; another hemisphere; as far fr...

Theobroma cacao is the seed that saved her life said Sarah Bharath. Now she dedicates herself to teaching others what she learned. How Sarah Bharath became a cocoa consultant and what she has learned from seeds. This is her story as told to Pat Ganase.   I keep a lab/ office in my parents’ home in Central where I was born and grew up with two younger brothers. My Dad was a teacher and we went to primary school where he was teaching, Palmiste Government Primary just beyond Longdenville. My mother was the teacher at home. I moved to St Joseph’s Convent in St Joseph, then went to UWI St Augustine. For my undergrad, I studied Plant Sciences. Professor Julian Duncan and Dr Ralph Phelps made me fall in love with plant science; theirs was an era of true scholarship, one that required you to read for your degree. I am a voracious reader, cultivated by my parents.   The seeds that saved her life, photo by Ricardo Messon “A cow should graze where it’s tied” That’s what a profe...

  The Green Market Santa Cruz opened on Saturday, November 24, 2012. It was the brainchild of Vicki Assevero to use the strip of land on which husband Wendell Mottley had once cultivated orchids, to house a market. This would be a market with a difference: Michael Lee Poy designed open air huts; paths and walkways created; trees and flowering plants were groomed. The market opened with a thatched long hut; a mini cocoa house; a round house and several covered spaces for vendors. The owner of the land adjacent allowed the field to be used for parking cars. The Green Market committee called out friends and family to vend or visit. There was a festive air about those first markets sharpened by the uncertainty of whether it would catch on and grow. Christmas 2012 was a hopeful time and the market thrived with tremendous goodwill from all involved. It was one of the first to be promoted heavily on Facebook, after the fashion of the monthly Upmarket. The Market marks its eleventh yea...