Wild Tobago

Dr. Anjani Ganase considers the latest ocean research. Microplastics are everywhere. Some mussels are adapting. Corals continue to lose as the climate changes. Our ocean is a vast and wild place with much more to be discovered. Ocean research may seem irrelevant to our day to day lives but the knowledge we obtain from studying the deepest darkest places and the teeny tiniest organisms have significant implications to our climate, health and wellbeing. Let’s delve into some of the latest research. Targeted research may focus on a handful of species within a location but these studies are the building blocks for regional and global understanding to guide policy and management. World War II mussels Mussel beds off Dillon Beach in Northern California continue to thrive even under climate change. This is what a group of University of California students was able to discover when they came across an unpublished report of a survey of the mussel beds from 1941, during ...

Joanne Husain visits a bean to bar chocolate house on the other side of the world. All photos by Joanne Husain   On the eve of Solomon Islands 46th Independence day (July 7), we set out early from our hotel in the capital of Honiara on a sunny Saturday morning. Roadside and seaside markets are already brimming with vendors and vibrant energy. The air is alive with excited chatter as people proudly display national colours, and flags adorn cars and buildings in preparation for the multi-island nation’s Independence Day parade. As we journey eastward to our destination - the Amazing Grace Boutique Cocoa Farm - the lively scenes of Honiara quickly give way to humble wooden and thatched structures among lush greenery.   Grace Fekau turns beans to ensure even drying. Photo by Joanne Husain Turning south off the main road means embarking on a rugged mountain ascent. Instead we turn north onto a flat dirt road that eventually leads to Tenaru Beach. As we mak...

The best way to understand and love the ocean is to be in it. Anjani Ganase encourages youngsters, and their parents, to explore the sea, starting at the edges. All photos by Anjani Ganase You do not have to be a swimmer to explore the ocean. Start on the beach, where the ocean meets the land, in the mangroves and at rocky intertidal pools. Most beaches and bays of Tobago are lined by rocky shores with tidal rock pools to explore. My favourite and the most developed rocky pool system is at Rocky Point in Mt Irvine. Here some rock pools are interconnected with deeper water channels that can be explored if you want to snorkel. In these rock pools, you are likely to find crabs scurrying over the rocks, barnacles, mussels, maybe tiny fish, an octopus and sometimes corals, algae and sponges. My favourite shore for exploring tide pools is at Rocky Point, Mt Irvine. Photo by Anjani Ganase   During low tide on calm days, I have explored the tide pools of Arnos Vale a...

Anjani Ganase considers “no take” regulations for our marine protected areas, and makes a wish for a more eco-prosperous marine Tobago in 2025   This is a story about two marine areas, Buccoo Reef Marine Park, Tobago, and CROP Marine Reserve, New Zealand. Buccoo Reef Marine Park is seven square kilometres off southwest Tobago composed of coral reefs, seagrasses, mangroves. The Cape Rodney to Okakari Point (CROP) Marine Reserve is in New Zealand, a five km stretch of coast with four square kilometres of marine space north of Auckland. Both areas were designated marine protected areas in the 1970s: CROP Marine Reserve in 1971 and Buccoo in 1973. Both areas are regularly visited for sun, sea, swim and snorkel activity. However, the marine reserve in New Zealand was declared a “no take” zone and protected from all forms of fishing. Fifty years later each area tells very different stories.   Buccoo lagoon corals before they died from the 2024 mass bleachin...