Wild Tobago

In the International Year of the Reef in Trinidad and Tobago, Dr Diva Amon brings us the corals of the deep. Dr Amon is a deep-sea biologist who has explored the deep ocean in Antarctica, the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Caribbean. Her research focuses on what lives in our world’s deep ocean and how we are impacting life down there. You can find out more @divaamon on Twitter and her website https://divaamon.com/ Did you know that most species of coral are actually found in waters so deep that sunlight cannot reach them? Yes, that’s right, contrary to what most of us have been taught, the majority of corals do not live in tropical waters surrounded by colourful fish and bathed in sunlight. In fact, most are found in waters deeper than 50 metres around the world, even in our frigid polar seas. Deepwater corals include many of the same groups seen on shallow reefs, such as stony branching corals, cup corals, octocorals and black corals. There are already over 3000 species know...

At depths that could kill a diver, Dr Judith Gobin explores the deep ocean off Tobago and Trinidad. She talks with Dr Anjani Ganase (Twitter: @AnjGanase) about her adventures on EV Nautilus; and pleads for further scientific exploration and knowledge of these areas before they are destroyed .  “ I’ve always loved the sea. As a little girl, I enjoyed amazing vacations at Mayaro, fascinated by the sea, its animals and fish. Swimming, snorkelling and scuba diving became passions.” Dr. Judith Gobin is a senior lecturer in Marine Biology at the Department of Life Sciences and Deputy Dean for Undergraduate Affairs in the Faculty of Science and Technology, at the University of the West Indies (UWI). Her passion for discovery in the marine environment led her through university and the experience as a summer intern at the Institute of Marine Affairs solidified her career in marine biology. She spent 15 years in marine research at the IMA. Now she has over 35 years of research exp...

There’s more sea than meets the eye off Tobago. Enter the depths with Diva Amon, a deep-sea biologist who has explored the deep ocean in Antarctica, the Atlantic and the Pacific. She has experience in chemosynthetic habitats and anthropogenic impacts on the deep sea. You can find out more via her Twitter ( https://twitter.com/DivaAmon ) and her website ( https://divaamon.com/ ). This feature was first published in the Tobago Newsday on June 22, 2017                     When you imagine Tobago, you see turquoise waters on the shores of beautiful white-sand beaches or glimpses of coral reefs teeming with colourful fishes. Few people ever give thought to what exists further out to sea from Tobago’s coast, where the sea turns from turquoise to deep blue. This is surprising given that most of the ocean surrounding our twin-island state is actually far below the reach of scuba divers; it extends to depths of ...