Buccoo Reef is my backyard
An adventure to Buccoo Reef Marine Park takes us on board one of the iconic glass-bottom boats to peer into an utterly unique ecosystem and to meet the people whose lives are integrated with this environment. Pat Ganase visits Buccoo Reef and talks with Edgar Johnson (his words in italics below). We meet the boat at Buccoo. Solo Amor is bright with fresh paint on the jetty. No waves ruffle the calm of the bay. It’s late July. Brief daily showers cool the air. The Orinoco is not yet running in flood. Sky and sea off Tobago are clear. We board and find seats around the boxes that are picture frames to the sand bottom. As we motor out to the edge of the Buccoo Reef Marine Park, designated for protection since 1973, the underwater world comes alive. Corals, sea fans, fish and the occasional ray shimmy across our glass screens. Edgar Johnson, captain of the Solo Amor, talks about the ocean backyard where he grew up. This area on the toe of Tobago includes Pigeon Point, ...