Wild Tobago

Dr Stanton Belford is a Trinidadian marine scientist from Temple Street, Arima who is an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator, Biology at Martin Methodist College in Tennessee USA.   One of his significant research studies is on the reefs of Toco. Until he can bring his students back to visit Buccoo Reef and the Caroni Bird Sanctuary, he believes that residents of Tobago and Trinidad should become familiar with these well-loved assets. Photos courtesy Dr Stanton Belford   Recently I saw Dr. Anjani Ganase, Associate Member of SpeSeas, speaking to The Now Morning Show (TTT) and The Morning Brew (TV6) about public online access to a 360-degree viewing of coral reefs in Tobago through the Maritime Ocean Collection website. I was ecstatic, because now I could sit at my computer in Tennessee, whilst viewing corals, fishes, and other organisms located in Tobago. How can we learn more about the vast oceans, whilst not being able to visit our beaches? ...

Dr Anjani Ganase talks with Dr Stanton Belford about the coral reefs at Toco, different from Tobago but in need of protection. This is also Trinidad’s only reef system. Dr Stanton Belford grew up on Temple Street, Arima, while spending most of his childhood traveling between Arima and Blanchisseuse where his father’s family lived. This was Stanton’s first introduction to life underwater in the ocean and in the rivers and streams of the Northern Range. When he was not riding the waves on the north coast, he was catching fish and crab in nearby streams. Nature encouraged his passion for research in biology, particularly the marine environments of northeast Trinidad, which he was fortunate to experience when he was in high school. “In 1993-94, Dr. Carol Draper took the biology sixth form class from Arima Senior Comprehensive School to do a survey of the patchy coral reefs at Toco. This essentially was the major spark for my interest in marine science. It wa...