Wild Tobago

In the quest to restore damaged and degraded coral reefs, Dr Anjani Ganase and her team have undertaken an approach to research reef types and to allow, as far as possible, nature’s process to lead the way.   The first time that I observed coral spawning was in Curaçao in 2010 during my Master’s research internship. My dive buddy and I - both Master’s candidates at the CARMABI Research Station - were invited to join a team collecting sperm and eggs from Elkhorn corals. Although coral spawning had been observed since the 1980s, scientists were still figuring out the best methods for culturing coral larvae in the lab in order to study the early life history of coral species and for the purpose of coral restoration. Coral spawning refers to the release of coral gametes (sperm and eggs) of the corals into the water column where they mix and fertilize. The coral larvae form and swim down to the reef to settle and grow. This happens seasonally timed by environmenta...

Water, the ocean, the medium for life, connects us all. Let it not divide us. Dr Anjani Ganase, marine scientist, looks into appreciating water connectivity for maintaining healthy reefs around Tobago in the International Year of the Reef 2018. (Follow her on Twitter: @AnjGanase ). First published in the Tobago Newsday, Thursday 12th April, 2018 The connectivity of the ocean facilitates processes such as exchange and transport of essential material (nutrients, oxygen and carbon dioxide), the migration of organisms and the dispersal of seeds and offspring between habitats. It allows marine turtles that hatch on our shores to hang out on reefs on other islands and to travel to other oceans. Whales, which prefer to raise their pups in warm waters, may grace us with Caribbean visits. Ocean connectivity allows coral reefs to be repopulated by fish and invertebrates from neighbouring reefs and from other habitats such as mangrove nurseries and seagrass beds. Reef views of Angel re...