Wild Tobago

Anjani Ganase, marine scientist, proposes a different way of looking at the world. “To think big, we first need to see the small things,” she says, as she looks into the ocean. What is the most abundant group of organisms in the oceans, and why do they matter? When I first started my degree in Marine Biology, I - like many others – was excited to begin exploring the world of fish, crabs, critters, whales and even sharks. To my surprise, we had to begin with the smallest of things, the foundation of all ecosystems, understanding the microbial universe. Microscopic organisms, although we can’t see them, are crucial for life and are constantly providing us with all essentials nutrients and removing our waste, they are the cogs in the wheel of life. Microorganisms are invisible to the naked eye and typically constituted of single-celled entities. Furthermore microorganisms are everywhere, yes everywhere! They can be found in deep scalding undersea volcanic vents and even on the s...

Jeffrey Wong Sang is a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists Club and an amateur mycologist who chose to study fungi to fill a gap that has long existed in the local biodiversity of Trinidad and Tobago. He is the administrator of only local Facebook group “Mushrooms of Trinidad and Tobago" with a following of just over 800. His current objective is to raise awareness of the existence of the mushrooms and share his knowledge. To encourage others to appreciate our mushrooms, his goal is to have this country’s first Mushroom Museum. Mushroaming you ask? Yes, it is one’s ability to walk in nature and relax and explore whilst looking for mushrooms. A mushroom can be defined as the fruiting body of a fungus, and the world’s largest living organism, is a honey fungus in the Blue Mountains in Oregon stretching 2.4 miles. Orange veiled lady (Phallus multicolor) sparked the fascination with mushrooms All photos courtesy Jeffrey Wong Sang Oyster mushroom (...