Wild Tobago

Corals and sponges have been around for about 500 million years; humans for just about 300,000 years. Will the mass extinction that our species has precipitated see humans returning in a hardier long-surviving form (like the corals)? Or will we go the way of the dinosaur? Dr Anjani Ganase takes the long view of life from its inception in the oceans. Coral or dinosaur? That is the question. After the earth’s violent creation, over 4.5 billion years ago (bya), the next 700 million years were relatively stable as the earth began to cool. Steam turned to rain and the rain filled our oceans. It is also thought that some of our water was imported through a series of bombardments by meteorites. The oceans were much wilder back then, as the moon was much closer, and so the tidal changes were a thousand times more extreme than now. Over time, the moon has moved further away, about 3 cm away from earth every year.  Yet, life on earth did not begin for another billion years. It is t...

In 2016, Jahson Alemu took us to the Buccoo Reef for creatures to represent ‘12 Days of Christmas.’ To celebrate the 2017 season, marine scientist Diva Amon takes us  into the deep ocean! One and half kilometers deep, off the east coast of Trinidad and Tobago, we'll find creatures you can't imagine. Marvel at this Christmas tribute to twelve deep sea inhabitants. There are more wonders lurking in the deep ocean than we know! (All photos courtesy the Ocean Exploration Trust.) On the first day of Christmas One swimming sea cucumber ( Enypniastes eximia) Enypniastes eximia is a deep-sea species of sea cucumber (or holothurian) that, unusually, spends a large portion of its life swimming! On the second day of Christmas Two chimaeras ( Hydrolagus affines ) Hydrolagus chimaeras are also known as spookfish or rabbitfish and are closely related to sharks and rays. They have a venomous spine in front of the dorsal fin. This particular individual als...

Anjani Ganase, Trinbagonian marine biologist, continues her exploration of marine Tobago. In this issue, she considers three islands with coral reef ecosystems: Tobago, Curaçao and Heron Island. This feature was first published in the Tobago Newsday on Thursday, September 8, 2016. Follow Anjani Ganase on twitter: @AnjGanase Between 2009 and 2012, I worked and lived on three islands doing research in marine ecology. Each island had very different marine, terrestrial and social landscapes. Working on these islands taught me the importance of understanding all three aspects in order to implement environmental management and protection. Let’s have a look at these different islands with coral reef ecosystems, and peek into what makes each so special. TOBAGO In the summer of 2009, after graduating with a first degree in marine biology, my first job was in Tobago diving and collecting information on the juvenile turtles that lived on Tobago coral reefs. This was my...