Last year, I was a marine biology major (I discovered biology was not a strong suit) and I have had a passion for the ocean since I was a little girl. I became scuba diving certified when I was 16 years old. I have since been scuba diving a few times in The Florida Keys and my favorite trip was to The Cayman Islands. I went on a school scuba diving trip with four of my closest friends, including my boyfriend. We dove 2-3 times a day for a week. We enjoyed many dive sites and saw a lot of marine life in our one week trip. On our last dive trip, I heard that the reef near Eden Rock was going to be destroyed to make room for cruise ships ports. I was devastated, it was this very news that encouraged me to delve into environmental activism.
The Cayman Islands have been known for the beauty, such as the coral reefs. Besides their beauty, coral reefs play important roles in the marine ecosystem, such as providing and protecting up to 25 percent of fish in the ocean, controlling the amount of carbon dioxide in the water, and protecting coasts from strong currents and waves by slowing them down. Although coral reefs are on a rapid decline due to warmer ocean temperatures, pollution, and destruction, some still remain near the islands.
Even though the island (Grand Cayman) is generating $9 million a year from tourists, the government of the Grand Cayman Islands is looking into building permanent cruise ship piers for big cruise lines such as Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean International to generate even more tourists. To build ports big enough for these ships would require dredging of the coral reefs. Dredging is the process used to remove sediments and debris from the bottom of bodies of water, and this is necessary to make waterways. In other words, the corals, some of which are on the IUCN Red List as critically endangered, will have to be destroyed to make way for the people who came to see them.
A decline has already been observed in the Cayman Islands. Scientists observed a 40 percent decline in live coral cover from 1999 to 2004 due to increasing in water temperature. The coral reefs have only recently made a miraculous comeback, with the reefs surviving again. They are still in the process of recovery, but with this dredging project, the reefs will be in serious danger and the beauty that attracted people to the island will no longer exist.
Obviously, many tourists and the general public are unaware of the dredging being planned to take place in Cayman. When you get the chance to travel to The Cayman Islands, don't you want to be able to see the pristine beauty and life in the reefs? Well, you're not alone. Many locals in Cayman are in an outrage and completely saddened by the issue. My parents have been in Cayman this past week scuba diving and they were able to dive the reef that will be destroyed in the next few months. They saw local resident fish, sharks and sea turtles. These animals will be homeless and the reef will be destroyed. You can share this post and make people you know aware of what is happening in attempts to stop the dredging plans of Eden Rock in Grand Cayman.
