Category Archives: Outreach

Fall 2014 IS/CEI Symposium Focuses on Outreach

December 8, 2014 ceiblogger

Symposium 1 — The Island School student Peter Knudsen explains the role of coastal development in increasing pollutant runoff to a group of visiting children.

The Island School and Cape Eleuthera Institute Research Symposium was held last Saturday, November 29. As with previous years, The Island School students prepared scientific posters about their Applied Research Class projects, which they presented to Symposium guests. Some students also manned stations in the wet lab, showing guests how their experiments were run in real time.

Attendees then had the chance to tour the Center for Sustainable Development, and learn about the sustainable systems on campus, such as the wind turbine, the solar panels, and the biodiesel. After the tours, guests moved on to the boathouse, where students had set up games aimed at outreach and conservation. Continue reading →

Lionfish, Outreach

Slayer Campaign Launches Year-Round

December 2, 2014 ceiblogger

nehemiah lionfish — Deep Creek fisherman Nehemiah surfaces after spearing a lionfish off the Cape. With CEI and The Island School purchasing lionfish from fishermen year-round, it is hoped that pressure will increase on these venomous, voracious, prolific, but delicious fish.

After its initial trial launch in April of this year and a successful 4-month run, the CEI Lionfish Research and Education Program’s “You Slay, We Pay” campaign has now been re-launched, this time permanently and year-round. CEI and The Island School will be buying lionfish from local fishermen for the price of $11/lb for scaled fillets and $5/lb for whole fish. This effort to increase demand for the invaders coincides with an increased effort to disseminate information to local fishermen regarding safe handling of the fish; knowledge of spine locations, best treatment of stings, and easy ways to de-spine the fish will hopefully aid fishermen targeting them. Continue reading →

Educational Programs, Outreach, Sustainable Systems

Lyford Cay ‘Take Action’ Projects Get Inspiration from CEI Visit

November 27, 2014 ceiblogger

Lyford Cay permaculture farm — Students worked in the CEIS farm in order to better understand permaculture as a potential sustainable solution for their communities.

Last week, a group of grade 8 students from the Lyford Cay International School flew over from Nassau to visit the Cape Eleuthera Island School. These sixteen students made it their mission to develop an idea for their year-long Take Action projects. The projects, focused on environmental stewardship, look to empower the students to push for sustainable solutions to the problems which plague their school or community. Over their three-day visit, the students focused on learning about alternative energy, water conservation, waste and plastics pollution, and permaculture.

Shortly after their arrival, students were exposed to the CEIS’s renewable energy systems during a tour of campus. Then, with the help of sustainability teacher Mike Cortina, the students explored different ways we harness energy from our environment here on campus: solar thermal to heat water as well as photovoltaic and wind to create electricity. The students were also introduced to biodiesel production, one of the crown jewels of our alternative energy systems. Continue reading →

Educational Programs, Outreach

Lyford Cay Students Explore Sustainability

November 13, 2014 ceiblogger

Conch flared lip caliper Lyfor Cay — Lyford Cay grade 12 student Sean Blyden uses calipers to measure the thickness of the flared lip on a queen conch. This indicates maturity and can be used to assess the sustainability of conch harvest around Cape Eleuthera.

In the last week of October, CEI welcomed Lyford Cay International School’s two classes for their annual visit.

Denise Mizell, a science teacher at Lyford Cay, brought grade 10 to CEIS for some hands-on learning about sustainability. Students discussed the positive impacts they can each individually have on the natural world around them. Activities exploring research areas in aquaponics and permaculture opened the students’ eyes to how difficult and often damaging it is to pull resources from the natural world. The kids were challenged to think of ways they can better improve resource management on their own campus. Snorkeling, exploring Eleuthera’s caves, and climbing the Banyan tree reinforced this idea of sustainability and inspired students to become passionate about their world and how to protect it. Continue reading →

Flats, Lionfish, Outreach, Sea turtles, Sustainable Fisheries

Intern Update: Cassidy Edwards Gets Her Hands Dirty at CEI

November 11, 2014 ceiblogger

Here is a update from Bahamian intern, Cassidy Edwards, who has been working with the Turtles, Lionfish, Sustainable Fisheries, and Flats teams:

Being here at CEI a few weeks, I got to do some amazing things that I hope will benefit research. On my first day, I went out to sea to retrieve BRUVs (Baited Remote Underwater Videos) with Eddie from the Turtle team. I got my first surprise of the day by pulling up a baby octopus. He wanted to stay stuck to the boat, but we let him free and he thanked us with ink. As the days passed, I began to help with setting BRUVs, and analyzing them, which was interesting. What I saw was spectacular; who’d have thought a crab and remora would be fighting for food!

Most of my days were spent in the field, placing BRUVs and doing turtle abundance surveys, or sometimes both. I even got to tag turtles for a study on juvenile turtle habitat use and body condition. As I continue here, I hope to tag more turtles and actually catch one. Continue reading →

Lionfish, Outreach

First-Ever Bahamian Lionfish Jewelry Making and Awareness Workshop a Huge Success

October 31, 2014 ceiblogger

Lionfish fins swimming — The invasive lionfish, Pterois volitans and P. miles, is noted for its characteristic brightly colored fins and venomous spines.

The lionfish, an invasive predator from the Indo Pacific currently wreaking havoc on Caribbean and South American coral reef fish populations, was first introduced to the region through the exotic aquarium trade. These beautiful carnivorous fish have characteristic orange and red stripes, spotted and striped pelvic and caudal fins, and flamboyantly colored wide-spreading pectoral fins, which they use to corral prey. These fins, though possibly to blame as the instigators of the devastating invasion, are now offering a new way to help control the rampant spread of the predatory fish. Continue reading →

Aquaponics, Educational Programs, Outreach, Sustainable Systems

South Eleuthera Primary Schools Explore Marine Invertebrates & Sustainable Systems

October 29, 2014 ceiblogger

Green Castle primary EP — Green Castle students discussing characteristics and adaptations of the invertebrates found.

Green Castle Primary School’s teacher, Ms. Mary Thompson, brought her class of students in grades 5 & 6 for a marine invertebrate and snorkel trip at the Cape Eleuthera Institute last Tuesday. Students first discussed 4 common invertebrate phyla they might find: cnidarians, echinoderms, porifera, and mollusks. Then they headed out to snorkel off the beach! This was an exciting trip for students who examined the different invertebrates we found such as cushion sea stars, a brittle star, juvenile conch, a sea anemone, rose coral, and even a little periwinkle.

EP Local schools — (Top) Wemyss Bight students are excited after winning a sustainability competition. (Bottom) Green Castle students pose for a group shot after snorkeling.

On Wednesday, Ms. Nathalie Sweeting with Wemyss Bight Primary grade 4 came for a trip to explore some of the sustainable systems on campus. Students started off reviewing the differences between renewable and nonrenewable resources. Then the class headed out to various systems around campus so that they could see these concepts in action. Their first stop was the dining hall cistern to measure how much water we had at the time and to talk about water conservation. Then they headed over to the wind turbine and solar panels to discuss some of the differences between how we get our energy and where they get theirs at home. A highlight for students was the aquaponics system where sustainability teacher, Adam Dusen, caught a few Tilapia and described how the system works to produce fish and hydroponically grown plants for consumption in the dining hall. It was great to get a close-up look at the unique system. Continue reading →

Outreach, Research Programs, Sharks

Third BREEF Sea Camp, Governor’s Harbour, August 2014

September 30, 2014 ceiblogger

Dr. Owen O’Shea, Associate Researcher with the Shark Research and Conservation Program at The Cape Eleuthera Institute, recently visited the Haynes Library in Governor’s Harbour to deliver a talk on sharks and rays to around 40 young people and members of the Bahamas Reef Environment Education Foundation (BREEF). In his 90-minute presentation, Dr. O’Shea covered important aspects of shark ecology and biology in The Bahamas and held an open discussion on why sharks and rays are so important for ecosystem function.

Owen O'Shea BREEF conference — Dr. Owen O’Shea speaks about the importance of sharks and rays.

The children that took part in this sea camp were aged between 8-14 and were all captivated by the images, videos and stories that Owen shared with them. “They were all so knowledgeable about the sharks in these waters,” said Owen afterwards, “it was remarkable that a group of young people were aware of the global pressures facing this group of species and wonderful to hear that many intended on applying for CEI Shark Program internships in the future.”

“Delivering outreach is an essential tool for scientists’ working at CEI and this was no exception,” added Owen. “I certainly think there were many future marine scientists sat in the audience.”

Conch, Lionfish, Outreach, Sustainable Fisheries

CEI hands out free lionfish at Deep Creek’s Conch Fest

June 30, 2014 ceiblogger

Prepping lionfish to hand out as samples

This year, CEI had a booth at Deep Creek’s Homecoming, called Conch Fest, that was geared towards promoting sustainable fisheries. The team was frying up lionfish samples, so local community members can sample the invasive fish that is abundant on the reefs, but also delicious to eat. The team was also promoting the “You slay, we pay” campaign, where fishermen can bring in lionfish, fillets or whole fish, to sell to CEI. The goal is to create a market for lionfish on Eleuthera.

Aside from free fish, the team also had a board with conservation trivia, hoping to dispel some common misconceptions. For example, do green turtles eat conch? The answer is no! Green turtles eat plant material like turtlegrass, and their serrated jaw is perfect for this type of diet.

The booth was open for two nights, and hundreds of lionfish samples were handed out. Thanks to everyone who participated, and the team enjoyed the opportunity to spread the word about the invasive lionfish and what we can do to help (Eat them!).

Members of CEI promoting sustainable fisheries at Conch Fest 2014

Outreach

CEI participates in local Earth Day event

May 26, 2014 ceiblogger

To celebrate Earth Day and coastal awareness month, One Eleuthera Foundation (OEF) held an environmentally-themed festival. “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle- Respect Mother Earth” was the theme for this day of celebration. OEF partnered with a number of non-profit organizations, local craft vendors, local businesses and government departments. The goal of this event was to bring about awareness, to educate, and to demonstrate alternatives.

Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) was represented by Tamanji Bethel and Giltavia Goodman (Deep Creek Middle School Student), who presented on the invasive species of the ocean and worm compost. For lionfish, the message is that lionfish are here to stay! CEI continues to educate Eleutheran communities about lionfish, to create a market for the fish, and take some pressure off of overfished creatures like conch and grouper.

The team also talked about the plus side of worm composting, as a way to farm that is both healthy and sustainable.

There are many environmentally friendly ways to live and CEI is on the move to a greener earth. Many people visited the CEI booth, were engaged and left with new information. CEI will continue outreach, and connecting and changing the communities one topic at a time.

Education, Research, Outreach