A Cayman Islands marine scientist taking part in a six-week deep sea expedition says the waters off her home nation have surpassed expectations.
Kelly Forsythe is Cayman’s lead for the Blue Belt expedition, called ‘Beyond the Reef’, which is conducting research into marine ecosystems around three of the UK’s overseas territories.
The team, aboard the RRS James Cook, spent two weeks in Anguilla and another two in the Turks and Caicos Islands before arriving in Cayman on 13 February.
Forsythe was joined by fellow scientists from the Cayman Islands Department of Environment, and alongside UK and Caribbean crew members, has since been researching water quality and marine habitats around the islands.
After her time in Anguilla and the Turks and Caicos, Forsythe said she “couldn’t wait to discover the mysteries from our own waters”.
And she wasn’t disappointed. “Cayman has surpassed my expectations!” the marine biologist told Cayman Independent.
“I started my career inspired by the nearshore marine environment I could see, but what we’ve discovered on our offshore banks and ridges has further ignited my passion to conserve and protect what we have.
“We’re blessed to have some incredibly productive and healthy ecosystems, and this has been evident in what we’ve been seeing.”
Forsythe said a positive number and diversity of primary consumers, like shrimp and krill, were collected from the nets and apex predators, like Cuban dogfish and Caribbean reef sharks, captured on camera.
This tells the story of a “well-balanced marine ecosystem, that supports incredible biodiversity from the seabed to the seabirds”, she said.
She added that one of the most surprising discoveries so far was the significant differences in the offshore banks.
“They often get lumped together but they are all different sizes, depths and are home to some very different environments.
“Lawford’s Bank is large, relatively shallow, flat and very sandy which lots of starfish, urchins and anemones.
“In comparison, Pickle Bank has beautiful, healthy, mesophotic reefs on top (with some of the largest barrel sponges I’ve ever seen) and quickly drops off to a sand-dominant environment with lots of rocky ledges and lettuce-looking coral, which is where we’ve spotted some of our deep water snappers.”
The expedition comes to an end today, 25 February, and to mark its completion the crew are inviting the general public to the ‘Cayman Crew at the Port Call Party’ from 5:30pm to 8pm at the Village Café, Governors Village.
The free event, which is suitable for all ages, will offer the chance to hear first-hand from the Cayman crew and ask questions.
There will also be the opportunity to view selected specimens taken from Cayman waters that will then remain on the islands long-term.
There is no need to register, visitors can just turn up.
