Sunday, June 8. 2008
Year of the Reef and Coral Spawning in the British Virgin Islands
With it being the Year of the Reef, and additionally, environmental month here in the BVI, there is all kinds of information being published on reefs. Do you know that I recently read that they have now done studies that say that all the suntan block that we are using is harming the reefs as well!
Shannon Gore, A Marine Biologist at Conservation and Fisheries here in the BVI has been, besides her "regular" work, writing articles every month on various topics for the BVI Yacht Guide on various topics. Here is a PDF of the latest article Ancient Reefs
In her never ending dig for material, she put some research into the coral spawning which takes place every summer and came up with some loose predictions on when we might see some here in the BVI!
She will have a article coming out in the BVI Yacht Guide August Issue, called "Sex on the Reef" and NO, that is not the same things as some of our naughty guests try and sneak away to do!!
I quote from her email here:
I came across a literature review on all published papers dealing with spawning dates and pulled out all the broadcast corals with information on exact dates in which spawning has occured in Puerto Rico in the past. Here is a link to some of the research materialThese are based on 7-8 days after the full moon in July, Aug & Sept. (Most people think it is only in Aug!) Other areas in the Caribbean are very close to the same dates so I figured the BVI would be during the same times. So here is what I have come up with (coral species specific) - these are only predictions!!!! but based on the scientific literature. Warmer than normal water temps may change all this of course. I would suggest 6-8 days after the 1st full moon in each month and plan on somewhere between 8-11pm (most occurences were around 9:30).
Elkhorn coral 25-26 July and/or 22-24 August
Boulder brain coral 23 Aug - 9pm
Symetrical brain coral 25-Jul and/or 23 Aug; 8-9pm
Boulder star coral 23 Aug; 9:30-11pm and/or 22-Sep
Great star coral 25-Jul and/or 23-Aug and/or 22-Sep
Pillar coral 23-Aug
Massive starlet coral 25-Jul and/or 23-Aug and/or 22-Sep
So if you intend to be diving in the Caribbean at any of those times, or if you are not, maybe you should! then take the opportunity to see what you can find. I will be down there with my trusty camera for the end of August and September ones for sure!
Drop off and pick up and we are on the Dock!
A very busy day for us today! We have dropped off one group and have picked up our next group this afternoon, makes for a challenge and stops life from getting boring!
We had a fabulous week with the last family, they were all really great, they left us some fabulous comments in our guest book too:
This has been a wonderful vacation for all our family. Your gracious service - from food to dingy - has been extra special. Lisa, Richard, "Mister B" have all added joy to our celebration of our anniversary. You are all very special people! Snorkelling was especially fine and the Predator for the grand children was such fun. Thank you so much!!!
Richard, Lisa, Brent - thank you for an awesome trip. We loved all of it! The boat, the snorkeling, the food and the crew are all wonderful!
Fantastic trip! All of you were so fun, warm, informative and great at picking fab sites for snorkeling!
Wow!!! What a trip!! Lisa, Rich and Brent, you guys are awesome! Thanks for all the laughs and good times, I haven't had this much fun in a long time..... Thanks for showing me the way with free diving, every time I hold my breathe I will think of you all!!!!
The boat was scrubbed, polished and made to look pretty in record speed today, we were actually on the dock at Village Cay which was quite novel! It was also rather exciting as I had a fabulous lady called Dora, who helped me out with the cleaning! It was like Christmas. I could get used to this Kerry!
We had a pretty boat next to us that me and Rich quite liked
Today is also mine and Rich’s 5th anniversary, he managed to buy me flowers while on a very short turn around, he got big brownie points I tell you!
In record time and 30 minutes early, we picked up our next group! An unusual arrival picture today!
We quickly got them settled aboard and headed off, away from the hot dock and some where they could have some fun. We got a new captain on the way, who did a fabulous job
We headed over to Little Harbour and they were all off swimming and snorkeling as the engines were turned off
We managed to fit in a huge snorkel, cocktails and dinner, here they are at there first meal
I was impressed with my desert so that got a picture too, the kiwi fruit is a beach on a kahlua sea and the strawberry is a sail of a boat! I think I need to get out more!
We had a fabulous week with the last family, they were all really great, they left us some fabulous comments in our guest book too:
This has been a wonderful vacation for all our family. Your gracious service - from food to dingy - has been extra special. Lisa, Richard, "Mister B" have all added joy to our celebration of our anniversary. You are all very special people! Snorkelling was especially fine and the Predator for the grand children was such fun. Thank you so much!!!
Richard, Lisa, Brent - thank you for an awesome trip. We loved all of it! The boat, the snorkeling, the food and the crew are all wonderful!
Fantastic trip! All of you were so fun, warm, informative and great at picking fab sites for snorkeling!
Wow!!! What a trip!! Lisa, Rich and Brent, you guys are awesome! Thanks for all the laughs and good times, I haven't had this much fun in a long time..... Thanks for showing me the way with free diving, every time I hold my breathe I will think of you all!!!!
The boat was scrubbed, polished and made to look pretty in record speed today, we were actually on the dock at Village Cay which was quite novel! It was also rather exciting as I had a fabulous lady called Dora, who helped me out with the cleaning! It was like Christmas. I could get used to this Kerry!
We had a pretty boat next to us that me and Rich quite liked
Today is also mine and Rich’s 5th anniversary, he managed to buy me flowers while on a very short turn around, he got big brownie points I tell you!
In record time and 30 minutes early, we picked up our next group! An unusual arrival picture today!
We quickly got them settled aboard and headed off, away from the hot dock and some where they could have some fun. We got a new captain on the way, who did a fabulous job
We headed over to Little Harbour and they were all off swimming and snorkeling as the engines were turned off
We managed to fit in a huge snorkel, cocktails and dinner, here they are at there first meal
I was impressed with my desert so that got a picture too, the kiwi fruit is a beach on a kahlua sea and the strawberry is a sail of a boat! I think I need to get out more!
Sail-Dive-BVI-helping you get off the beaten path in the British Virgin Islands!
Click on the logo to go to our online cruising guide, with dive sites, dive wrecks, beachcombing, shell collecting, maps, charts, sailing, snorkeling, anchoring on the British Virgin Islands
Calendar
Quicksearch
Syndicate This Blog
Powered by
