Happy Ocean Week!
by Banen Chaney Montchyk | News Of St. John
It’s Ocean Week on St. John and there are plenty of ways to get involved on island or from home!
Inspired by International Coastal Clean-Up Day, the Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park have curated a wonderful week of seminars to celebrate and educate.
Yesterday at 12PM AST, former VINP Sea Turtle Program Co-Coordinator Katie Ayres gave a virtual presentation on sea turtle species and the research being conducted in the USVI. This discussion included information on the importance of monitoring nest populations, sand temperature, and genetic sampling.
On Tuesday, October 17th at 10AM AST,Dr. Rick Nemeth, PhD, UVI will be virtually presenting on the Sedimentation Impacts on Yellowtail Parrotfish. This presentation will examine how sedimentation influences the feeding and spawning behavior of Yellowtail Parrotfish in the Virgin Islands National Park. To register, click here.
Thursday’s presentation is titled Rescue to Reef: A Novel Partnership for Coral Restoration in the U.S. Virgin Island. This virtual seminar will be presented by Dr. Marilyn Brandt, Research Associate Professor Center for Marine and Environmental Studies and will discuss the current state of US Virgin Islands reefs, and how a novel partnership between Reef Response and Lovango Resort and Beach Club is working to protect and restore local coral reef resources. Join Dr. Brandt on Thursday, October 19th at 12PM AST. To register, click here.
The final virtual seminar about the importance of mangroves will be held on Friday, October 20th at 12PM AST. Mangroves Matter: A Spotlight on Mangrove Initiatives in the U.S. Virgin Islands will be presented by Lila Uzzell, Masters of Marine and Environmental Science (MMES) program, UVI. This presentation will discuss the importance of mangroves to our local and global ecosystem. To register, click here.
On Saturday, October 21st, you can join Friends of the Park to clean up Drunk Bay. Meet at 9AM in the Salt Pond parking lot or join in one of the many other sponsored beach clean-ups taking place that morning:
- Jumbie: St John Rotary
- Maho: Reef2Peak
- Great Cruz Bay: Cruz Bay Watersports
- Trunk: 340 Real Estate Co
- Honeymoon: Caneel Bay Beach Club
- North and South Haulover: Lime Out
- Cinnamon: KATS
- Hart Bay: Lila Uzzell
- Hawksnest: Get Trashed
- Cruz Bay: Low Key Watersports
- Brown Bay: Salty Daze
- Johnsons Bay: Coral Bay Community Council (Monday, October 16)
- Calabash Boom Beach: Dynamic Dancers(Sunday, October 22)
If you would like to sponsor or lead a clean up, please contact Willow Melamet at wmelamet@friendsvinp.org.
