Sahara dust and mozzie surge add to 2020 trouble
(CNS): Earthquakes, dump fires, a pandemic, and now a dust cloud from the Sahara Desert and a surge in mosquitoes are combining to make 2020 a pretty miserable year. While the dust plume stretching across the Caribbean will produce some pretty sunsets, it will also make life uncomfortable for those with respiratory problems. Meanwhile, a shortage of staff and other challenges at the Mosquito Research and Control Unit (MRCU) have led to a surge in mosquitoes.
The Cayman Islands National Weather Service has advised that the Sahara dust plume now stretching across the Caribbean will support hazy conditions across the Cayman Islands over the next 24 hours.
But a warning from Public Health said the conditions could potentially increase symptoms in people with asthma and other respiratory illnesses. People suffering from these conditions are advised to stay inside as much as possible. If they have to venture out, they are urged to remain calm and contact their healthcare provider if they experience any difficulties.
Meanwhile, the MRCU is trying to get back on track as high tides and heavy rain have triggered a surge in mosquitoes. The unit has been actively larviciding but staffing issues during the COVID-19 lockdown have prevented it from operating at full capacity.
Battling the pest has been a struggle with the additional challenges of rains, tides and lack of full-time resources. MRCU planes have been spraying but the limit on flight hours for pilots shut down flights and the closure of the airport for work over the weekend also impacted the timetable.
Consequently, only 500 acres of wetland has been treated out of around 10,000 acres where mosquitoes breed.
MLA Alva Suckoo solicited the information from the MRCU because his Newlands constituency was one of many communities swamped with mosquitoes. He is also submitting a parliamentary question for the upcoming Legislative Assembly session to find out how dykes are now being used to control the mosquito population.
“I have noticed that the dykes have become overgrown and I suspect that the culverts used to allow the seawater to enter the dykes are also not functioning,” said Suckoo in a summary of what he has discovered about the current surge of mosquitoes.
“This discussion will hopefully provide some answers and opportunities to address this problem, as the dykes do provide a natural non-chemical solution for mosquito control,” he added.
See John Tibbetts, Director General of the Cayman Islands National Weather Service, talk about the Sahara dust plume on CIGTV below:
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Category: Land Habitat, Science & Nature, Weather
Dust plume has gone. Where’s the bloody mozzie plane
So we have two multi-million dollar MRCU aircraft sitting idle on the tarmac because there is no one to fly them? You would think they would’ve planned for rainy season spikes as we’ve known this weather was headed our way for some time. How come I’ve literally never seen the job advertised (at least not locally) for an MRCU pilot ???
The article does not say the staffing issues are with pilots. MRCU also has a ground operation.
Some people need to learn how to read. In the article, the following was excerpted ” MRCU planes have been spraying but the limit on flight hours for pilots shut down flights and the closure of the airport for work over the weekend also impacted the timetable. ” Interpretation- Once the pilot/s exceeded their allowed duty time no aerial spraying can occur until the appropriate rest period has ended. And MRCU cannot control the airport restrictions.
It wouldn’t matter if they had ten pilots, if the airport is closed, it isn’t a staffing issue. MRCU has never had more than two pilots
Caymanian is going to have to realize one thing to get this little island functional again. Being Caymanian does not give you the abilities of a trained and experienced anything. Pretty much everything that is under Caymanian control is dysfunctional for this reason only. Yes it is a thing to have Caymanians in charge of Caymanian things but for the actual work or planning of the job an experienced(at doing the job competently already)and skilled( at what the job needs)is the most important thing. Or you just get people trying and learning how to do important jobs which is what Cayman Islands have now. This is the very reason why Cayman islands needs expats. Not because they are expats but because the skills and experience Cayman needs is not currently on island.
Are you suggesting that only expats are capable of leading and managing? What a laugh!
Yup that’s exactly what they are saying. But racism, discrimination and anti-Caymanian sentiments do not exist within the islands apparently. It is all a figment of our imagination. Even more pathetic to think about the person who wrote that garbage probably has status or PR……
9:53 I think what they simply saying, the word CAYMANIAN, is not a Qualification, or Certification!
These aren’t dramatically unusual phenomenon in the Caribbean.
GOES-16 Satellite Saharan Air Layer (SAL)
http://tropic.ssec.wisc.edu/real-time/sal/
Satellite-based Sargassum Watch System (SaWS)
https://optics.marine.usf.edu/projects/saws.html
Nobody said it is unusual or a phenomenon. It is a regular event pretty much everyone knows about. The amount of dust being transported this year is unusual.
The amount is common this time of year. Completely unremarkable to those that study this vocationally since records began.
https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/content/saharan-air-layer-what-it-why-does-noaa-track-it
When are we gonna deploy a bat program?
I guess it’s better to keep spraying poison in the air for the next 50 years that we all pay for with our wallets and health.
Typical Cayman…
Don’t even get me started on the failed GMO mozzy program that also was a failure that we(community) paid for.
Gov needs to stop funding this private business anyways, obviously, it’s not working.
Mozzies are worst here than the Amazon jungles and we spend millions to try and kill them. (Been to the Jungle, I would know)
Who says the GMO program failed? It was canceled but was working. And your government sponsored education spends millions (more per child than the private schools and more than most countries) has always been failing and last year failed to complete a school year insuring that Cayman kids will now never catch up or stay up with the rest of the world. Why? CIC. Caymanians in Charge. And because of it Typical Cayman…
If it was working why has nobody been allowed to see the results? Didn’t the Director of MRCU state 18 months ago that they were looking at the data and would release the results within two months. Seems strange to me that after investing 1 million dollars in this technology that the results are being kept hidden.
How many important entities here share their results with the public? Look at the recent mess with WORC and Reg.
When the Director states the results will be released you would expect them to be released. If the project was a success I would want toshow the public the results to prove to them it worked. If it did not work but I wanted to convince people it had been a success I would hide the results. Why hide if the project was a success?
Yes I get exactly what you were hinting at and you may just be right. Only time will tell.
There is a bat program. Only a few species eat mosquitos, and then, only certain types of mosquitos active during their feeding time. A single 4oz bat cannot eat the quantity we’d all like them to.
Yea, lets import a ton of bats not native to this island. Good thinking!
My thought exactly. There’s no telling of how they may impact the environment.
But it’s harder to hide the money in deploying bat houses…..
Bats habitat was destroyed when caves became a tourist attraction.
So the excuses have started.
Couldn’t spray the Mozzies because of COVID.
Were the Mozzies in lockdown indoors 🙂
Burger could flip burgers so with empty streets why was there no mass vehicle spraying.
This has nothing to do with corona virus. MRCU got itself a new Director who changed all of the tried and tested control methods used by MRCU for years. Have you not noticed the different smell of whatever they are now spraying us with? T
Lack of resources? Can some of the unemployed Caymanians from the tourism industry be retrained for MRCU? This is what we keep hearing needs to be done. Well here is one spot that desperately needs a few people! Please don’t hire any work permit holders into the MRCU. If you are unemployed right now, go get knocking on MRCU door!
Staffing is good. They need chemical suppression from the states – that costs money. $200,000 can only buy so much. Back in the day, pre-MRCU, cattle would be mechanically suffocated by the density of mosquito clouds. That’s why smoke pots were necessary.
The article mentions staffing issues though?
Did the MRCU advertised any vacancies recently? If not how would anyone know that they were looking for workers? Just wondering!!
It seems that with updates “ you’re posting to fast “ is gone. Thank you.
CNS: I made a slight change to the comment system to hopefully fix another problem – reply comments not appearing under the thread but as stand alone comments. If this has actually fixed the comment too fast issue, that’s great. Could you possibly let me know via the comments if this comes back again or if it really has gone. Many thanks!
I still get posting too fast, but instead of losing what I’ve typed it goes back & gives me another chance to submit, which seems successful.
CNS: That’s good to know. Can you let me know if this continues? Thanks!
I bet not many knew about this regular transport of dust across Atlantic.
“Looking at the data year by year shows that that pattern is actually highly variable. There was an 86 percent change between the highest amount of dust transported in 2007 and the lowest in 2011, Yu said.“ https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/nasa-satellite-reveals-how-much-saharan-dust-feeds-amazon-s-plants
This PBS documentary is very interesting. Watch it for free and learn about Planet Earth. You might get new insights into Earth’ Climate as well. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/earth-from-space/
I knew I wasn’t going crazy because I noticed there was a lot more mosquitoes. I can’t even stand outside in the evening, they smother me!! If they don’t get this under control soon, it’s gonna go right back to the old days when cows used to almost be eaten alive by them! No man!
It’s not that bad.
If your civil service…..we know.
This has nothing to do with corona virus. MRCU got itself a new Director who changed all of the tried and tested control methods used by MRCU for years. Have you not noticed the different smell of whatever they are now spraying us with? T
Its not that bad. If you don’t like it then go back inside.
staffing issues= cig civil service incompetence.end of story.
Not the “end of story “. End of story.
Didn’t help the pool companies being banned as fueling the mozzie situation. I did raise this but per usual didn’t have the common decency of a response.
You needed people to risk lives in the community because you do not know how to pour a gallon of Clorox into a pool?
Do you need to be the smartest bit in the room?
If only it was that simple!!
Pool companies have been operating for a few weeks now, yours is a bogus excuse. We did receive a significant downpour a few days ago so I’m not surprised your still wet behind the ears.
Blaming a lack of resources is a pretty poor excuse for the surge in the mosquito population.
Think back to the resources available to Dr. Giglioli when the MRCU was started and compare them to today’s.
What is missing is the knowledge and determination to get the job done and not coming up with lame excuses for the failure to control the mosquitoes.
And of course there must be the political will to forge ahead and not just sit there and take these excuses as gospel.
Do the damn job that you’re being paid handsomely to do.
Even the Sahara dust wants to migrate here at get piece of the pie.
This pie ain’t worth the trip.
The dumbest comment.
https://journals.ametsoc.org/bams/article/94/9/1329/90663/Understanding-the-Transport-and-Impact-of-African