Reef expert to present cruise impact on marine life
(CNS): Renowned marine scientist and coral reef expert Dr Tom Goreau will be visiting the Cayman Islands this month to join the line-up of speakers at next week’s Cruise Port Referendum Cayman (CPR) rally to help voters understand the threats associated with the development of cruise berthing facilities on marine environments. Goreau is the president of the Global Coral Reef Alliance and chief scientist at Blue Regeneration.
He has spent 65 years diving on coral reefs around the world and has first-hand experience of the impacts of dredging for ports across the region.
With just seven weeks to go before local voters are asked whether or not they want the next government to build an unspecified cruise facility here, the marine scientist will shed light on the true impact of a cruise port project on Cayman’s marine ecosystems, coastal resilience, and long-term sustainability.
Goreau has written over 150 scientific papers and pioneered groundbreaking research on coral reef restoration, climate stabilisation and ecosystem regeneration.
“With decades of experience advising UN agencies, governments, and conservation groups worldwide, his insights will provide critical environmental data to help voters make informed decisions about Cayman’s future,” a release from CPR said.
The CPR rally will be the only one planned before Election Day, when the three referendum questions will be put to the people of the Cayman Islands. They are:
- Should the Cayman Islands develop cruise berthing infrastructure?
- Do you support the introduction of a National Lottery in the Islands?
- Do you support the decriminalisation of the consumption and possession of small amounts of cannabis?
CPR, the non-profit that is campaigning for voters to say ‘no’ to berthing facilities, is urging everyone to come out to learn what risks such a project would pose.
The event will take place at Constitution Hall in George Town on the evening of Tuesday, 18 March, at 6:00pm. In addition to Goreau, there will be a number of local speakers. Regional economist Marla Dukharan will be talking about the economics of the cruise industry and questioning what it’s really worth.
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Category: Business, Marine Environment, Science & Nature, Tourism
Dive at Eden Rock, take a right turn and head towards the harbour. A desolate underwater wasteland awaits you. Nothing to see and grey all around. That is the impact of cruise ships on coral reefs. Alternatively, take a left turn for some excellent shallow shore diving.
If only building the pier would contain the damage to that already-near-ruined area then there could be a real conversation. However as anyone with two brain cells to rub together will tell you, the damage will be incredibly widespread and ruin some of the best shore dives available across our islands. Mass cruise tourism is a plague on our home, and the Caribbean as a whole.
Baird published a PFS which cautioned that the routine dredging and prop wash would suspend the worst type of limestone silica, choking marine life, sponges, and coral, reducing light permeability, changing the temperature of the water, and even the acoustics. The blue green water of our harbour we all love, would become milky white, extending miles out to sea, with seasonal transport both north and south of the Harbour destruction zone. The entire west wall, and seven mile beach water quality and biodiversity would be irreversibly impacted and degraded. For what?
And the damage to all of Cayman above water, as we confront the realities of Massive debt, unbearable crowding and traffic chaos in George Town, thousands of economic dependents imported to service cheap tourists, public beach further disgraced by higglers and drug pushers.
Kenneth and his merchant supporters will hug each other as Mac counts the rewards.
PPM will give you that…
Very true, that is what we have now. Diving as far south as just to Sunset House reveals vibrant coral still all the way down to the sand chutes that are there in 60’ depth.
Cruise ships now hold position in deep water when in-port , water depth in excess of +200 feet. Now , bring those ships into a berth where the depth under the directional propeller pods is merely 20 to 30 feet at best ( after dredging ).
What will result is a silt plume from the bottom being disturbed , will extend from Hog Sty Bay all the way to past Lobster Pot. Each and every time an individual ship docks at the berth, assuming a minimum of 2 berthed alongside.
I’m hoping for an “Only Fans” themed one.
where is the humane society in all of this? a port and mega cruise ships will kill the coral and marine species that depend oh the coral. I am sure that it is not a pleasant death. is the humane society only interested in feral cats that eat endangered species?
Not sure I see the relevance here?
Well, we’ll get a lot more coral walkers.
Environmentalists are entitled to worry about damage to reefs and sea life.
But let’s have people worry more about damage to the quality of life and lack of infrastructure, in dealing with thousands invading our streets and beaches.
Cruise ship companies make the money not the ports of call, unless you are a very impoverished country which we are not. We do not need to destroy our marine and terrestrial environments to be a rest stop for cruise passengers.
Oh, the real issue here is that the decision-makers and their loyal supporters couldn’t care less about marine life—unless, of course, it’s in their fish fry. They much rather see Cayman turned into a sprawling concrete jungle, all while shoving their cheaply made Chinese goods at the overstuffed cruise ship tourists walking around George Town in search of free WiFi. Priorities, right?
Sadly for Cayman, now that Mac and Kenneth have openly stated they are team mates, they will jointly conspire to build cruise piers.
Their lust for personal rewards will trump any consideration for the well being of Cayman.
Vote PPM and da wa you’ll get.
PPM will go down in history as the only Government MP’s to raise their wages during the lock down Covid 19. while other countries Government officials was lowering their wages
The next Cayman Islands government needs to change it’s relationship and approach with the liners, by first rejecting the FCCA control narrative from the intermediary lobby bully, and second, by regulating access only to those liners/sub-brands that are fully-aligned with the Cayman Islands tourism product placement. In shunning the indifferent mass tourist liners, it reopens a closed door to the higher-end, high-spend cruise clients that we might want on our shores: Amandira at Sea, Silversea, Explora, Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, Seabourn, Viking, Atlas Ocean Voyages, Crystal, Scenic Luxury, and Oceania. On a case-by-case, aligning theme cruises, might also be considered, ie. The Jazz Cruise, Botti at Sea, etc. If less is more, and we mean it, gently close the open gate, and install a mutual experience vetting procedure.
Those companies plus regent seven seas will bring an upmarket clientele , who in their smaller numbers, will spend more in one month, than the entire Carnival trailer park masses put together , will spend in a year.
Roads will not be so crowded, higglers and drug dealers will lose their customers, and Cayman will regain some dignity as an exclusive destination.
Exactly- and we haven’t even tapped the emerging Arab market.
A mutual vetting process. How delightfully naive. Yes, I’m sure the multibillion-dollar cruise conglomerates, renowned for their deep moral integrity and unwavering commitment to environmental preservation, will eagerly submit themselves to a scrupulous review process by our ever-competent government officials.
I can see it now: a somber panel of government regulators, clad in starched white linen, nodding thoughtfully as the CEO of Explora Journeys delivers an impassioned PowerPoint presentation on their latest eco-friendly buffet waste disposal initiatives. Meanwhile, outside the meeting hall, a fleet of diesel-belching behemoths continues to dump human effluence into the Caribbean with all the grace of a malfunctioning septic tank.
She lets the silence stretch, then takes another languid sip of her drink.
Tell me, when the mutual vetting process inevitably swings in the opposite direction, and the cruise lines begin auditing us, how do we think that will go? Will they politely inquire as to whether our leadership possesses basic fiscal discipline? Will they conduct a qualitative assessment of political integrity? Perhaps a literacy test? No, no—I have it! They’ll be checking to see whether our regulators can successfully navigate a set of stairs without incident.
Imagine,the sheer horror of it. A government official, forced to justify themselves to an external body. A corporate external body. One with actual financial leverage. How utterly devastating.
I do love a good comedy. Do keep me informed of how this mutual arrangement unfolds. I suspect it will be a masterclass in unintended side effects/consequences.
Frankly, nobody in Cayman should care how the adversary feels. This is not America, and those bad actors shouldn’t hold any leverage at all over Cayman’s self determination. If Cayman’s next regime wants to set some minimum qualitative port authority reservation parameters they absolutely can, and should. It would be a giant leap forward for both visitors and residents, aligning with the ethos of quality over quantity. Mass cruise tourism leaving forever, would be met with a chorus of hallelujahs from both residents and priority stayover guests.
Well said 4.54.
We don’t need to spend hundreds of Millions on cruise piers, for thousands of Carnival cattle.
We need to attract smaller 5 star ships and clientele and everybody wins.